This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Pennsylvania's economic conditions, detailing various economic indicators and labor market trends, including data on inflation, unionization benefits, and the impact of erratic tariff policies that may be sparking renewed inflation and eroding investment. Unemployment has increased, hiring has…

Although considerable discussion has been devoted to the macro determinants of labor market variables across genders, comparatively little attention has been given to the contribution of the informal economy to this market. This study was aimed at empirically investigating the impact of the size of the shadow or informal economy (IE) on labor…

This dissertation contains three chapters related to the study of how business cycles create real and persistent effects on economic agents. Chapter 1 focuses on young individuals' careers and college decisions; Chapter 2 on firms' firing and hiring asymmetric decisions and Chapter 3 on firms' sourcing strategies. In Chapter 1 "Strategic or…

This study seeks to investigate the association between distinct tracks of secondary education--namely, vocational school (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan, SMK) and general school (Sekolah Menengah Atas, SMA)--and two key labor market outcomes: the duration required for graduates to attain their initial employment and their resilience in the face of…

The author of this article provides an example of how one might incorporate behavioral economics into teaching macroeconomics or labor economics at an undergraduate level. The focus is on two macroeconomic concepts--wage determination and the Phillips curve--and shows that the implications and conclusions of both models differ from their textbook…

This qualitative study examines meritocratic beliefs among disadvantaged students in elite universities in China. Through interviews with twenty-six working-class and lower-middle-class students, the research documents a temporal shift from initial optimism to disillusionment. The analysis integrates Willis's cultural production theory with…

This dissertation includes three essays on the economics of higher education. In the first chapter, I study the effects of college transfer. Over one-third of college students in the United States transfer between institutions, yet little is known about how transferring affect students' educational and labor market outcomes. Using administrative…

Child Care in State Economies (2024) is a three-part series examining the current status of the paid child care industry in the U.S. The reports provide policymakers and other stakeholders with a detailed update on the status of the paid child care industry following unprecedented disruption during the recent COVID-19 public health pandemic. This…

We estimate labor market returns to terminal associate's degrees and certificates, with a particular focus on how returns for different credential types evolve over a longer period of time (eleven years post entry) than most of the prior literature. We also explore how returns vary depending on labor market conditions and on which labor market…

This dissertation consists of three chapters that study individual investment in human capital and the incidence of economic shocks. I use administrative data to answer these questions, developing and applying structural methods to analyze individual choices in combination with a careful consideration of research design. Chapter 1 studies the…

This research investigated how rising enrolment in Ethiopian higher education influenced graduate employability, using education quality as a mediating variable. The researcher distributed surveys to 170 participants, received 153 responses, and conducted interviews with key stakeholders. Higher education enrolment in Ethiopia has undergone…

As we approach this Labor Day, the Pennsylvania economy is growing steadily. Working families are sharing in prosperity in a more sustained way than at any point since 1980--although many families still struggle to make ends meet and, in our polarized nation, a big partisan divide exists in perceptions of whether the economy is better than four…

Using data from sixty-eight interviews conducted with men and women raised in rural counties in Pennsylvania, we ask how growing up in rural settings shapes people's aspirations regarding work over three periods. We find that participants' early aspirations during their late teens were shaped by rurality, gender, and class. During the transition…

If everyone needs education to succeed, why is education always under fire politically? Why is the education system always on defense? To try to better understand the seemingly contradictory politics of education, the author began to examine primary data on the labor market, historic and current educational attainment rates, and scholarly…

"The State of Working Pennsylvania 2022" centered on the continued recovery from the COVID-19 recession, highlighting that Pennsylvania was at a policy crossroads: would political leaders embrace policies to strengthen the individual and collective worker power evident a year ago? Or would austerity and anti-worker policies after the…