Series Information:
Collected Critical Heritage II

This set comprises 40 volumes covering nineteenth and twentieth century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes. This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.

Education and Earnings in Europe is based on a two year pan-European research programme and presents an in-depth analysis of the returns to education in Europe. The book begins with a critical review of the literature which compares and contrasts the issues involved in the estimation of these returns. A central message of this review, based on the extensive use of cross country comparisons, is that the estimated return to education can vary depending on the precise methodology and data specification used. This review is followed by 15 country specific chapters which present the structure of the educational system, estimates of the returns to education and extensions to the basic model of each country. The chapters follow a consistent format and style to allow for ease of comparison between the countries discussed.

In his previous book City Gorged with Dreams (2002), Ian Walker challenged established ideas about Surrealist photography by emphasising the key role played by documentary photographs in Parisian Surrealism. Now Walker turns his attention to the arrival of Surrealism in England in 1936. Examining for the first time the surprising relationship between Surrealism and English documentary photography and film, the book shows that some of the most interesting work of the period was made in the ambiguous spaces between them. One of the key themes in this book is the relationship between the 'homely' and the 'exotic', in the innovative mix of poetry and ethnography in Mass-Observation for example, or the shadowed England constructed in the work of Bill Brandt. Based on extensive archival research, interviews and visits to sites where the photographs were made, this book is rich in detailed analysis yet written in an accessible and often witty style. -- .

The measurement of household welfare is one of the most compelling yet demanding areas in economics. To place the analysis of inequality and poverty within an economic framework where individuals are making decisions about current and lifetime incomes and expenditures is a difficult task, made all the more challenging by the complexity of the decision-making process in which households are involved and the variety of constraints they face. This 1994 book examines the conceptual and practical difficulties of making inferences from observed behaviour. It addresses the problems of making comparisons across a range of very different households and discusses how data for such comparisons should be collected. The contributions, from experts from Europe, North America and Australia, have the unifying theme that there is a strong relationship between theoretical concepts from microeconomics and the appropriate use of micro data in evaluating household welfare.

Inequality and entrenched poverty has been decreasing in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, due in significant part to expansion of social protection programs within the region. Innovations such as well-targeted conditional cash transfer programs and noncontributory pensions or health insurance systems have been adopted by several countries. Yet several challenges remain. The majority of informal sector workers lack access to social protection; programs tend to be fragmented and operate with little or no coordination; and redistributive arrangements are non-transparent and can distort labor markets by inducing informality, lowering labor participation, or producing longer unemployment spells. From Right to Reality: Incentives, Labor Markets, and the Challenge of Universal Social Protection in Latin America and the Caribbean addresses these challenges in a thorough yet accessible manner. Building on careful, detailed analysis of a wealth of data, this book takes stock of current social protection systems in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, highlighting their interaction with labor markets. The book presents an in-depth assessment of the main social protection programs including pensions, health, unemployment insurance, active labor market interventions, and safety net transfers. A central theme is that a well-functioning social protection system must take into account both the realities of labor markets, including high levels of informal sector employment where governments are unable to impose compulsory social insurance, and the effects of policies on the behavior of their beneficiaries, employers, and of service providers. Of interest to policy makers, academics, and practitioners, From Right to Reality presents practical recommendations to expand the coverage of social protection programs, improve their design, and create the conditions for the creation of more and better jobs.

This report contributes to the debate about the quality of education and returns to education investment in Latin America and the Caribbean (LCR). It aims to improve our understanding of the links from investment in education and training to labor market outcomes and to provide a basis for policy choices that will strengthen future outcomes. The report is organized in four main chapters. Chapter 2 documents the recent downturn in education earnings premia using standard 'mincerian' regressions based on household survey data. Chapter 3 explores the underlying supply-side and demand-side drivers of the trends in premia. It documents the recent expansion of education coverage in LCR, benchmarks it against other regions, and presents an in-depth analysis of the relative importance of shifts in the supply and demand for skills in generating declining earnings premia. Using a methodological approach first developed by Katz and Murphy, it concludes that demand-side changes appear to be the critical factor. It also analyzes the role of institutional factors, finding that minimum wages also have likely played an important role in the compression of labor earnings. Chapter 4 focuses on trends in student achievement and the cost-effectiveness of secondary education. It analyzes trends data from the OECDs PISA survey of 15-year-old children in secondary education which covered nine LCR countries in 2009. It shows that achievement is improving slowly, but remains well behind the OECD. It presents benchmarking evidence suggesting that LCR may be both under-resourcing secondary education and also getting poor returns per dollar invested -- a classic low-quality equilibrium. Chapter 5 presents evidence on the fit between the skill set of LCR workers and the needs of the economy, applying an approach first developed by Levy and Murnane in the U.S.A. Analysis of the industrial composition of employment in four countries suggests that LCR is lagging in those industries that require relatively sophisticated new economy skills in the U.S.A. Further evidence that cutting-edge firms in LCR might be facing skill constraints comes from the hiring lags registered in enterprise surveys."

This study highlights the interaction between social protection programs and labour markets in the Latin America region. It presents new evidence on the limited coverage of existing programmes and emphasizes the challenges caused by high informality for achieving universal social protection for old age income, for health, for unemployment risks and for anti poverty safety nets. It identifies interaction effects between SP programs and the behavioural responses of workers, firms and social protection providers, which can further undermine efforts to expand coverage, summarising evidence from recent work across the region. It argues for a re-design of financing to eliminate cross subsidies between members of contributory programmes and subsidies that effectively tax income from formal employment. Instead, it advocates well-targeted, tax-funded tapered subsidies to provide incentives to the savings efforts of low income workers, coupled with an effective safety net for the extreme poor who have no capacity to contribute to financing their own social protection arrangements. It also argues for the consolidation of programmes and harmonisation of benefits packages across different insurers. The book develops an overall conceptual framework and presents in-depth analysis of the main SP sectors of pensions, health, unemployment insurance and safety net transfers.

Start with an agoraphobe, a narcoleptic, a temporary amnesiac, and an apraxic who cannot perform physical actions upon request, add a ruthless identity thief with a taste for fine food and you get a raucous comedy that explores both the idiosyncrasies of human nature and the power of love. Bunny Temple is an agoraphobe living in New York. Once a week he organizes a gathering of his friends, each of whom has been relegated to the sidelines of society. What makes this get-together different is that Bunny has become the victim of an identity theft that has left him penniless and on the verge of expulsion from the safe harbor of his apartment. When the four decide to find the thief themselves, the amateur sleuths end up with more than they had bargained for.

The NJ Star Ledger described "A Beautiful Home" as "endearing" and "winsome." The Alameda Star Ledger declared "This one is a winner " "An empathetic, witty look that] finds the humor in the relationships of four well-drawn characters," writes the Montclair Times. And The Mountainview Voice called "A Beautiful Home" "nothing less than side-splitting."

Praise for "Three Plays: Vigilance, Ghost in the Light, and The Stone Trilogy" by Ian Walker

"A riveting, emotional journey. stunning." Wanda Sabir, The San Francisco Bay View (The Stone Trilogy)

"A unheralded little gem. terrific writing. Adventuresome and compelling." Douglas Gordy, Slant Magazine (Ghost in the Light)

Vigilance: Winner of the John Golden Prize to discuss a new resident, a man whose violent outbursts threaten their neighborhood. When the evening ends in murder, none of them know who is responsible, but all of their lives are changed by the revelation of who has betrayed whom. greatest art forgers in history. In the 1930s, Han's painting, Jesus at Emmaus, was declared not just a Vermeer, but Vermeer's finest work, and sold for half a million dollars. The world's leading art critics were caught up in the scandal when a number of his Vermeers were recovered in postwar Nazi loot. Bay View one-acts that portray the face of love, forgiveness, and oppression in three countries: Ireland during The Troubles, South Africa at the end of Apartheid, and the United States. Together, the plays present an emotional journey through the difficult nature of forgiveness.

Live performance by Ian Bruce and Ian Walker recorded at Kevock Digital Studios. The concert features some of the duo's best known material including 'Hawks and Eagles', 'November Grey' and 'Honest Man'.