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901. Using the Earned Income Tax Credit to Stimulate Local Economies

Author:
Alan Berube
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Over the 30 years of its existence the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been described variously as a wage supplement, a program to reduce tax burdens, an antipoverty tool, a welfare-to-work program, and a form of labor market insurance. The program has enjoyed expansions under both Republican and Democratic administrations, and in 2006, the EITC will provide more than $40 billion to low-income working families. The credit lifts nearly 5 million Americans above the poverty line each year. Moreover, because the EITC aids only those families with earnings from work, researchers have credited it with raising labor force participation levels and helping families transition from welfare to work.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

902. Measuring the Informal Economy - One Neighborhood at a Time

Author:
Yusef Freeman, John Talmage, and Jamie Alderslade
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The study of the urban informal economy has expanded in the last thirty years, challenging researchers to find more accurate methods of quantifying its activity. This paper examines recent works that focused on the urban informal economy in particular, and evaluates different definitions and techniques for measuring it. Methods discussed include indirect estimation methods, such as currency demand, electricity consumption, and labor force statistical profiles, as well as direct estimation measures such as labor force and household surveys. This paper discusses the prospects for applying these largely macro-level methods to more micro-market analysis and speculates on the avail ability and usefulness of existing data sources in the United States. It concludes by suggesting that there is much room for further research on the size, determinants and implications of the informal economy in American cities and calls for new efforts to align different methods of measuring the inform al economy so they can be increasingly used to support decision-making processes in the public and private sectors.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

903. From Poverty, Opportunity: Putting the Market to Work for Lower Income Families

Author:
Matt Fellowes
Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Public and private leaders have a substantial, and widely overlooked, opportunity today to help lower income families get ahead by bringing down the inflated prices they pay for basic necessities, such as food and housing.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, Markets, and Poverty

904. Financial Access for Immigrants: Lessons from Diverse Perspectives

Author:
Audrey Singer, Jeremy Smith, Robin Newberger, and Anna Paulson
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The United States has long benefited from the aspirations, talents, and hard work of the many immigrants who have settled here. Each generation has debated the costs of immigration and its benefits and grappled with how best to incorporate immigrants into U.S. society. The unparalleled size and growth of the contemporary immigrant population means that these conversations and debates continue today in communities throughout the country. The well-being of the nation increasingly depends on whether immigrants' economic progress keeps up with their demographic growth.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

905. Credit Scores, Reports, and Getting Ahead in America

Author:
Matt Fellowes
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Everyday, more than 27,000 employees in the credit bureau industry walk into over 1,000 locations around the country and process over 66 million items of information. Out of this massive churning of activity, credit bureaus produce consumer credit reports and scores, two of the most powerful determinants of modern American consumer life.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

906. Cato Education Market Index Full Technical Report

Author:
Andrew J. Coulson
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The index presented in this report attempts to measure how closely existing school systems resemble free markets and rates education policy proposals on how conducive they are to the rise of competitive marketplaces. We define an education market as a system that provides the freedom for producers and consumers to voluntarily associate with one another, as well as the incentives that encourage families to be diligent consumers and educators to innovate, control costs, and expand their services. It is a system in which schools can offer instruction in any subject, using any method, for which families are willing to pay.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, and Markets

907. The Cato Education Market Index

Author:
Andrew J. Coulson
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The index presented in this report attempts to measure how closely existing school systems resemble free markets and rates education policy proposals on how conducive they are to the rise of competitive marketplaces. We define an education market as a system that provides the freedom for producers and consumers to voluntarily associate with one another, as well as the incentives that encourage families to be diligent consumers and educators to innovate, control costs, and expand their services. It is a system in which schools can offer instruction in any subject, using any method, for which families are willing to pay.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, and Markets

908. Reforming U.S. Patent Policy: Getting the Incentives Right

Author:
Keith E. Mascus
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
America's robust economic competitiveness is du e in no small part to a large capacity for innovation. That capacity is imperiled, however, by an increasingly overprotective patent system. Over the past twenty-five years, American legislators and judges have operated on the principle that stronger patent protection engenders more innovation. This principle is misguided. Although intellectual property rights (IPR) play an important role in innovation, the recent increase in patent protection has not spurred innovation so much as it has impeded the development and use of new technologies.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States, China, and America

909. A New Era for Oil Prices

Author:
John V Mitchell
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Since 2003 the international oil market has been moving away from the previous 20-year equilibrium in which prices fluctuated around $25/bbl (in today's dollars). The single most important reason is that growing demand has eliminated the structural surplus of crude production capacity which had existed since the oil price shock of 1979-83.
Topic:
Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Oil

910. Chinese Poverty: Assessing the Impact of Alternative Assumptions

Author:
Sanjay Reddy and Camelia Minoiu
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
This paper investigates how estimates of the extent and trend of consumption poverty in China between 1990 and 2001 vary as a result of alternative plausible assumptions concerning the poverty line and estimated levels of consumption. The exercise is motivated by the existence of considerable uncertainty about the appropriate poverty lines to apply and the level and distribution of resources in China. The methodology of this paper focuses on the following sources of variation: alternative purchasing power parity conversion factors (used to convert an international poverty line), alternative estimates of the level and distribution of private incomes, alternative estimates of the propensity to consume of lower income groups, and alternative consumer price indices. It is widely believed that substantial poverty reduction has taken place in China in the 1990s, and we find this conclusion to be robust to the choice of assumptions. However, estimates of the extent of Chinese poverty in any year are greatly influenced by the assumptions made. China's record of reducing consumption poverty is dramatic. It is unclear whether this achievement has been comparable across regions and whether there have been corresponding national improvements in other aspects of human well-being.
Topic:
Markets, Political Economy, and Poverty
Political Geography:
China