Unless new policies offset the effects of existing demographic and educational patterns, improvements in labor quality are likely to contribute less to economic growth in the United States in the coming two decades than has been the case since the 1960s. The key reasons for this projection are...

When the term "knowledge-based economy" first entered popular discussion - sometime around the early 1980s - the focus was exclusively on scientific, technological, and business leadership. Only gradually did our society come to appreciate the pervasiveness of the knowledge-based economy. It...

During the twentieth century, the United States was a world leader in raising the educational attainment of its population. This important achievement contributed to national productivity growth and extended economic opportunity to formerly disadvantaged groups in society. Now, at the beginning...

In the context of today's tight labor markets, as well as projections of continued demand for workers with high skills, various states are considering how to retain and attract college graduates. Such efforts involve identifying an area's relative strengths and weaknesses and taking actions as...

Any enumeration of New England's competitive strengths is likely to include the high education levels of its work force. The growing availability of highly educated workers in the region has permitted the development of industries that make use of advanced skills and raised the average standard...

The educational gap between blacks and whites in the United States is wide and widening at the college graduate level. A less known fact is that the size of this gap differs across the various regions of the country. The difference is especially great for the Northeast, an area known for high...

A common complaint of businesses nationwide is that they have not been able to hire as many highly educated workers as they would like to employ, resulting in unfilled vacancies in professional and technical positions. Regardless of the traditional relationships between employers and nearby...