Bekenstein-Hawking entropy from a phenomenological membrane

It is pointed out that the entropy of a membrane which is quantized perturbatively around a background position of fixed radius in a black hole spacetime is equal to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, if 1) the membrane surface is the horizon surface plus one Planck unit, and 2) its temperature is the Hawking temperature. (This is a comment on gr-qc 9411037.)Comment: 1 journal page, Revte

Accounting for the stock of human capital : selected evidence and potential implications.

Humankapital; Bildungsökonomik; Wirtschaftswachstum; Entwicklung; Welt;

Investment in education: some lessons from the international evidence for the Baltic states

The international empirical evidence on the economics of education reveals one central insight and two puzzles, which are all relevant for the case of the Baltic States. The central insight is that social rates of return to education tend to be higher than the social opportunity costs of capital, except for the case of higher education. Based on this microeconomic evidence, the case for public investment in education is well founded, especially at the primary and the secondary levels. The first puzzle is that at the macroeconomic level, the presumed positive link between increases in educational attainment and income growth is difficult to detect. One reason is that a high rate of absorption of well-educated workers by the government sector, typical for many developing countries, is likely to reduce the long-run growth rate. The second puzzle is that there is no clear link between higher spending on educational inputs and higher educational output in the form of improved performance of pupils. As it seems, higher spending on education is not sufficient to improve performance as long as inefficiencies in the schooling system remain. For the Baltic States, three basic lessons emerge from the international evidence: First, public investment in higher education does not show up as a top priority from a social point of view; second, the macroeconomic return to education could turn out to be low if better educated workers predominantly end up in the relatively large government sectors typical for the Baltic States. Third, the productivity of schooling could probably be improved, for instance by a different allocation of resources within the education sector. Most likely, such an outcome would require a fundamental reform of the schooling system itself, not only in the Baltic States. --

Human capital and economic development: a macroeconomic assessment

Despite abundant microeconomic level evidence, the role of human capital in economic development has not been well documented at the macroeconomic level. Up to now, many empirical macro studies lack a consistent theoretical foundation. In addition, the wide range of published results seems to result from measurement problems due to a very narrow concept of human capital focusing on formal education. Future empirical research should take into account other important determinants of human capital such as the quality of education, the experience of the workforce, and the health status and the nutritional status of the population.

Regional convergence of output per worker in China : a neoclassical interpretation.

Regional output per worker has converged across Chinese provinces in 1979- 1989. The estimated rate of convergence is 2.2 percent. This rate of convergence can be explained by neoclassical growth model conditional on assumptions about factor mobility and production elasticities. My empirical results show that capital mobility has been high across Chinese provinces and that the production elasticity of human capital is about twice as high as the production elasticity of physical capital. With less interprovincial capital flows as the result of an expected increase in fiscal decentralization, the rate of convergence of regional output per worker is likely to decline.Arbeitsproduktivität; Interregionale Kapitalmobilität; Humankapital; China;

Education and Economic Development: An Empirical Perspective

There is surprisingly little macroeconomic empirical research which would support a presumed link between education and development. I identify three major reasons why it remains difficult to estimate the economic relevance of education as a determinant of growth and development. First, most empirical research has ignored some of the crucial productivity aspects of education as proposed by new growth models. Second, measuring the contribution of education to economic development has largely ignored international differences in rates of return and the quality of education. Third, the allocation of resources within the education sector usually does not follow considerations of efficiency, which implies that additional spending on education cannot be expected to produce substantial output effects.