Differences in teacher quality are commonly cited as a key determinant of the huge international student performance gaps. However, convincing evidence on this relationship is still lacking, in part because it is unclear how to measure teacher quality consistently across countries. We use unique international assessment data to investigate the…

The relationship between wage differentiation and long-term unemployment was examined in a study that considered data regarding long-term unemployment and minimum wages in the United States, Japan, and 10 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Data regarding wages and unemployment in the 11 countries were…

Sustainable growth has economic policies addressed to current imbalances as its necessary, though not its sufficient, condition. Labor markets are important for the growth process; as the level of economic activity increases, they function better, and as they function better, the level of economic activity increases further. Labor market…

In international comparisons it was found that manufacturing productivity growth slowed after 1973 and unit labor costs accelerated in most industrial countries including the United States. Aggregate hours rose only in the U.S. (CT)

The objective of this study was to determine why the United States has experienced a higher rate of unemployment in the post-war period than other countries at similar stages of development. The study reviewed the Phillips Curve Theory--the theory underlying wage and price changes--and the development and post-war characteristics of labor market…

This paper uses direct measures of literacy skill levels provided by the International Adult Literacy Survey to estimate the return to literacy skills. Using a very simple human capital earnings equation and standard ordinary least squares regression, it tested estimates of the return to literacy skills for their robustness to alternative scalings…

The report, an adaptation and condensation of the European Economic Community Commission's report, discusses the findings of linking wages to cost-of-living indexes in eight of its member countries (Denmark, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom). (Author/BP)

This volume presents 6 papers by 22 labor economists who examine and address worker displacement in 10 industrialized countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, United States). "Summary and Synthesis" (Peter J. Kuhn) discusses these four categories of lessons learned from panel…

This book contains 78 of the approximately 100 conference papers presented, in 6 categories: democracy and society, employment and earnings, family and work, poverty and income, health and well being, and miscellaneous, as well as 7 poster session presentations. Representative papers include the following: "Women's Business Ownership: A…

This is the first of two volumes of selected papers presented at the 1996 conference on "Changes in Working Time in Canada and the United States." Eleven chapters focus on weekly hours worked by individuals, including the recent changes in the distribution of weekly working time in Canada and the U.S., implications of the changing…

Part 1 identifies the far-reaching changes to higher education (HE) in Great Britain during the 1990s. It shows that HE has settled into a new status quo, with a market for new graduates in 2001-02. Findings indicate that around 37 percent of 18-year-olds take part in full-time, further, or higher education; the participation rate at age 19 is now…

This document contains two essays: "Toward a High-Wage, High-Productivity Service Sector" by Lester Thurow; and "Service Sector Wages, Productivity and Job Creation in the U.S. and Other Countries" by Louise Waldstein. The first essay analyzes the recent and currrent U.S. economy under headings called Growth Nodes, Falling…

Most female workers in developing countries do not have wage jobs. However, the preponderance of female workers in non-wage jobs is not consistent across all developing countries. It is highly likely that the proportion of non-wage female workers in developing countries is greater than is suggested by the statistics. Consequently, mothers in the…

In 1993, about 93 percent of respondents previously surveyed in 1992 were reinterviewed as part of a study of the impact of labor market programs in postsocialist Hungary. The surveys investigated the impact of retraining and public service employment (PSE) on labor market success by comparing outcomes for participants to others who were…

Human capital--the productive capacity that is embedded in people--is one of the most important contributors to the growth in nations' output and standard of living. Globalisation and technological change have increased the importance of human capital in recent years, to the point that there are now only two options to sustain high profits and…