In this paper, the authors first discuss the Neumark and Troske piece, and then compare the U.S. context to that in Europe and Korea, as described by the Caspar, Hartwig, and Moench and the Cho and Shin contributions. Although they are in basic agreement with Neumark and Troske on the extent and depth of the current employment situation, they…

In many parts of Western Europe the age at first marriage and the level of celibacy declined in the second half of the 19th century. This weakening of the European marriage pattern (EMP) can be interpreted as a "classic" response to the increase of the standard of living, but a more far-reaching interpretation is that the erosion of the…

Comparisons of wellbeing between the United States and Western Europe generally show that most Americans have higher standards of living than do Western Europeans at comparable locations in their national income distributions. These comparisons of wellbeing typically privilege disposable income and cash transfers while ignoring other aspects of…

In a global society and economy, education and training is essential to a nation's competitiveness and to the standard of living of its people. The need to open the doors of higher or further education beyond the relatively limited enrollments in elite and selective universities has spawned a movement to develop or expand institutions that are…

The 1980s and 1990s have been decades of quite good economic growth in North America and much of Western Europe. But how have the fruits of growth been shared? This paper reviews changing income distributions in the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands. These three countries may be taken as exemplars and leading economic performers in "the three…

This book contains the partial proceedings of a symposium dedicated to concern for basic education for the masses. The book includes a position paper that focuses on education in relation to its cultural setting, socio-economic context, and partnerships in research. The result of the meeting was the identification of research that seemed…