I illustrate the variety of approaches to development issues microeconomists employ, focusing on studies that illuminate and quantify the major mechanisms posited by growth theorists who highlight the role of education in fostering growth. I begin with a basic issue: what are the returns to...

A framework for understanding the determinants in the variation in the pricing of skills across countries and the model underlying the Mincer specification of wages that is used widely to estimate the relationship between schooling and wages are described. A method for identifying skill prices...

[...]Immigrants settle in one point within the vast U.S.geography. Classically, there are four great reception areas:the two coasts, Chicago, and the southern border. New YorkCity was the gateway for the great migrations of the turn ofthe twentieth century, and it remains a major destination...

We look at the effects of rainfall forecasts and realized rainfall on equilibrium agricultural wages over the course of the agricultural production cycle. We show theoretically that a forecast of good weather can lower wages in the planting stage, by lowering ex ante out-migration, and can...

We use unique data characterizing individual savings for twins and non-twins in urban China to examine why the savings rates of the young are elevated relative to the middle-aged, despite rising individual life-cycle incomes. We show that inter-generational co-residence masks the true life-cycle...

This paper estimates the gender-specific effects of birthweight on a variety of schooling and labor market outcomes. A unique feature of the study is to use micro evidence on the relationship between birthweight - an early measure of nutritional advantage - and schooling outcomes to make...

Empirical evidence on three assertions commonly-made by populationpolicy advocates about the relationships among population growth, humancapital formation and economic development is discussed and evaluated inthe light of economic-biological models of household behavior and of itsrelevance to...

In this paper, we describe and utilize methods to estimate theconsequences for children's schooling and birthweight of the exogenousvariability in the supply of births in one low income country, Malaysia. Themethod utilizes information on contraceptive techniques employed by couples toestimate...

In this paper we assess the importance of heterogeneity and selectivefertility in altering estimates and interpretations of the determinants ofthe human capital of children. We set out a sequential model of humancapital investments in children incorporating endogenous fertility andheterogeneity...

The livelihoods of the majority of the world's poor depend on agriculture. They face substantial risk from fluctuations in weather conditions. Better risk, credit and savings markets can improve productivity and welfare in rural areas but entail high administrative costs. We consider a classic...