The Impact of Child Labor and School Quality on Academic Achievement in Brazil

We analyze the impact of child labor on school achievement using Brazilian school achievement test data from the 2003 Sistema Nacional de Avaliação da Educação Básica (SAEB). We control for the endogeneity of child labor using instrumental variable techniques, where the instrumental variable is the average wage for unskilled male labor in the state. Using our preferred OLS estimates, we find that child labor causes a loss in students' school achievement. Children and adolescents who do not work have better school performance than students who work. Up to two hours of work per day do not have a statistically significant effect on school performance, but additional hours decrease student's achievement. Differences in work conditions affect school performance. For high school students in Portuguese, compared to students who have schooling as their only activity, students who work only at home score 4 percent lower on the tests. Those students who only work outside the house are worse off than those who only work within the house, with test scores decreasing by 5 percent. Students who work both inside and outside the house have the lowest test scores of all the working conditions, decreasing by up to 7 percent.child labor, school achievement, Brazil

The impact of child labor and school quality on academic achievement in Brazil

We analyze the impact of child labor on school achievement using Brazilian school achievement test data from the 2003 Sistema Nacional de Avaliação da Educação Básica (SAEB). We control for the endogeneity of child labor using instrumental variable techniques, where the instrumental variable is the average wage for unskilled male labor in the state. Using our preferred OLS estimates, we find that child labor causes a loss in students' school achievement. Children and adolescents who do not work have better school performance than students who work. Up to two hours of work per day do not have a statistically significant effect on school performance, but additional hours decrease student's achievement. Differences in work conditions affect school performance. For high school students in Portuguese, compared to students who have schooling as their only activity, students who work only at home score 4 percent lower on the tests. Those students who only work outside the house are worse off than those who only work within the house, with test scores decreasing by 5 percent. Students who work both inside and outside the house have the lowest test scores of all the working conditions, decreasing by up to 7 percent

Computer models in the design of FXR

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is developing a 15 to 20 MeV electron accelerator with a beam current goal of 4 kA. This accelerator will be used for flash radiography and has a requirement of high reliability. Components being developed include spark gaps, Marx generators, water Blumleins and oil insulation systems. A SCEPTRE model was developed that takes into consideration the non-linearity of the ferrite and the time dependency of the emission from a field emitter cathode. This model was used to predict an optimum charge time to obtain maximum magnetic flux change from the ferrite. This model and its application will be discussed. JASON was used extensively to determine optimum locations and shapes of supports and insulators. It was also used to determine stress within bubbles adjacent to walls in oil. Computer results will be shown and bubble breakdown will be related to bubble size

Cooperative Chaos

Future computers will be smaller, more targeted to special applications, more ubiquitous, and more willing to communicate than existing machines. This will lead to a dynamic environment where thousands or even millions of computers will be able to share information with nearby devices, and significant new applications will become possible by doing so. Such a situation is potentially chaotic, yet these machines will benefit from cooperation. We propose a new paradigm, called Cooperative Chaos, that recognizes the inevitability of this development and provides mechanisms to deal with it