This paper builds a model of human capital accumulation driven by increasing specialization of the workforce. Individuals increase the efficiency of time dedicated to human capital acquisition by focusing investments on narrower sets of skills. The evolution of secondary and post-secondary curricula in the United States from 1870-2000 confirms the…

In this article, the authors use a large, recent, and accessible data set to examine the effect of economics major on individual earnings. They find a significant positive earnings gain for economics majors relative to other majors, and this advantage increases with the level of education. Their findings are consistent with Black, Sanders, and…

I survey the evidence on patterns in U.S. high school graduation rates over the period 1970-2010 and report the results of new research conducted to fill in holes in the evidence. I begin by pointing out the strengths and limitations of existing data sources. I then describe six striking patterns in graduation rates. They include stagnation over…

This article documents a model for forecasting earnings of the nontraditional student based on macrolevel changes in educational attainment within the workforce using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It also presents a theoretical case that illustrates the value of improving one's educational attainment level in order to sustain an annualized…

Immigrants have lower earnings than native born on their entry into the Canadian labor market. However, the younger the age at immigration, the greater the gain from immigration. (Author/AM)

Reports results of an approach using a multiple regression model to determine factors leading to larger male earnings and identifying potential discrimination with these factors, which included differences in the return to investment in human capital, rate of employment, type of employer, and return to experience. (TA)

A supply mechanism is described whereby nondiscriminating employers are expected to pay lower wages to females than to equally qualified males. Procedures are proposed to estimate the portion of the unexplained male-female wage differential that arises because of family locational considerations. Single copies available from the Secretary, C.…

The idea that Asian Americans constitute a "model minority" needing no special help with education or employment is quite widespread, even amongst government officials. This "model minority" thesis has not been investigated empirically, in part because of the lack of a theoretical construct. An interdisciplinary model focusing…

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data characterizing a racially heterogeneous sample of 1,897 male and female high school graduates were analyzed to determine the impact of employment while in high school on subsequent wages. The sample was segmented by gender and amount of work experience gained while in high school, and several wage models…

This study extends previous research on labor market effects of vocational education by estimating the relationship between vocational education in high school and the intervening factors in its relationship to labor market outcomes. The strategy is to use data from a stratified national longitudinal survey to estimate a simplified, reduced-form…

The returns that Kentucky can expect on its investments in higher education were examined in an analysis that identified some of the social benefits accompanying earning a degree from a four-year college and established a value for those benefits. The analysis was based on 12 models that were estimated by using datasets from semiannual surveys of…

The different situations confronting young labor market entrants in different European countries may be described in terms of the following models: (1) the conditions of labor market entry are basically tied to the nature of the qualification acquired in initial training, experience accumulated in the labor market plays a very secondary role, and…