Exploring the perspectives of a mixed case study approach for the evaluation of the EU Rural Development Policy 2007-2013

For the evaluation of the EU Rural Development Policy in the programming period 2007-2013, the European Commission has designed a Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF). Given a widespread lack of enthusiasm and the complexity of the CMEF, in this paper a comparative analysis of 22 evaluation methods of rural development policy is conducted in order to explore whether an alternative approach for the evaluation of the EU Rural Development Policy exists. The mixed case study approach is identified as potential alternative. This approach combines the analysis of data on input and output with in-depth interviews. First results of testing this method in the mid-term evaluation of the EU Rural Development Policy 2007-2009 in the Dutch NUTS2 region of Zeeland indicate that this approach might be a promising alternative to the CMEF. It is easier to implement and renders useful insight into the question why measures have been effective.Evaluation methods, EU Rural Development Policy, mixed case-study approach, Agricultural and Food Policy, R500, R580,

A Note on Adapting Propensity Score Matching and Selection Models to Choice Based Samples

The probability of selection into treatment plays an important role in matching and selection models. However, this probability can often not be consistently estimated, because of choice-based sampling designs with unknown sampling weights. This note establishes that the selection and matching procedures can be implemented using propensity scores fit on choice-based samples with misspecified weights, because the odds ratio of the propensity score fit on the choice-based sample is monotonically related to the odds ratio of the true propensity scores.choice-based sampling, matching models, propensity scores, selection models

Earnings Functions, Rates of Return and Treatment Effects: The Mincer Equation and Beyond

This paper considers the interpretation of "Mincer rates of return." We test and reject the Mincer model. It fails to track the time series of true returns. We show how repeated cross section and panel data improves the ability of analysts to estimate the ex ante and ex post marginal rate of returns. Accounting for sequential revelation of information calls into question the validity of the internal rate of return as a tool for policy analysis. The large estimated psychic costs of schooling found in recent work helps to explain why persons do not attend school even though the financial rewards for doing so are high. We present methods for computing distributions of ex post and ex ante returns.

Fifty Years of Mincer Earnings Regressions

The Mincer earnings function is the cornerstone of a large literature in empirical economics. This paper discusses the theoretical foundations of the Mincer model and examines the empirical support for it using data from Decennial Censuses and Current Population Surveys. While data from 1940 and 1950 Censuses provide some support for Mincer's model, data from later decades are inconsistent with it. We examine the importance of relaxing functional form assumptions in estimating internal rates of return to schooling and of accounting for taxes, tuition, nonlinearity in schooling, and nonseparability between schooling and work experience. Inferences about trends in rates of return to high school and college obtained from our more general model differ substantially from inferences drawn from estimates based on a Mincer earnings regression. Important differences also arise between cohort-based and cross-sectional estimates of the rate of return to schooling. In the recent period of rapid technological progress, widely used cross-sectional applications of the Mincer model produce dramatically biased estimates of cohort returns to schooling. We also examine the implications of accounting for uncertainty and agent expectation formation. Even when the static framework of Mincer is maintained, accounting for uncertainty substantially affects the return estimates. Considering the sequential resolution of uncertainty over time in a dynamic setting gives rise to option values, which fundamentally changes the analysis of schooling decisions. In the presence of sequential resolution of uncertainty and option values, the internal rate of return - a cornerstone of classical human capital theory - is not a useful guide to policy analysis.

EARNINGS FUNCTIONS AND RATES OF RETURN

The internal rate of return to schooling is a fundamental economic parameter that is often used to assess whether expenditure on education should be increased or decreased. This paper considers alternative approaches to estimating marginal internal rates of return for different schooling levels. We implement a general nonparametric approach to estimate marginal internal rates of return that take into account tuition costs, income taxes and nonlinearities in the earnings-schooling-experience relationship. The returns obtained by the more general method differ substantially from Mincer returns in levels and in their evolution over time. They indicate relatively larger returns to graduating from high school than from graduating from college, although both have been increasing over time.

Nanolithography with metastable helium atoms in a high-power standing-wave light field

We have created periodic nanoscale structures in a gold substrate with a lithography process using metastable triplet helium atoms that damage a hydrofobic resist layer on top of the substrate. A beam of metastable helium atoms is transversely cooled and guided through an intense standing-wave light field. Compared to commonly used low-power optical masks, a high-power light field (saturation parameter of 10E7) increases the confinement of the atoms in the standing-wave considerably, and makes the alignment of the experimental setup less critical. Due to the high internal energy of the metastable helium atoms (20 eV), a dose of only one atom per resist molecule is required. With an exposure time of only eight minutes, parallel lines with a separation of 542 nm and a width of 100 nm (1/11th of the wavelength used for the optical mask) are created.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure