We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of income and employment data in national surveys, in unemployment insurance (UI) wage records, and in tax returns. The CPS, SIPP, NLS, and PSID surveys provide valuable information on the behavior of the low-income population. They have broad and fairly...

As part of recent reforms of the welfare programs in the U.S., many states and localities have refocused their Welfare-to-Work programs from an emphasis on human capital acquisition (i.e., providing basic education and vocational training) to an emphasis on "work-first," (i.e., moving welfare...

This study examines the changes in the school-to-work transition in the United States over the latter part of the twentieth century and their consequences for the wages of young adults. In particular, we document the various types of work and schooling experiences acquired by youth who came to...

This study examines how the returns to wages of early work and schooling experiences changed for young men and women in the United States over the latter half of the twentieth century. Our analysis focuses on the experi¬ences of young men and women from two different birth cohorts—one group...

Proposition 209 banned the use of racial preferences in admissions at public colleges in California. We analyze unique data for all applicants and enrollees within the University of California (UC) system before and after Prop 209. After Prop 209, graduation rates increased by 4.4%. We present...

The low number of college graduates with science degrees -- particularly among under-represented minorities -- is of growing concern. We examine differences across universities in graduating students in different fields. Using student-level data on the University of California system during a...

This article assesses several recent studies in the manpower training evaluation literature claiming that (1) nonexperimental methods of program evaluation produce unreliable estimates of program impacts and (2) randomized experiments are necessary to produce reliable ones. We present a more...

We examine EITC compliance using a unique dataset combining income tax returns, Unemployment Insurance data, state child support data, and data collected by hand from Wisconsin courthouses. A substantial number of EITC claims are made by adults listed as the court–ordered payor or by adults...

Fueled by new evidence, there has been renewed interest about the effects of birth order on human capital accumulation. The underlying causal mechanisms for such effects remain unsettled. We consider a model in which parents impose more stringent disciplinary environments in response to their...