Economics Commons^™

Private And Public Contributions To Financing College Education, Nabeel Alsalam, Seth H. Giertz, Dennis Zimmerman

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Introduction and Summary The cost of four years of undergraduate education, including living expenses, now averages nearly $80,000 at public colleges and over $100,000 at many private institutions. Tuition and fees have risen steadily since 1980, fueling concern that college is becoming prohibitively expensive for many families. In two decades, tuition and fees at public universities more than doubled, from $1,883 (in 2001 dollars) in 1980 to $4,281 in 2001.
,br> A major component of higher education represents an investment, with the returns accruing in the form of greater productivity (and income) for future workers. As such, education is a …

Recent Literature On Taxable-Income Elasticities, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper reviews the literature on taxable-income elasticities, focusing primarily on empirical studies examining the U.S. tax changes of 1981, 1986, 1990, and 1993 and the bracket creep of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The paper first provides background on the importance of the elasticity of taxable income both for forecasting income tax revenue and for assessing the efficiency implications of tax rate changes. It then discusses the major methodological issues and obstacles before delving into the literature. The paper emphasizes the different methodologies employed and the sensitivity of estimates to an array of factors, including sample selection, the …

Disentangling Pay And Productivity In A Corporatist Economy: The Case Of Germany, Scott M. Fuess Jr., Meghan Millea

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Conventional theory predicts that productivity gains lead to pay hikes. Pay increases, however, can influence labor productivity. But what about in a corporatist economy? Focusing on Germany, we use an innovative technique developed by Geweke to disentangle the relationship between pay and productivity.

Trends In The Job Market For Librarians: 1985-2000, Kelly Blessinger

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

This article discusses the major influence that the information age has had on librarianship. Computer-related technology has changed the way librarians do their jobs, their duties and has created a whole new realm of opportunities for librarians. Data from the Library Journal annual salary surveys and the ALA Placement Center are included in charts and figures to track job market trends from 1985-2000. Issues such as salary, job mobility and education are also discussed.

Accelerated Depreciation And State Revenues, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

For state governments across the country, these are austere times. States are facing some of the worst budget shortfalls in decades, leaving legislators scrambling to bring revenues and expenditures into balance, while not upsetting their constituencies. In addition to changing economic conditions, a recent federal change granting accelerated depreciation to business threatened to eat up additional state revenue. A popular response from many states has been to decouple from the federal definition of income: i.e., not allow bonus depreciation for state taxes by moving away from the federal definition of income.

Teacher And Student Economic Understanding In Transition Economics, William Walstad, Ken Rebeck

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This study describes a new data set and uses it for an exploratory investigation of whether seminars for teachers conducted by the National Council on Economic Education through its International Education Exchange Program (IEEP) had a beneficial effect on the economic understanding of the high school students of these teachers. The data were collected using a non- equivalent control group design that sorted teachers into two groups based on whether or not they participated in an IEEP seminar. Pre- and post-tests of economics were administered to the students of these teachers in Lithuania, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Poland. The exploratory results …

Pay And Productivity In A Corporatist Economy: Evidence From Austria, Scott M. Fuess Jr., Meghan Millea

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Conventional theory predicts that productivity gains lead to hikes in real pay. Efficiency wage theory hypothesizes that pay increases can lead to productivity improvements. But would such results be observed in a corporatist economy with centralized bargaining? For the case of Austria, a corporatist archetype, this study uses an innovative technique developed by Geweke to disentangle the relationship between pay and productivity. There already has been empirical evidence that pay demands in corporatist economies are relatively modest. Moreover, it has been claimed that corporatist coordination enhances the efficiency of labor contracts, by providing a mechanism to adjust to aggregate shocks. …

Differential Efficiency, Market Structure, And Price, Azzeddine Azzam, David Rosenbaum

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

A persistent question in industrial economics is the underpinning of the link between market concentration and price. How much of the link can be attributed to market power and how much to market efficiency? This paper develops a theoretical model to address that question. Applied to the US portland cement industry, the model indicates that both impacts matter. In relative terms, however, the market power effect is twice as large as the efficiency effect. An implication for merger policy is that the beneficial efficiency effects of mergers may not be obtained without the detrimental market power effects as well.

Economic Education And Government Reform In The Republic Of Georgia, Craig Macphee

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

The author describes public education through the media and training for government officials and for journalists undertaken as part of economic reform efforts in the Republic of Georgia of the former Soviet Union. The article concludes with a discussion of the necessary conditions for success of these broad-based educational efforts.

Public Education Cost Frontier Models: Theory And An Application, John E. Anderson, Mahbubul Kabir

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

We examine the cost structure of public schools in this paper, using frontier cost models that enable us to estimate sources of inefficiency. A two equation stochastic frontier model is presented that can be used to explain both cost and the sources of inefficiency. Using that model and data for public schools in Nebraska over the period 1989-92, we estimate cost frontiers for the districts. Estimated cost frontier information is then used in estimating school district need for purposes of computing state aid, illustrating an important potential application of such information.

New York Is Not Arkansas, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

When she declared her candidacy for the U. S. Senate from New York, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, as expected, promised to fight for an ever larger federal government—in part by expanding programs targeting children and the poor and opposing Republican tax cuts. But, Mrs. Clinton also drew attention to another issue when she declared: “It is just wrong that today New York sends $15 billion more in taxes each year to Washington than New York gets back.” Mrs. Clinton must believe that the net return of federal tax dollars to New Yorkers is unrelated to the size of the …

Contracts And Costs In A Corporate/Government System Dynamics Network: A United States Case, F. Gregory Hayden, Steven R. Bolduc

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Social scientists have come to understand that society is a set of integrated values, beliefs, institutions, technology, and ecological systems as explicitly laid out in Figure 1 (Hayden 1988, 1997). Societal integration and organization takes place through the on—going processing of overlapping institutions and their organizations. The components of transorganizational frameworks, as demonstrated in Figure 1, create and structure the networks within which organizations such as business corporations and government agencies function. “Trans” as used in this sense means across. Across organizational networks normative criteria are provided by social beliefs, technology, and ecological systems (Hayden, 1998). From basic criteria, numerous …

The World Food And Agricultural Situation - A U.S. Perspective, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

It is a pleasure to be here in Minnesota at this year's Global Food and Agriculture Summit. And it is a special pleasure to share the podium today with lots of long-time friends, many of whom have forever been associated with American agriculture. would like to focus today on what kind of future might be ahead of us all as we contemplate the excitement of entering a new century. As we look back, we can only conclude that the 20th century was mighty exciting too, and assuredly challenging from an agricultural policy standpoint.

Redistributing Income Upward Through The Cost-Plus Reimbursement Terms Of Subgovernment Contracts, F. Gregory Hayden, Steven R. Bolduc

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This is a case study designed to test the thesis (drawn from political science literature) that the power of "subgovernments" in the United States has decreased and, in particular, claims a demise in the power of the atomic energy subgovernment as one proof for the thesis. The subgovernment approach to explaining policymaking in the United States "is based on the observation that relatively small groups of actors dominate certain sectors of the political system" [Duffy 1997, 4]. One function of such subgovernments is to redistribute income upward through the cost-plus reimbursement terms of government contracts.

The subgovernmental institutions-also referred to …

Facing A Watershed: Managing Profitable And Sustainable Landscapes In The 21st Century, Heidi Carter, Richard Olson, Charles A. Francis

CARI Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture

Overview of Freshwater Use, Introduction to Watershed Management, and a Watershed Management Plan

Group Dynamics in Designing and Implementing a Watershed Management Plan

Information Sources for Watershed Management

Conservation Buffers and Riparian Management

Farmland Protection, Green Corridors, and Suburban Sprawl

Information Sources for Sustainable Agriculture and Sustainable Agriculture Education

Political And Economic Analysis Of Low-Level Radioactive Waste, F. Gregory Hayden, Steven R. Bolduc

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This year's Veblen-Commons Award recipient, Seymour Melman, has warned that the laws and decisions allowing and encouraging the spread of cost-plus contracts have diminished productive capacity, increased production costs, created unearned profits, and weakened democratic institutions [Melman 1983, 1993]. The concern of this paper is the political organization of the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact (CIC) and the cost-plus contract system that it proposes to use in establishing a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) facility. The current plan is to transport radioactive waste from the LLRW generators in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska to a disposal facility at the …

Instrumentalist Policymaking: Policy Criteria In A Transactional Context, F. Gregory Hayden

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

As an extension of my recent policymaking chapter, Institutionalist Policymaking [Hayden 1993, 283-331], this paper deals with policy criteria in an instrumentalist or pragmatist framework. The works of Charles Peirce and Thorstein Veblen emphasized criteria-Peirce with explicit discussion of their character and Veblen with active application in his evaluations of various economies and institutions. Few scholars have continued in their tradition; Seymour Melman [1983], with his excellent Veblenian application of criteria in industrial policy studies, is a notable exception. Interest in the subject of criteria, except by individualist philosophers, has been scarce in the twentieth century until recently. Thirty years …

From Marx To Markets: Reform Of The University Economics Curriculum In Russia, Stanley L. Brue, Craig Macphee

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

In June 1992, we taught a three-week seminar at Moscow State University that coincided with the beginning of a historic curriculum reform in Russia. The reform had two parts: (I) the replacement of the Marxist-Leninist three-year sequence of courses in political economy with a sequence on market economics and (2) substantial revision of other course requirements for the economics degree. br>
The occasion of our Russian visit was an invitation from Moscow State University to present a seminar on the principles of market economics. The seminar demonstrated the typical content and teaching techniques used in the American micro-macro principles course. …

Policy Perspectives And Future Directions: A View From A Former U.S. Trade Representative, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

Tom Donahue expressed very well where we as a nation and we as a world should go on the worker rights issue. I'm going to spend most of my time focusing on how we get there, if we really want to accomplish something. Many countries would prefer not to have worker rights in the GATT at all. When we went to Punta del Este in 1986 to begin the Uruguay Round, the United States was a minority of one in trying to get the worker rights issue on the agenda in any way, shape, or form.

Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy, And The Carter Presidency, Ann Mari May

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

The Carter years have often been characterized as a period of profound economic malaise brought on by weak and misguided leadership. Indeed, not since Herbert Hoover left office in 1933 has a president faced such pervasive allegations of economic mismanagement. However, examination of broad indicators of economic conditions demonstrates that the economy performed quite well during the Carter years. Moreover, fiscal policy during the Carter Administration was relatively stable and less volatile than fiscal policy during other postwar presidential periods and appropriate in its countercyclical thrust. In contrast, monetary policy was highly erratic compared to monetary policy during other presidential …

Ecosystem Valuation: Combining Economics, Philosophy, And Ecology, F. Gregory Hayden

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Discussions regarding ecological crises often begin by casually identifying anthropocentric traits as responsible for the crises and by briefly explaining the need for holistic or macroscopic modeling. Yet, when modeling begins, policy scientists, philosophers, and social scientists usually are not included, and the models often are not ecological, but are rather narrowly biological or physical. The main purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need for broader and richer modeling and the need to recognize that environmental protection and enhancement is anthropocentric policymaking. The question is not whether it will be anthropocentric, but which anthropocentric values, beliefs, and philosophies …

Statement By Former U. S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

When the Uruguay Round was launched in 1986, those of us who were present expected it to be completed in four years. Regrettably it took seven. The delay reflects the turmoil and disruptions of a global recession, termination of the Cold War, and political turnover among some of the major trading nations. But persistence paid off, this very ambitious Round is now successfully concluded, and the world will be better off for it.

Book Review: Eisenhower And The Management Of Prosperity By John W. Sloan, Ann Mari May

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Twenty-five years ago, Dwight Eisenhower was often depicted as a president with no great competence nor interest in economics or domestic policy issues. However, as those interested in presidential studies know, Eisenhower has been posthumously rehabilitated.

The revisionist literature on Eisenhower is now becoming complete, and John Sloan's book Eisenhower and the Management of Prosperity reflects this revisionism by examining economic policy formation in the 1950s. In Sloan's book, we see an Eisenhower who was not only competent in economics, but was also very aware of the political ramifications of economic policy. We also see in Eisenhower's leadership style a …

Instrumental Valuation Indicators For Natural Resources And Ecosystems, F. Gregory Hayden

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Beldon Daniels, in the early draft of his latest book, which has a working title of Rediscovering America, 1992, has written that there have been four major eras in human history. The fourth, into which we are now evolving, according to Daniels, is the age of intelligence. Although the intelligence activity of the modern age both uses and directs the development of large quantities of data, information, and knowledge; a measurement concept, or unit for valuation has yet to be developed. The industrial age from which we are evolving, consistent with the technology of that era, has used industrial …

Critique Of Contingent Valuation And Travel Cost Methods For Valuing Natural Resources And Ecosystems, W. David Eberle, F. Gregory Hayden

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

In July 1989 the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. disallowed the method that had been established by the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) for determining what a corporation would pay in the case of injury to an ecosystem from hazardous waste spills [Ohio v. Interior 1989]. The DOI method was based on neoclassical methodology and appraisal techniques. The Court ruled that "restoration is the proper remedy for injury to property where measurement of damages by some other method will fail to compensate fully for the injury," and that "natural resources have value that is not readily …

Wetlands Provisions In The 1985 And 1990 Farm Bills, F. Gregory Hayden

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

In 1984, my national agricultural policy article surprised some readers because its first concern was with policy regarding the natural environment [Hayden 1984]. Others thought it contained the policy agenda that agricultural policymakers could expect in the future. The future came more quickly than most expected when the 1985 Farm Bill (Food Security Act) included provisions to limit harmful impacts of the agriculture industry on the environment. The purpose of this article is to explore the importance, success, and future of the Swampbuster provision that was intended to protect wetlands in the United States from further agricultural destruction.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery By Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter To The American Chamber Of Commerce, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

Most Americans won't ever forget -- and I certainly won't -- the news photos taken of the destruction of the Berlin Wall. But even as this political wall was toppling, other walls were going up, ever higher, around the world. I am talking about economic walls -- the subsidies, import bans, price supports, and other policies - which are distorting, and threatening to destroy, the world's agricultural trade.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery To The Journal Of Commerce And The National Foreign Trade Council's Uruguay Round Conference By Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutier, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

It is time to quit pretending that supply management works as a farm income enhancement program. It may in the short run; it doesn't in the long run. It is time to stop pretending that protectionist trade policies help America's agriculture. They may in the short run; they don't in the long run.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery To The Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development Ministerial Meeting By U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeuiter, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

This is a particularly important time for us to be gathering for this Ministerial meeting. The Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is entering a crucial period. It is imperative that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) make a strong statement of support for freer and fairer trade in all fields, including agriculture. The nations of the world are looking to the OECD to clearly point the way toward an improved world trading system.

Remarks Prepared For Delivery To The International Office Of Epizootics By U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter, Clayton K. Yeutter

Clayton K. Yeutter, United States Secretary of Agriculture: Papers

It is a pleasure for me to be with you today at the annual meeting of the International Office of Epizootics. I would first like to congratulate the recipients of your gold and silver awards, which I am sure are well-deserved. I also want to state how much the United States has appreciated the efforts of Director-General Blajan. Although we have only been a member of OlE since 1978, we have developed great respect for this organization. OlE is held in high regard throughout the world, and the firm and competent leadership of Dr. Blajan has been a major reason …