Labor markets and earnings inequality : a status report

Wages ; Employment (Economic theory) ; Education

Estimating revenues from tax reform in transition economies

Quantitative analysis is a key aspect of the design and evaluation of tax policy. To make informed decisions, policymakers should know how much revenue is collected and from whom. The tax reform planned for transition economies should include the introduction not only of new tax structures but also of new models to estimate revenues. Preliminary methodologies can be developed in time to influence the current discussions on the design of tax legislation. These efforts will also lay the groundwork for the further development of data bases and models that will be used to evaluate tax policy in the years ahead. ; This paper provides an introduction to quantitative techniques for analyzing tax reforms. Section I discusses three interrelated functions of tax analysis departments. These functions are (1) forecasting tax receipts, (2) estimating revenues resulting from changes in tax laws, and (3) analyzing the economic effects of tax laws. Section II lays out a general conceptual framework for preparing these analyses. Section III presents examples of relatively simple techniques for forecasting, estimation, and analysis for a value-added tax. Section IV offers conclusions.International finance ; Tax reform

Focus on the region: defense windfall for New England?

Although New England still gets more than its share of defense prime contract dollars, the recent rise in U.S. defense spending will likely have a smaller regional impact than in the past.Defense contracts - New England

Lessons from resurgent cities

In 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston began a project to help reinvigorate the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. This cross-departmental initiative uses the Boston Fed's research and convening capabilities to complement the efforts of other organizations dedicated to improving economic and social conditions in New England's fourth-largest city. As noted in an earlier joint Federal Reserve-Brookings Institution study, Springfield has one of the highest rates of concentrated poverty in the country: one-third of the city's poor live in neighborhoods where poverty rates exceed 40 percent. Thus, a particular focus of the Boston Fed project has been to support revitalization strategies that would enable more city residents, particularly those located in poor areas, to prosper. While the Boston Fed project focuses on the city of Springfield, we hope to devise approaches that can be replicated in other struggling mid-sized cites around New England and the nation. To this end, this essay reports on lessons learned from our research on older industrial cities that have adapted relatively well to economic challenges, and are recognized as vital communities today. We believe these "resurgent cities" provide relevant, inspiring insights on development strategies for urban America.Cities and towns ; Cities and towns - Massachusetts ; Economic conditions ; Economic conditions - Massachusetts ; Economic policy ; Economic policy - Massachusetts

Small steps in the right direction?: restructuring public education

When the term "knowledge-based economy" first entered popular discussion - sometime around the early 1980s - the focus was exclusively on scientific, technological, and business leadership. Only gradually did our society come to appreciate the pervasiveness of the knowledge-based economy. It affects not just the demand for high-level technical and entrepreneurial talent but, indeed, the job requirements for virtually all types of work. This growing realization has laid the foundation for broad-scale reforms of education in the United States and many other nations.Education

Defense Downsizing: The Economic Impacts in New England

Yoland R. Kodrzycki reviews the extent of New England’s dependency on defense and various measures of the severity of defense downsizing. The analysis is put in the broader context of the New England economy. Because the economy can provide opportunities or constraints, it is important to understand the general economic environment when designing a defense conversion strategy. This article is excerpted from the author’s remarks at a conference entitled “From Defense to Offense: Converting Maine’s Economy in a Time of Shrinking Military Expenditures,” which took place in Portland on June 13, 1994. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Spatial and labor market contributions to earnings inequality: an overview

Wages ; Labor market ; Income distribution

Does co-authorship lead to higher academic productivity?

In recent decades, co-authorship and policies aimed at inducing academic collaboration have increased simultaneously. Assuming that intellectual collaboration is exogenously determined, prior studies found a negative relationship between co-authorship and productivity. I examine a panel data on economists publishing from 1970 to 2011 to test the causal effect of intellectual collaboration on intellectual output. As characteristics of the individual and her opportunity set are endogenously related to both collaboration and productivity, I instrument the amount of co-authorship by the common research interest between an author and her potential co-authors. After controlling for endogenous co-authorship formation, unobservable heterogeneity and time varying factors, the effect of intellectual collaboration on individual performance becomes positive

Economics Research in Canada: A Long-Run Assessment of Journal Publications

We examine the publications of authors affiliated with an economics research institution in Canada in (i) the Top-10 journals in economics according to journals’ impact factors, and (ii) the Canadian Journal of Economics. We consider all publications in the even years from 1980 to 2000. Canadian economists contributed about 5% of publications in the Top-10 journals and about 55% of publications in the Canadian Journal of Economics over this period. We identify the most active research centres and identify trends in their relative outputs over time. Those research centres successful in publishing in the Top-10 journals are found to also dominate the Canadian Journal of Economics. Additionally, we check the robustness of our findings with respect to journal selection, and we present data on authors’ Ph.D.- origin, thereby indicating output and its concentration in graduate education