This paper explores the implications for economic analysis, societal well-being, and public policy of the movement of care services (such as child and elder care) from home to market. A broad empirical overview sets the stage for the argument that this process cannot be properly evaluated using...

Despite the involvement of two-thirds of economists in it, the higher education industry remains incompletely understood. Among the topics related to higher education that invite further research are the rapid increase in college costs, the interaction of tenure and the end of mandatory...

The authors trace the origins of the key features of U.S. higher education today--the coexistence of small liberal arts colleges and large research universities; the substantial share of enrollment in the public sector; and varying levels of support provided by the states. These features began...

A vast majority of adults believe that class size reductions are a good way to improve the quality of public schools. Reviews of the research literature, on the other hand, have provided mixed messages on the degree to which class size matters for student achievement. Here I will discuss a...

This paper traces the history of the "Value of Statistical Life" (VSL), which today is used routinely in benefit-cost analysis of life-saving investments. The "value of statistical life" terminology was introduced by Thomas Schelling (1968) in his essay, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own."...

This essay is a discussion of how economists are attempting to understand institutions within the organizations of the labor market. The institutions and issues discussed include mandatory retirement; discontinuous jumps in wages; pay compression; rights of tenure; up-or-out hierarchies; timing...