Does affirmative action work?

After four decades, we are still debating how much impact affirmative action can and should have on opportunities and outcomes at work.Discrimination in employment ; Sex discrimination against women ; Affirmative action programs

Commentary on Empirical Research on an Asset Building Policy: A Microeconomic Perspective

Commentary on Empirical Research on an Asset Building Policy: A Microeconomic Perspectiv

Publishing Trends in Economics across Colleges and Universities, 1991-2007

There is good reason to think that non-elite programs in economics may be producing relatively more research than in the past: Research expectations have been ramped-up at non-PhD institutions and new information technologies have changed the way academic knowledge is produced and exchanged. This study investigates this question by examining publishing productivity in economics (and business) using data from the Web of Science (Knowledge) for a broad set of institutions – both elite and non-elite – over a 17-year period, from 1991 through 2007. Institutions are grouped into six tiers using a variety of sources. The analysis provides evidence that non-elite institutions are gaining on their more elite counterparts, but the magnitude of the gains are small. Thus, the story is more of constancy than of change, even in the face of changing technology and rising research expectations.higher education, research productivity, publishing trends, inequality

The relationship between the housing & labor market crises and doubling-up: An MSA-level analysis, 2005-2010

It is now well-established that the U.S. housing market crisis preceded the labor market crisis and that, in the wake of these crises, doubling-up and cohabitation increased and homeownership fell. What is less clear is what happened at the subnational level. This study reports on: 1) how the length, severity and relative timing of both the labor market and housing crises varied by MSA; and 2) the association between the timing of the labor market and housing crises and changes in homeownership and doubling-up at the MSA level. The analysis is conducted using data on 353 MSAs, with a focus on 12 MSAs, for the period 2005 (pre-crisis) through 2010/2011. MSAs are categorized into those where the housing market declined first, those where the labor market declined first, and those where the events were concurrent. The analysis reveals that: 1) in the majority of MSAs, the labor market declined first, contrary to the national pattern and the experience of the vast majority of large MSAs; 2) there is a clear relationship between greater regional housing distress and falling homeownership rates; and 3) somewhat surprisingly, the association between changes in doubling-up and these crises are fairly weak at the MSA level

How Did the Housing and Labor Market Crises Affect Young Adults' Living Arrangements?

The housing and labor market crises of the late 2000s left few families and individuals unscathed. In the wake of these events, evidence points to more "doubling-up" of families in the same household. To what extent have these crises affected individuals' decisions to live independently? What differentiates this study from others is the careful attention paid to the role of housing market conditions as measured by MSA-level housing prices, rents, and foreclosure rates on this decision. The empirical analysis is conducted by appending data on area-level conditions for 85 of the largest MSAs in the United States to individual-level data from the ACS PUMS on living arrangements of young adults ages 22 to 34 living in these MSAs. The analysis spans the period 2005 (pre-crisis) through 2011. Within this time period, all MSAs experienced a rise in housing prices, a peak, and then a decline. Regarding the area-level variables, we find a robust statistically significant effect for rent only. Our broader conclusion is that it is individual-level factors, not area-level conditions that largely lie behind young adults' living arrangement decisions

The Struggle to Make Ends Meet: Teen Employment and the 1996 Federal Welfare Legislation

This study investigates the possibility that teens in more economically-disadvantaged families may have entered the labor market in response to the 1996 welfare legislation that replaced AFDC with TANF. Data are from the outgoing rotation groups of the Current Population Survey (CPS) from September 1995-May 1996 (pre-TANF) and from September 2000-May 2001 (post-TANF). To identify the policy\u27s effect, we compare changes in the employment of teens in economically-disadvantaged families over the study period with changes in the employment of their more advantaged counterparts (a difference-in-difference methodology). We find that teen employment significantly increased among those in economically-disadvantaged families relative to their more-advantaged counterparts, even after controlling for macroeconomic conditions, among other factors. Our results suggest that TANF\u27s pro-employment effects go beyond the effects previously identified for single mothers

Beyond EDI: An Agent’s Role in the Cloud

This year has garnered ample conversation and controversy regarding new cloud‐based ILS systems and their value to libraries. The emphasis of these discussions has been on integrating cloud‐based systems with database services/aggregators and libraries, but there has been very little mention of the Agent or Information Solutions Provider (ISP). Is there a role for the ISP in this new medium? If so, what is it? The presenters, librarian and vendors both, will highlight thoughts and theories on an integrated approach among ILS vendors, ISPs and librarians. Experienced in working with web‐based e‐procurement systems for corporate libraries, ISPs are in a unique position to offer streamlined, real‐time integration with cloud‐based services. These services (the silver linings) go beyond EDI to include exchanging licensing information, pricing, purchase orders and renewals, just to name a few. Information Solution Providers are already comfortable in the cloud and are dedicated to playing a vital role in the supply of information

Design and Development of Virtual Patients for Healthcare Education: State of the Art and Research

The digital transformation of healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated research and deployment of virtual patients (VP), that is, interactive computer simulations used in healthcare education to train students on clinical processes. To help researchers and practitioners understand the state of the art in VP development, we conducted a systematic literature review of 48 papers. Our analysis focused on educational level, medical specialty, competencies, technologies, technical format, and operating systems and tools. We found that VPs are primarily used in the medical field and student education as interactive patient scenarios based on multimedia system technology. VP authoring systems were identified as the primary tool for developing primary clinical reasoning skills. Based on our findings, we suggest implications for medical education research and practice