Education has become an increasingly important activity within all economies; from pre-school years groups through to continuing education and retraining, the accumulation of skills spans a lifetime. Economic Principles for Education looks at all the major areas of economics, applying them to education. Human capital theory is discussed and evidence on rates of return and the benefits of training is presented. The demand for education is described, with an assessment of how pervasive wealth effects are in education systems. The author discusses the efficiency of education providers, including teacher supply, and identifies the optimal rules for teacher deployment. Education markets, the role of governments and the macroeconomics of education are all considered along with the key social benefits of education. Using evidence from a range of countries, but particularly the UK and the US, Clive Belfield provides an appreciation of the depth and breadth of the literature of the economic study of education in one easily accessible volume. This will be a valuable text for scholars of economics and education, and will be welcomed by all those interested in obtaining an overview of the field and in understanding the key principles economists use.

Controversies over the merits of public and private education have never been more prominent than today. This book evaluates public and private schooling, especially in regard to choices families must make for their children.While choice among publics schools is widely advocated today by families and states, public support for private education - including vouchers, tax credits, charter schools, and private contracting - is politically controversial. The authors accessibly describe what research shows as to the effects - for communities and children - of these approaches. They move beyond school choice to show how other factors - most notably the family - have a strong effect on a child's educational success. The book helps educators and parents better understand the rapidly changing educational environment and the important choices they make in educating the nation's children.

For this collection, Clive Belfield has selected the most significant recently published articles on the economics of education. Contemporary in the best sense, the articles analyse current concerns, building on what has been established to date and foreshadowing future developments. The articles address important questions, such as the microeconomic outcomes of education, whether education promotes economic growth, and how education systems should be organized in order to meet efficiency and equity goals.The two-volume set provides a single reference source to current research which is influential and important to the development of the economics of education. The editor gives a comprehensive overview of the topics covered in an authoritative new introduction.

While the high cost of education draws headlines, the cost of not educating America's children goes largely ignored. The Price We Pay remedies this oversight by highlighting the private and public costs of inadequate education. In this volume, leading scholars from a broad range of fields -including economics, education, demography, and public health -attach hard numbers to the relationship between educational attainment and such critical indicators as income, health, crime, dependence on public assistance, and political participation. They explore policy interventions that could boost the education system's performance and explain why demographic trends make the challenge of educating our youth so urgent today. Improving educational outcomes for at-risk youth is more than a noble goal. It is an investment with the potential to yield benefits that far outstrip its costs. The Price We Pay provides the tools readers need to analyze both sides of the balance sheet and make informed decisions about which policies will pay off. Contributors include Thomas Bailey (Teachers College, Columbia University), Ronald F. Ferguson (Harvard University), Irwin Garfinkel (Columbia University), Jane Junn (Rutgers University), Brendan Kelly (Columbia University), Enrico Moretti (UCLA), Peter Muennig (Columbia University), Michael Rebell (Teachers College, Columbia University), Richard Rothstein (Teachers College, Columbia University), Cecilia E. Rouse (Princeton University), Marta Tienda (Princeton University), Jane Waldfogel (Columbia University), and Tamara Wilder (Teachers College, Columbia University).

Controversies over the merits of public and private education have never been more prominent than today. This book evaluates public and private schooling, especially in regard to choices families must make for their children.While choice among publics schools is widely advocated today by families and states, public support for private education - including vouchers, tax credits, charter schools, and private contracting - is politically controversial. The authors accessibly describe what research shows as to the effects - for communities and children - of these approaches. They move beyond school choice to show how other factors - most notably the family - have a strong effect on a child's educational success. The book helps educators and parents better understand the rapidly changing educational environment and the important choices they make in educating the nation's children.

Education has become an increasingly important activity within all economies; from pre-school years groups through to continuing education and retraining, the accumulation of skills spans a lifetime. Economic Principles for Education looks at all the major areas of economics, applying them to education. Human capital theory is discussed and evidence on rates of return and the benefits of training is presented. The demand for education is described, with an assessment of how pervasive wealth effects are in education systems. The author discusses the efficiency of education providers, including teacher supply, and identifies the optimal rules for teacher deployment. Education markets, the role of governments and the macroeconomics of education are all considered along with the key social benefits of education. Using evidence from a range of countries, but particularly the UK and the US, Clive Belfield provides an appreciation of the depth and breadth of the literature of the economic study of education in one easily accessible volume. This will be a valuable text for scholars of economics and education, and will be welcomed by all those interested in obtaining an overview of the field and in understanding the key principles economists use.

This analysis begins with a description of the current opportunities for South Carolina's children to enroll in early education programs, including information on total state funding. Next, is outlined options for significantly expanding pre-school options but also maintaining high quality. These new policies are then evaluated to determine the likely economic consequences.