"Between Public and Private" examines an innovative approach to school district management that has been adopted by a number of urban districts in recent years: a portfolio management model, in which "a central office oversees a portfolio of schools offering diverse organizational and curricular themes, including traditional public…

This chapter provides some examples and recommendations for expanding the connections between economics and institutional research. (Contains 1 figure.)

Previous studies find large cross-national differences in inequality amongst rich Western nations, due in large part to differences in the generosity of welfare state transfers. The United States is the least generous nation and the one having the most after-tax and transfer inequality. But these analyses are limited to the effects of cash and…

Despite pressures for reducing the overall spending of the federal government, some policymakers and analysts have considered increasing the funding for particular areas that might be especially important to the long-term growth of the economy. Increases have been proposed in spending for highways and other types of physical infrastructure, for…

Presents an bibliographic essay of recent empirical research in industrial organization. Examines topics such as the econometrics of markets with imperfect competition, technology and industry structure, industry evolution, and industry studies of regulation. (CFR)

This student booklet with accompanying teacher's guide examines the issues and controversies surrounding the nation's debt and deficits. The first section defines key terms relating to the issues and traces how the United States got on the road to fiscal disorder. The second section examines what specific federal spending programs have triggered…

This paper presents a framework for evaluating the level and composition of public expenditures, illustrated by sectoral and country examples. The paper illustrates how this framework can be applied to analyzing broad allocations of spending within and across sectors, drawing upon some key findings and country examples from major sectors (health,…

The Student Text and Teacher's Guide examine the government's role in the U.S. economy and how the choices made by the government in Washington affect each individual. The student text is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1, "Government's Role in the Economy," discusses why government gets involved in the economy and examines the social and…