Since 1979, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has nearly quadrupled the size of the sample used to estimate monthly employment changes. Although first-reported employment estimates are still noisy, the magnitude of sampling variability has declined in proportion to the increase in the sample...

Benford's Law can be seen as one of the many first significant digit (FSD) distributions in a family of monotonically decreasing distributions. We examine the interrelationship between Benford and other monotonically decreasing distributions such as those arising from Stigler, Zipf, and the...

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard in estimating treatment effects. When an RCT is infeasible, regression modeling or statistical matching are often used instead. Nonexperimental methods such as these could produce unbiased estimates if the underlying...

This paper examines the impacts of four abstinence-only education programs on adolescent sexual activity and risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Based on an experimental design, the impact analysis uses survey data collected in 2005 and early 2006 from more than 2,000...

This paper examines the impacts of four abstinence-only education programs on adolescent sexual activity and risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Based on an experimental design, the impact analysis uses survey data collected in 2005 and early 2006 from more than 2,000...

This evaluation rigorously assessed the implementation and impact of a child care Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) field test on child care quality as measured through child care quality observations and through ratings of a set of quality, education, and experience standards defined...

This study analyzes factors associated with transitions into and out of disconnectedness, which is defined as being disconnected from the labor market, welfare, and other substantial financial supports.

This article investigates the long-term economic gains of current and former TANF recipients and explores the extent to which these recipients experience steady economic progress. Results suggest that recipients generally show economic progress but that there is considerable instability and...