The Tax and Transfer Fiscal Impacts of Dropping Out of High School in Philadelphia City and Suburbs

This research article provides detailed information on the effects of the escalating high school drop out rate in Philadelphia. High school dropouts impose very high costs on the broader community. This report details these costs, including: These costs include: lower tax payments to the government, intensive reliance on cash and non-cash government income transfers, and the cost of incarceration. In addition, this article demonstrates how the fiscal consequences of dropping out of high school have been exacerbated by changes in the economy

The Lifetime Employment and Earnings Consequences of Dropping Out of High School in Philadelphia

What's the difference between a Philadelphia graduate and a high school dropout? About $580,000, according to this study which shows the difference in net fiscal contribution over a working lifetime (tax revenue generated vs. tax revenue received) between a Philadelphia student who earns a diploma and one who does not. This research report also offers information on the percentage of students in Philadelphia who do not graduate from high school, the difference in lifetime earnings between high school graduates and high school dropouts, and the likelihood of employment for high school graduates compared to high school dropouts

White Paper: College Access and Retention of Career and Technical Education Graduates

This White Paper on post secondary access and persistence of career and technical education (CTE) graduates, particularly those with disabilities, is produced in collaboration with the Center for Labor and Market Studies at Northeastern University. Currently, little is known about the actual post secondary enrollment of graduates from Massachusetts public high schools and less is known about the post secondary outcomes of the subset of high school graduates with disabilities. Yet, the labor market environment that these young adults will enter is one characterized by a large and growing lifetime earnings advantage to earning a college degree. The findings are based on data about nearly 4,600 high school students from the Classes of 2004 through 2006 who graduated from seven vocational-technical high schools in Massachusetts

Poverty Amid Renewed Affluence: The Poor of New England at Mid-Decade

This article examines the problem of poverty in New England during the current period of economic prosperity. Major trends in the size and composition of the poor population within the region are analyzed. Striking changes in the relative incidence of poverty have occurred among families in New England. As the economy has moved toward full employment, poverty rates among husband-wife families in the region have fallen sharply. In contrast, female-headed families in New England have not benefited substantially from recent rapid increases in employment opportunities. The result has been a persistent trend toward the feminization of poverty in New England. The bulk of poor female family heads are of working age and could potentially be brought into the region\u27s work force. However, education and training services that can successfully attack fundamental barriers to labor force participation must be delivered to these women. Programs designed to overcome low levels of educational attainment and deficient basic skills must be combined with child care and other social services in order to further reduce overall poverty rates across the New England region

Delays in Leniency Application: Is There Really a Race to the Enforcer's Door?

This paper studies cartels’ strategic behavior in delaying leniency applications, a take-up decision that has been ignored in the previous literature. Using European Commission decisions issued over a 16-year span, we show, contrary to common beliefs and the existing literature, that conspirators often apply for leniency long after a cartel collapses. We estimate hazard and probit models to study the determinants of leniency-application delays. Statistical tests find that delays are symmetrically affected by antitrust policies and macroeconomic fluctuations. Our results shed light on the design of enforcement programs against cartels and other forms of conspiracy

U.S. Drinking Water Challenges in the Twenty-First Century

The access of almost all 270 million U.S. residents to reliable, safe drinking water distinguishes the United States in the twentieth century from that of the nineteenth century. The United States is a relatively water-abundant country with moderate population growth; nonetheless, current trends are sufficient to strain water resources over time, especially on a regional basis. We have examined the areas of public water infrastructure, global climate effects, waterborne disease (including emerging and resurging pathogens), land use, groundwater, surface water, and the U.S. regulatory history and its horizon. These issues are integrally interrelated and cross all levels of public and private jurisdictions. We conclude that U.S. public drinking water supplies will face challenges in these areas in the next century and that solutions to at least some of them will require institutional changes

Impact of the Mt. Pinatubo volcaniceruption on the lower ionosphere andatmospheric waves over Central Europe

The very strong volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in June 1991 directly affected the troposphere and lower and middle stratosphere. Here we look at its effects in the mesopause region as revealed by the radio wave absorption measurements in the lower ionosphere over Central Europe and inferred planetary and gravity wave activity. The gravity wave activity inferred from the nighttime LF radio wave absorption displays an evident enhancement for waves of periods of about 2-3 h coinciding with regional measurements of the optical depth of (volcanic) aerosols, while there is no detectable effect for short period waves (T < 1 h). There is no detectable effect in the planetary wave activity inferred from the daytime HF radio wave absorption. As for the absorption itself, the results on the impact of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption do not provide an observable effect

α-Conotoxin Vc1.1 inhibits human dorsal root ganglion neuroexcitability and mouse colonic nociception via GABA\u3csub\u3eB\u3c/sub\u3e receptors

Objective α-Conotoxin Vc1.1 is a small disulfidebonded peptide from the venom of the marine cone snail Conus victoriae. Vc1.1 has antinociceptive actions in animal models of neuropathic pain, but its applicability to inhibiting human dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neuroexcitability and reducing chronic visceral pain (CVP) is unknown. Design We determined the inhibitory actions of Vc1.1 on human DRG neurons and on mouse colonic sensory afferents in healthy and chronic visceral hypersensitivity (CVH) states. In mice, visceral nociception was assessed by neuronal activation within the spinal cord in response to noxious colorectal distension (CRD). Quantitativereverse- transcription-PCR, single-cell-reversetranscription- PCR and immunohistochemistry determined ?-aminobutyric acid receptor B (GABABR) and voltagegated calcium channel (CaV2.2, CaV2.3) expression in human and mouse DRG neurons. Results Vc1.1 reduced the excitability of human DRG neurons, whereas a synthetic Vc1.1 analogue that is inactive at GABABR did not. Human DRG neurons expressed GABABR and its downstream effector channels CaV2.2 and CaV2.3. Mouse colonic DRG neurons exhibited high GABABR, CaV2.2 and CaV2.3 expression, with upregulation of the CaV2.2 exon-37a variant during CVH. Vc1.1 inhibited mouse colonic afferents ex vivo and nociceptive signalling of noxious CRD into the spinal cord in vivo, with greatest efficacy observed during CVH. A selective GABABR antagonist prevented Vc1.1-induced inhibition, whereas blocking both CaV2.2 and CaV2.3 caused inhibition comparable with Vc1.1 alone. Conclusions Vc1.1-mediated activation of GABABR is a novel mechanism for reducing the excitability of human DRG neurons. Vc1.1-induced activation of GABABR on the peripheral endings of colonic afferents reduces nociceptive signalling. The enhanced antinociceptive actions of Vc1.1 during CVH suggest it is a novel candidate for the treatment for CVP