School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA)
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Browsing School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) by Content Type "Working paper"
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- Back to the Future: Lösch, Isard, and the Role of Money and Credit in the Space-EconomyBieri, David S. (Virginia Tech, 2016-08)The recent financial crisis has been a powerful reminder that the intersectoral flow of funds is also—always and everywhere—a local phenomenon with real effects. Yet, the contemporary canon of regional economic theory has enshrined the classical dichotomy, treating the spheres of money and production as analytically distinct. Consequently, the current literature has little to say about monetary phenomena and their spatial consequences. The widespread disengagement of regional scientists with respect to issues of money, credit and banking represents a radical break with the discipline’s intellectual origins over half a century ago. This chapter re-examines the monetary content of some of the foundational works in regional science. In particular, I argue that August Lösch andWalter Isard, the former a student of Joseph Schumpeter’s and the latter a student of Alvin Hansen’s, both represent important branches in the long lineage of 20th century continental and U.S. monetary thought, respectively. In doing so, this chapter also outlines key elements of a research agenda that reengages with regional aspects of money and credit, casting them as central pillars of a Lösch-Isard synthesis.
- Bobbing for Bad Apples: Accreditation, Quantitative Performance Measures, and the Identification of Low-Performing CollegesKlasik, Daniel; Hutt, Ethan (Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), 2018-08-01)Recent trends in higher education have increased interest in improving accountability in U.S. higher education beyond current accreditation practices. Using a unique dataset of accreditation actions, the authors examine the relationship between outcomes of the current accreditation system with those of a hypothetical quantitative evaluation system. They find that schools facing accreditation sanctions are, on average, low-performing on the quantitative outcomes. However, using prior accreditation actions to set quantitative-performance benchmarks results in a substantial portion of the higher education sector being implicated. These results suggest that quantitative-performance systems and qualitative accreditation efforts assess distinct, complementary types of institutional quality.
- Conceptualizing Financial Resilience: The Challenges for Urban TheoryBieri, David S. (Virginia Tech, 2016-01)This chapter outlines an urban theory of ‘financial resilience’ that accounts for the fact that the concurrent processes of urbanization and financialization render the economic system at once resilient and unstable. The notion of financial resilience thus conceived helps to advance our understanding of the processes of globalized urbanization in an era of financialized capitalism. Rejecting the classical notion of ‘monetary neutrality’, such a theory of resilience highlights that the particular behavioral attributes of a capitalist economy evolve around the (spatial) impact of money, credit and finance upon system behavior. One of my central claims in this regard is that the resilience of the monetary-financial system is an enduring theme that characterizes the historical reality of the American metropolis. The position outlined here envisions establishing ‘financial resilience’ as an analytical concept for urban theory that captures the systemic behavior of capitalist development in terms of the historical and institutional co-evolution of the process of urbanization and the monetary-financial system as a whole. In relating financial resilience to modes of urban capitalist governance and regulation, the discussion of the spatial aspects of financial resilience is cast both in terms of an institutional view of resilience (the resilience of both micro- and macro-level entities) and, in terms of a functional view of resilience (the resilience of funding flows and asset flows).
- The Effects of Grant Aid on Student Persistence and Degree Attainment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Causal EvidenceNguyen, Tuan D.; Kramer, Jenna W.; Evans, Brent J. (Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), 2018-03-01)It is well established that financial aid, in the form of grants, increases the probability of enrollment in postsecondary education. A slate of studies in recent years has extended this research to examine whether grant aid also has an impact on persistence and degree attainment. This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the causal evidence of the effect of grant aid on postsecondary persistence and degree attainment. A meta-analysis of 42 studies yielding 73 effect sizes estimates that grant aid increases the probability of student persistence and degree completion between two and three percentage points, and estimates that an additional $1,000 of grant aid improves year-to-year persistence by 1.2 percentage points. Suggestions for future research and implications for policy are discussed.
- Financial Stability Rearticulated: Institutional Reform, Post-Crisis Governance, and the New Regulatory Landscape in the United StatesBieri, David S. (Virginia Tech, 2015-02)The recent financial crisis was a powerful reminder that the inherent instability of the monetary-financial system is likely to entail serious consequences for the real economy. In the U.S., the monumental Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”) has provided legislation that aims to institutionalise several aspects a new thinking on financial stability. In addition to the interagency Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”), the creation of the The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) marks an important departure from the U.S. regulatory tradition of de-centralized agencies whereby the institutional locus of financial oversight depended on the precise nature of the legal structure of and business activities pursued by individual financial intermediaries. In its mandate and institutional structure, the CFPB unifies both “micro-prudential” and “macro- prudential” principles of financial regulation to enhance overall financial stability. From an historical perspective, the creation of the CFPB does not change the regulatory landscape to the same extent as did the creation of the Federal Reserve after the Panic of 1907 or the creation of the FDIC after the 1933 Banking Crisis. At the same time, however, the CFPB represents an important historical shift in the policy focus of U.S. financial regulation away from bank stability bank to a broad notion of financial stability that recognises the increased financialisation of households’ welfare.
- Gender and Belonging in Undergraduate Computer ScienceVivyan, Erika; Benbow, Ross J. (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2016-04-01)While women’s overall participation across the sciences has been increasing, their participation in computer science has been decreasing. In this article, the authors qualitatively analyze local educational settings to better understand this tendency, focusing on student experiences in the kinds of gateway courses that have been shown to play such an important role in women’s decisions to leave the sciences (e.g., PCAST, 2012; Seymour & Hewitt, 1997). By using a theoretical framework that emphasizes the influence of contextualized interactions on student feelings of belonging, the authors address the following questions in reference to two gateway computer science courses at two universities: First, which characteristics and interactions in each gateway course context—including local classroom, departmental, institutional, or disciplinary characteristics—influence whether students in general and women in particular feel they belong in computer science? Second, how do local gateway course settings compare and contrast, and how does this analysis help us better understand women’s persistence in computer science?
- Global Effects of U.S. Dividend Income TaxLai, Tat-kei; Ng, Travis; Tsang, Kwok Ping (Virginia Tech, 2016-07-27)Do non-U.S. firms respond to the U.S. dividend income tax? To explore this question, we examine the 2003 dividend tax cut which only applies to certain non-U.S. firms depending on both tax treaties and corresponding foreign withholding taxes. We find that 1) foreign firms from which U.S. investors enjoy the full tax cut become more likely to initiate or increase their dividends; 2) such changes are stronger across those foreign firms that are bigger, index-included and with higher credit rating; and 3) these firms also respond consistently to the expiry of the tax cut.
- Hiring as Cultural Gatekeeping into Occupational Communities: Implications for College Students, Faculty, and Career AdvisorsHora, Matthew T. (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2018-01-01)In this article, the author explores the role that culture plays in employment decisions, and subsequent implications for postsecondary educators, advisors, and students. Specifically, the study reported here examines that critical linkage between college and the labor market—the hiring process itself. Then, the role that culture plays in facilitating (or thwarting) employability is a crucial question for scholars studying college student career readiness and stratification processes, as well as for students, career advisors, and educators interested in how the college experience can best prepare graduates for a challenging and potentially capricious labor market.
- How College Students Use Advanced Placement CreditEvans, Brent J. (Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), 2018-10-01)Millions of high school students take Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which can provide college credit. Using nationally representative data, I identify a diverse set of higher education outcomes that are related to receipt of AP college credit. Institution fixed effects regression reduces bias associated with varying AP credit policies and student sorting across higher education. Results indicate college credits earned in high school are related to reduced time to degree, double majoring, and taking more advanced coursework. Bounding exercises suggest the time to degree and double major outcomes are not likely driven by bias from unobserved student characteristics. Policies used to support earning college credits while in high school appear to enhance undergraduate education and may accelerate time to degree.
- Identifying Preferences for Equal College Access, Income, and Income EqualityLara, Bernardo; Shores, Kenneth A. (Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), 2018-05-01)Revealed preferences for equal college access may be due to beliefs that equal access increases societal income or income equality. To isolate preferences for those goods, we implement an online discrete choice experiment using social statistics generated from true variation among commuting zones. We find that, ceteris paribus, the average income that individuals are willing to sacrifice is (i) $4,998 dollars to increase higher education (HE) enrollment by 1 standard deviation (14%); (ii) $1,168 dollars to decrease rich/poor gaps in HE enrollment by 1 standard deviation (8%); (iii) $2,897 to decrease the 90/10 income inequality ratio by 1 standard deviation (1.66).
- Impacts of State Aid For Non-Traditional StudentsGurantz, Oded (Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), 2018-09-01)Do tuition vouchers and cash subsidies promote educational or labor force outcomes for “non-traditional” students? The author uses a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impacts of a state aid program with an unobserved eligibility cutoff. Eligibility has no impact on degree completion for students with a preference for community colleges or four-year colleges but increases bachelor’s degrees for students interested in for-profit colleges by four percentage points. The author finds no impact on employment or earnings for all applicants. This research highlights challenges in promoting human capital investment for adults.
- A New Multilateral Framework for the Middle EastPeters, Joel (Virginia Tech, 2009-01)The numerous policy challenges facing the United States and the international community in the Middle East are interrelated. This demands the adoption a comprehensive approach to the region rather than a set of bilateral initiatives. Any new diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict should look beyond the Israeli- Palestinian and the Israeli-Syrian bilateral issues at stake and situate those negotiations within a broader comprehensive regional approach. This paper calls for the setting up of a new multilateral track to complement renewed diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving an Israeli- Palestinian and an Israeli-Syrian peace agreement. This new multilateral framework should consist of two baskets, a ‘security’ basket and an ‘economic and social development’ basket. The paper reviews the experience and activities of the previous multilateral talks set up by the 1991 Madrid Conference. It evaluates the contribution of those talks to the Arab-Israeli peace process and discusses with the strengths and failings of those talks. The paper concludes by offering a number ideas for the structure and functioning of this new multilateral framework.
- Out of the Education Desert: How Limited Local College Options are Associated with Inequity in Postsecondary OpportunitiesKlasik, Daniel; Blagg, Kristin; Pekor, Zachary (Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), 2018-08-01)The U.S. has a stratified hierarchy of college and universities. Consequences of this stratification include large disparities in the returns to higher education between levels of postsecondary institutions, and gaps by race and income in terms of where students enroll that, together, have the potential to reproduce long standing social inequality. The authors study one potential cause associated with enrollment disparities: the uneven geographic distribution of colleges around the U.S. They find that students in access deserts are more likely to apply to and enroll in colleges farther away from home than students who have more readily available college options. In contrast, students in match deserts are less likely to apply to and enroll in academically-matched institutions. Finally, the authors discuss the equity implications of these findings and make recommendations for policy and future research.
- The Role of Career Services Programs and Sociocultural Factors in Student Career DevelopmentChin, Mun Yuk; Blackburn Cohen, Chelsea A.; Hora, Matthew T. (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2018-06-01)Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students’ rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC’s provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC’s integration of students’ backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students’ narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part of their career trajectories. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
- Should We Still be Talking About Leaving? A Comparative Examination of Social Inequality in Undergraduate Patterns of Switching MajorsFerrare, Joseph J.; Lee, You‐Geon (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2014-11-01)Switching majors from one field of study to another is often thought to be a natural and productive part of the undergraduate experience—a process by which students find the best fit for their needs, interests, and aspirations. Yet, in fields with strong social closure, such as the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, students’ decisions to switch their major from one field to another do not always fit the innocence of this functionalist explanation. Instead, many students switch because of conflicts they experience in the social and cultural conditions encountered in these fields (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997). Building from different theories, the authors examine the relationships of why a student may or may not switch from one major to another, when taken together the academic, cultural, economic, and institutional contexts of students’ switching and persistence decisions.
- Skilled Non-College Occupations in the U.S.Scaglione, Matias D. (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2018-06-01)This article presents a new approach to the identification of relatively skilled occupations that do not typically require a bachelor’s degree for entry. The author calls this group of occupations Skilled Non-College Occupations (SNCOs). The proposed approach relies heavily on a new skills index based on data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. In contrast with studies that estimate that employment in so-called middle-skill jobs in the U.S. represents one third to nearly a half of total employment, this study estimates that the combined employment of SNCOs accounted for 16.2% of all jobs in 2016. Exploratory analysis shows that SNCOs (a) represent only one in five jobs that do not require a 4-year college degree for entry; (b) encompass a wide variety of occupations and industries, even though they are highly concentrated in a relatively small number of them; (c) usually pay above average wages; (d) show a quite low correlation between wages and the skills scores; and (e) include a significant proportion of workers who are potentially underemployed in terms of their level of educational attainment.
- Smooth Sailing in a Perfect Storm of Student Debt? Change and Inequality in Borrowing and Returns to Advanced DegreesPyne, Jaymes; Grodsky, Eric (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2018-08-01)Recent efforts to understand aggregate student loan debt have shifted the focus away from undergraduate borrowing and toward dramatically rising debt among graduate and professional students. The authors suggest educational debt plays a key role in social stratification by deterring bachelor’s degree holders from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds from pursuing lucrative careers through advanced degree programs. In contrast to undergraduate debt alone, the burden of educational debt among graduate borrowers appears to have fallen on students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and historically discriminated students of color more so than their more advantaged counterparts and women more so than men. Average graduate degree wage premiums over bachelor’s degree holders are substantial for many who graduate with advanced degrees, but are particularly high for African American graduates, complicating simple conclusions about the stratification of debt at the postgraduate level.
- Where’s the Crisis? How Undergraduate Enrollment Patterns Influence Growth in Student DebtPyne, Jaymes; Grodsky, Eric (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2018-08-01)When planning for college, students face a range of constrained choices governed in part by variation among institutions. What are the economic consequences of those decisions and constraints during and after college? We know borrowing patterns vary by institutional sector, yet colleges within a sector vary considerably by admission and graduation rates, returns to degrees, and costs for students. Using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students and Baccalaureate and Beyond studies, the authors evaluate undergraduate student loan debt and labor market outcomes differentiated by institutional sector and competitiveness.