Estimating Hispanic-White Wage Gaps among Women: The Importance of Controlling for Cost of Living

Despite concern regarding labor market discrimination against Hispanics, previously published estimates show that Hispanic women earn higher hourly wages than white women with similar observable characteristics. This estimated wage premium is likely biased upwards because of the omission of an important control variable: cost of living. We show that Hispanic women live in locations (e.g., cities) with higher costs of living than whites. After we account for cost of living, the estimated Hispanic-white wage differential for non-immigrant women falls by approximately two-thirds. As a result, we find no statistically significant difference in wages between Hispanic and white women in the NLSY97

Scientific Computing in the Soviet Union

In the last decade, the Soviet Union has placed increased emphasis on the development of high-speed computers and networks for use in scientific, economic, and military applications. When Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev labeled supercomputer development a top priority task for our science and economy in April, 1987, he added new urgency to the production of machines that would both support activities in these applications and also serve as high-profile standard-bearers for perestroika, his program of restructuring and modernization for the nation. The Soviets have also undertaken some major projects in networking, including the creation of a nationwide packet-switched network for the Academy of Sciences, work on network access to databases on scientific literature, and local area networks at a number of institutes

A Quality-Preserving Increase in Four-Year College Attendance

We use the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 data sets to evaluate changes in the college matching process. Rising attendance rates at 4-year institutions have not decreased average preparedness of college goers or of college graduates, and further attendance gains are possible before diminishing returns set in. We use multinomial logic models to demonstrate that measures of likely success (grade point average) became more predictive of college attendance over time, while other student characteristics such as race and parents’ education became less predictive. Our evidence suggests that schools have become better at sorting while students have efficiently responded to changes in the return to higher education

The Internet in India and China

This article compares the diffusion of the Internet in China and India. Using a six–dimension framework for characterizing the state of the Internet in a nation, we observe that, while both nations have made significant progress since our last comparison (in 1999), China enjoys a substantial lead over India. We also examine determinants of Internet diffusion. We find that the Chinese Internet has benefited from economic and trade reform begun in the late 1980s, a strong government commitment to the Internet, complementary human and capital resources, etc. The two nations have very different governments and policies, leading to differing approaches to the introduction of telecommunication competition and infrastructure development. China has pursued a strategy of competition among government–owned organizations while India has set policy via recommendations of publicly visible task forces. It remains to be seen whether India’s relatively transparent and market driven approach to Internet policy (and access) will prove effective in the long run. India and China have approximately 40 percent of the world population, and most of their inhabitants live in rural villages that lack basic telephone service. If the Internet is to succeed in raising the level of human development and curtailing migration to teeming urban centers, it must succeed in India and China. What we learn there may enable us to provide communication and information to the world\u27s 1.5 million unconnected villages

The strategic evaluation of technology innovation opportunities in waste strategy planning

Technology innovation is needed to support sustainable waste management systems and innovation should be viewed as a central focus of policy design. The difficulty is that policy is designed at a single point in time where as the environment and the processes of innovation are dynamic. The research investigates the extent to which the design of European Union waste policy and its implementation in the UK stimulates the opportunity for technology innovation. The research investigates how understanding of the relationships between EU waste policy, the process of innovation and technology assessment technique affect the opportunity for technology innovation. The research reviews the development of integrated waste management system models highlighting their limitation in evaluating waste technology options within the wider policy context in an uncertain environment over time. The review identifies their failure to consider the interaction between the financial, environmental, social and operational objectives of new technology. The research describes how failure to simulate system characteristics such as waste process operational demands/constraints, varying spatial resolutions, flexible system boundaries and the uncertain environment over time can affect the opportunity for technology innovation. The research describes the development of a modelling tool addressing these limitations in SIMILE Process Simulation Modelling Software. The model uses the Bedfordshire sub-region of the UK as a case study mapping the flow of waste from generation to disposal. The model calculates a single cost function based on economic, environmental and social costs through, wherever feasible, attributing monetary values to all impacts of any technology. Scenarios are modelled to investigate the extent to which ED waste policy and its implementation affects the opportunity for technology innovation. The model is used to investigate the extent to which relationships between the financial, environmental, social and operational objectives of technology create barriers to new technology. The research identifies how the design, development and application of waste strategy assessment models can influence the opportunity for technology innovation. The research identifies how policy imposes additional cost burdens on the opportunity for technology innovation in the Bedfordshire region. The research concludes by suggesting how policy might be designed to stimulate and support technology innovation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Estimating Hispanic-White Wage Gaps Among Women: The Importance of Controlling for Cost of Living

Despite concern regarding labor market discrimination against Hispanics, previously published estimates show that Hispanic women earn higher hourly wages than white women with similar observable characteristics. This estimated wage premium is likely biased upwards because of the omission of an important control variable: cost of living. We show that Hispanic women live in locations (e.g., cities) with higher costs of living than whites. After we account for cost of living, the estimated Hispanic-white wage differential for non-immigrant women falls by approximately two-thirds. As a result, we find no statistically significant difference in wages between Hispanic and white women in the NLSY97

Oldest pathology in a tetrapod bone illuminates the origin of terrestrial vertebrates

The origin of terrestrial tetrapods was a key event in vertebrate evolution, yet how and when it occurred remains obscure, due to scarce fossil evidence. Here, we show that the study of palaeopathologies, such as broken and healed bones, can help elucidate poorly understood behavioural transitions such as this. Using high-resolution finite element analysis, we demonstrate that the oldest known broken tetrapod bone, a radius of the primitive stem tetrapod Ossinodus pueri from the mid-Viséan (333 million years ago) of Australia, fractured under a high-force, impact-type loading scenario. The nature of the fracture suggests that it most plausibly occurred during a fall on land. Augmenting this are new osteological observations, including a preferred directionality to the trabecular architecture of cancellous bone. Together, these results suggest that Ossinodus, one of the first large (>2m length) tetrapods, spent a significant proportion of its life on land. Our findings have important implications for understanding the temporal, biogeographical and physiological contexts under which terrestriality in vertebrates evolved. They push the date for the origin of terrestrial tetrapods further back into the Carboniferous by at least two million years. Moreover, they raise the possibility that terrestriality in vertebrates first evolved in large tetrapods in Gondwana rather than in small European forms, warranting a re-evaluation of this important evolutionary event