This paper examines the role of social capital--the set of supportive interpersonal interactions that exists in the family, community, and school--in promoting educational achievement. Employing data on public school students from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS) and other...

This paper investigates Smith's (1989) thesis that county drop out rates have been self-perpetuating in the rural South, a pattern reinforced by the presence of mining and manufacturing employers with few skill demands. The results show that the associations of mining and manufacturing with high...

In this paper, we provide evidence based on New Economic Geography Models and estimate the statistical effects of second nature advantages to shed some light on the locational transformation of the manufacturing sector in Mexico. Changes in regional industry shares and regional wages during...

We compare the returns to human capital in rural areas with those in urban areas, and across the different regions of the US. A key finding is that these returns are considerably lower in rural than in urban areas. Furthermore, failure to correct for spatial dependence bias produces an...

The role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in increasing the education and economic well-being of rural Blacks is not, perhaps, as clear today as in the past given the abolition of formal segregation in public education. This paper presents evidence that HBCUs still play a...

A basic result of new economic geography (NEG) models is that the proximity to consumer markets impacts wages and employment within regions. The ongoing process of European integration, being targeted on the reduction of barriers to trade and factor mobility, has presumably changed relative...

Several econometric issues within the field of education finance that have not been fully explored to date are addressed. Focusing on demographic factors and per-pupil expenditures in the United States, an econometric model that incorporates spatial analysis is developed and a unique framework...

This research evaluates the effects of higher stocks of human capital (measured by the share of adults with some college) on growth in county per capita income using a Mankiw, Romer, and Weil type model adjusted for spatial dependence and capital stocks. Regressions based on county data from the...