Tyler and others refute Hecker's 1990 article warning that the economy is generating college graduates faster than it is generating jobs. They argue that the 1980s labor market successfully absorbed new college graduates. Hecker expresses concerns over their analysis. (SK)

States that despite spending massive amounts of money to expand their educational systems, poor countries have witnessed a 4-decade decline in their medium economic growth rates from 3 percent in the 1960s to zero percent in the 1990s. Offers several reasons for the decline, such as variations in the quality of education and low labor…

The issue of subminimum wages for full-time students who are working part-time is discussed in this publication of the National Student Association. It is suggested that large corporations and institutions of higher education are benefiting from these low wages, while students trying to finance their education during a time of growing inflation…

Women and men often receive the same percentage increase in their wage rates with advances in schooling. Because these returns decline with more schooling, the marginal returns for women will tend to exceed those for men, especially in countries where women are much less educated. The health and schooling of children are more closely related to…

The current trend toward academic gamesmanship, characterized by interinstitutional competition for faculty, gives the general public a superficial notion of academic excellence, deceives higher education supporters, deprives undergraduates of teaching that they are paying higher prices to receive, and gauges success by ephemeral standards.…

The applicability of the principle of comparable pay for comparable worth is discussed for college faculty jobs, not only for alleviation of sex discrimination but also for eliminating bias-related discrepancies between departments or specialties. (MSE)

Argues that, although the high salaries of faculty "superstars" may disadvantage other faculty and staff, particularly in a period of downsizing, the more serious problem is the tradition of large discipline-based differences in faculty salaries which undermine the principles of merit-based compensation. Resentment of "superstar" salaries may have…

A professional economist criticizes Gerald Bracey's view that the condition of public education has little to do with the state of the nation's economy. Most studies indicate that education contributes to growing productivity, higher wages, and a sound economy. Education can serve the nation's economic needs without sacrificing education's other…

The difficulty for an institution of finding a balance between traditional faculty compensation practices and free labor market practices that raise the salaries of faculty in high-demand disciplines in government, industry, and education is discussed. (MSE)

The economic theory of comparable worth is discussed as it is applied to the issue of teacher salaries and instructional quality. It is argued that application of the theory may be a cause of rather than a solution to some current problems of teacher shortages, teacher education, and productivity. (MSE)

Using an input-output framework, the author derives hypotheses on wage differentials based on the assumption that human capital (in this case, education) will explain workers' wage differentials. The hypothetical wage differentials are tested on data from the Italian economy. (RW)

The new Australian Higher Education Contribution Scheme allows students to either pay a standard tuition charge on enrollment or defer payment until they are earning at least the current average taxable income. At that point, they incur a debt to the government for the amount deferred and repayment rate is based on income. Conceptual bases and…

An analysis of the economic returns of education in Australia finds a rising need for education at a time of diminishing apparent returns. It is proposed that the notions of credentialism and education as a positional good provide a better explanation for this phenomenon than does the human capital approach. (MSE)

Discusses educational equality and inequality from an economist's perspective. Considers human capital theory and interpretation of life cycles in learning and earning. Addresses schooling and experience components of changes in the inequality of earned incomes, educational expansion, and inequalities in schooling. Explores the roles of skill…

Observations of schools and the economies of various countries and regions (including the Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the United States) suggest that the following generally accepted principles may be called hoaxes: (1) great numbers of new emerging jobs of the future will require much higher skill levels for workers; (2)…