Economics of Education
Spring 2009
Instructor: Professor Michael Podgursky

Readings

1. Background

F. Hayek. 1946. "The Use of Knowledge in Society." American Economic Review

George Stigler. 1971. "The Economic Theory of Regulation." Bell Journal of Economics. Spring, pp. 3-71.

Overview of statistics on US and international education from:

National Center for Education Statistics. www.nces.ed.gov

OECD www.oecd.org

 

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2. Human Capital and Economic Growth

John Bishop. 1989. "Is the Test Score Decline Responsible for the Productivity Growth Decline?" American Economic Review. 79 (March), pp. 178-197.

Eric Hanushek and Dennis Kimko. 2000. "Schooling, Labor-Force Quality, and the Growth of Nations." American Economic Review. Vol. 90, No. 5 (December), pp. 1184-1208.

Richard Freeman. 2005 “Does Globalization of Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?” NBER Working Paper 11457 (June).

Eric Hanushek, Dean Jamison, Eliot Jamison, and Ludger Woessman.  “Education and Economic Growth.” Education Next.  Spring, 2008.  Vol. 8 No. 2., pp. 62-70.

 

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3. Returns to Education / Human Capital Studies

George Borjas. Labor Economics. ch. 7.

Orley Ashenfelter and Alan Krueger. 1994 "Estimates of Returns to Schooling using a New Sample of Twins." American Economic Review 84, pp. 1157-1173.

Joshua Angrist and Alan Krueger. 1991 "Does Compulsory Schooling Affect Schooling and Earnings?" Quarterly Journal of Economics 106, 977-1014.

Murnane, Richard, John Willett, and Frank Levy. 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination." Review of Economics and Statistics. 74, 2, pp.

Derek Neal. 1996. "The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-White Wage Differences." Journal of Political Economy. 104, 5 (October), pp. 869-895.

James Heckman. 1993. "The Non-Equivalence of High School Equivalents." Journal of Labor Economics. Part 1. Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 1-47.

Pedro Carneiro and James Heckman. 2003. “Human Capital Policy” Cambridge, MA: NBER. Working Paper 9495.

 

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4. K-12 School Finance

Eric Hanushek and Alfred Lindseth. 2009. Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Charles Tiebout. 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures." Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 64 No. 5 (October), pp. 416-424.

Sandra Black. 1999. "Parental Valuation of Elementary Education." Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 114 No. 2 (May), pp. 577-599.

David Figlio and Maurice Lucas.  2004.  “What’s in a Grade?  School Report Cards and Housing Prices.”
The American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 3 (June),  591-604

Murray, S.E., Evans, W.N., Schwab, R.M. (1998). "Education-Finance Reform and the Distribution of Education Resources." The American Economic Review, 88(4), 789-812.

Caroline Hoxby. 1996. "Are Efficiency and Equity in School Finance Substitutes or Complements?" Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 10 No. 4 (Autumn), pp. 51-72.

Caroline Hoxby. 2001. "All School Finance Equalizations are Not Created Equal." The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(4), 1189-1231.30

T. Nechyba, "Prospects for Achieving Equity or Adequacy in Education: The Limits of State Aid in Georgia Equilibrium" in J. Yinger (ed) Helping Children Left Behind.:Cambridge: MIT Press, (2004), 111-143

M. Podgursky and M. Springer.  "K-12 Public School Finance in Missouri:  An Overview."  Regional Economic Development.  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  Vol 2. No. 1., pp. 31-50. 

M. Podgursky, M. Springer and J. Smith "A New Defendant at the Table: An Overview of Missouri School Finance and Recent Litigation" Peabody Journal of Education 83(2) (2008), 174-197

Circuit Court Decision on Mo School Finance Case, Oct. 2007

Supreme Court Decision Mo School Finance Case (CEE v. MO), Aug. 2009.

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5. Education Production

Hanushek, Eric A. 1986. “The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools.” Journal of Economic Literature. Vol. 24. No. 3 (Summer), pp. 557-77.

Hanushek, Eric. A. 2003. “The Failure of Input-Based Resource Policies.” The Economic Journal. Vol. 113 No. 485 (February). pp. F64-F98.

Todd, Petra E and Kenneth I Wolpin. “On the Specification and Estimation of the Production Function for Cognitive Achievement.” Economic Journal 113 (485) (February, 2003), pp. F3-F33.

Robert Costrell, Eric Hanushek, and Susanna Loeb.  2008.   "What Do Cost Functions Tell Us About the Cost of an Adequate Education?"   Peabody Journal of Education.  83 (2):  198-223.

 

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6. Teacher Effectiveness

Aaronson, Daniel, Lisa Barrow, and William Sander. 2003. "Teachers and Student Achievement in the Chicago Public High Schools" Working Paper. Research Department. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Brian A. Jacob and Lars Lefgren. 2005. "Principals as Agents: Subjective Performance Measurement in Education." NBER Working Paper 11463.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w11463

Rivkin, Steven, Eric Hanushek, and John Kain. 2004. “Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement.” Econometrica. Vol. 73 No. 2 (March), pp. 417-458.

Steven Glazerman, Daniel Mayer, and Paul Decker. “Alternative Routes to Teaching: The Impacts of Teach for America on Student Achievement and Other Outcomes.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 25 (1) (Winter 2006), pp. 75-96.

Dale Ballou, William Sanders, and Paul Wright, “Controlling for Student Background in Value-Added Assessment of Teachers,” Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics. Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring, 2004), pp. 37-65;

Wayne, Andrew J. and Peter Youngs. “Teacher Characteristics and Student Achievement: A Review.” Review of Education Research. Vol. 73 No. 1 (Spring, 2003), pp. 89-122; ;

Donald Boyd, Hamilton Lankford, Jim Wyckoff, Pamela Grossman, Susanna Loeb “How Changes in Entry Requirements Alter the Teacher Workforce and Affect Student Achievement.” Education Finance and Policy. 2006. forthcoming

Thomas Kane, Jonah Rockoff, and Douglas Staiger. “What Does Certification Tell Us About Teacher Effectiveness? Evidence from New York City.” Harvard Graduate School of Education (March, 2006), p. 40.

Angrist, Joshua and Victor Lavy. “Does Teacher Training Affect Student Achievement? Evidence from Matched Comparisons in Jerusalem Public Schools.” Journal of Labor Economics 19 (2000), pp. 343-369

Cory Koedel.  “Teacher Quality and Educational Production in Secondary School.” University of Missouri Economic Department Working Paper Series

Cory Koedel and Julian Betts.  “Re-Examining the Role of Teacher Quality In the Educational Production Function.” University of Missouri Economic Department Working Paper Series

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7. Teacher Labor Markets

M. Friedman. 1962.  Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.  

Simon Rottenberg.  1962.  “The Economics of Occupational Licensing.”  National Bureau of Economic Research.  Aspects of Labor Economics.  Princeton University Press.

M. Kleiner.  2000.  “Occupational Licensing.” Journal of Economic Perspectives.  14 (4) (Autumn), pp. 189-202.

Dale Ballou. 1999. "Do Public Schools Hire the Best Teachers?" Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 111. No. 1 (February), pp. 97-133.

Caroline Hoxby. 2001. "How Teacher Unions Affect Education Production." Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 111. No. 3 (August), pp. 671-718.

Hamilton Lankford, Susanna Loeb, James Wyckoff. 2002. "Teacher Sorting and the Plight of Urban Schools." Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 37-62.

M. Podgursky. “Is Teacher Pay ‘Adequate?' ” in Paul Peterson and Martin West (eds) School Money Trials: The Legal Pursuit of Education Adequacy, Washington, D.C. Brookings (2007)

M. Podgursky, R. Monroe, D. Watson. "Academic Quality of Public School Teachers: An Analysis of Entry and Exit Behavior." Economics of Education Review 23 (2004), pp. 507-518.

"Improving Academic Performance in U.S. Public Schools: Why Teacher Licensing is (Almost) Irrelevant," Chapter 10 in A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom? Havard Education Press, 2004

Hoxby, Caroline and Andrew Leigh. “Pulled Away or Pushed Out? Explaining the Decline of Teacher Aptitude in the U.S.” American Economic Review. Vol. 94 No. 2 (May, 2004), pp. 236-240.

M. Podgursky.  “Market Based Compensation Reform in K-12 Education.”

M. Podgursky.   "Teacher Compensation and Collective Bargaining."   Economics of Education.  Vol 3  Forthcoming

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8. Class Size and Student Achievement

Edward P. Lazear "Educational Production" The Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 2001

Dadius Lakdawall, "Quantity over Quality" Education Next, Fall 2002

Alan B. Krueger, "Experimental Estimates Of Education Production Functions" The Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1999

Joshua D. Angrist And Victor Lavy, "Using Maimonides’ Rule To Estimate The Effect Of Class Size On Scholastic Achievement" The Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1999

Caroline M. Hoxby, "The Effects Of Class Size On Student Achievement: New Evidence From Population Variation" The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2000

 

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9. Evaluation of Teacher Quality / Pay Reforms

Steven Cantrell, Jon Fullerton, Thomas Kane, Douglas Staiger.  “National Board Certification and Teacher Effectiveness:  Evidence from a Random Assignment Experiment.” Harvard University: Graduate School of Education.  (June)

Victor Lavy. "Performance Pay and Teachers' Effort, Productivity, and Grading Ethics." NBER WP-10822.
www.nber.org/papers/w10622

Robert Costrell and Michael Podgursky.  “Peaks, Cliffs, and Valleys:  The Peculiar Incentives of Teacher Pensions.” Education Next.  Winter 2008 Vol 8 No. 1, pp. 22-28.

M. Podgursky. “Market-Based Pay Reforms for Teachers.” (2008).

M. Podgursky and M. Springer. “Teacher Performance Pay: A Survey.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 24(2) (2007), 909-949.

K. Muralidharan and V. Sundararaman. “Teacher Incentives in Developing Countries: Evidence from India.” (2008)

J. Vigdor. 2008. "Scrap the Sacrosanct Salary Schedule." Education Next 4 (Fall)

 

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10. Accountability and Standards

R. Costrell.  1994.  "A Simple Model of Educational Standards."   American Economic Review.   84 (1), 956-971.

Martin Carnoy and Susanna Loeb. 2002. "Does External Accountability Affect Student Outcomes? A Cross-State Analysis." Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 2002.

Eric A. Hanushek, Margaret E. Raymond. "Does School Accountability Lead to Improved Student Performance?" Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. NBER Working Paper 10591

D. Figlio, C. Rouse, J. Hannaway and D. Goldhaber "Feeling the Heat? Low Performing Schools Respond to Voucher and Accountability Pressure" NBER Working Paper W13681 (Dec. 2007)

Derek Neal and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach "Left Behind by Design: Proficiency Counts and Test-Based Accounting" NBER Working Paper W13293 (August 2007)

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11. School Choice

M. Friedman "Capitalism and Freedom" Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Ch. 6

C. Horby (ed) The Economics of School Choice Chicago: University of Chicago Press (2003)

Derek Neal. "How Vouchers Could Change the Market for Education." Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 16 No. 4 (2002), pp. 25-44.

Helen Ladd. "School Vouchers: A Critical View" Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 16 No. 4 (2002), pp. 3-24.

Derek Neal.  “The Effect of Catholic Secondary Schooling on Educational Achievement.”  Journal of Labor Economics. 15(1) part 1, 98-123.

C. Hoxby and J. Rockoff "Findings from the City of Big Shoulders " Education Next (2005)

C.  Hoxby.  “Does Competition Among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?”  American Economic Review.  Vol. 90 No. 5 (Dec. 2000),  pp. 1209-1238

J. Angrist, et. al. 2002.  "Vouchers for Private Schooling in Columbia:  Evidence from a Randomized Natural Experiment."   American Economic Review  92 (December), pp. 1535-58

C. Hoxby and S. Murarka.  2008.  "New York City Charter Schools:  How Well Are They Teaching Their Students?" Education Next.  Vol 8 No. 3 (Summer), pp. 54-61.

C. Hoxby and S. Murarka.  2009.   "Charter Schools in New York City:   Who Enrolls and How They Affect Student Achievement."   Cambridge, MA:   NBER  WP14852.

Abdulkadiroglu, et.al.  2009.  Informing the Debate:  Comparing Boston's Charter, Pilot, and Traditional Schools. Boston:  The Boston Foundation.

CREDO. 2009.  Multiple Choice:  Charter School Performance in 16 States.   Stanford University.

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12. Higher Education: Access and "Affordability"

C. Goldin and L. Katz.   "The Shaping of Higher Education:  The Formative Years in the United States, 1890 to 1940."   Journal of Economic Perspectives.  Vol. 13 No. 1 (Winter),  pp. 37-62.

Lee Hansen and Burton Weisbrod. 1969. "The Distribution of Costs and Direct Benefits of Public Higher Education: The Case of California" Journal of Human Resources. Vol 4 No. 2, pp. 176-191.

Gordon Winston.1999. "Subsidies, Hierarchy and Peers: The Awkward Economics of Higher Education" Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 13-36.

Thomas Kane. 1994. "College Entry by Blacks since 1970: The Role of College Costs, Family Background, and the Returns to Education." Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 102 No. 5 (October), pp. 878-911.

James Heckman and Steven Cameron. 2001. "The Dynamics of Educational Attainment for Black, Hispanic, and White Males." Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 109 No. 3, pp. 435-499.

Bradley Curs and Larry Singell jr. 2002. “An analysis of the application and enrollment processes for in-state and out-of-state students at a large public university.” Economics of Education Review. Vol. 21 No. 2 (April), pp. 111-124;

Cameron, Stephen V. and Christopher Taber. "Estimation of Educational Borrowing Constraints Using Returns to Schooling." Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 112 No. 1 pt. 1 (2004), pp. 132-182

C. Hoxby (ed) College Choices: The Economics of Where You Go, When to Go and How to Pay for It Chicago: University of Chicago Press (2004)

S. Dale and A. Krueger.   2002.   “Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College.”  Quarterly Journal of Economics.  Vol 117 No. 4 (Nov), pp. 1491-1527.
 
T. Kane and C. Rouse.   1999.   “The Community College:   Education Students at the Margin College and Work.”  Journal of  Economic Perspectives.   Vol 13 No. 1 (Winter), pp. 63-84.