AN NBER PUBLICATION
ISSUE: No. 3, March 2003
The Digest
A free monthly publication featuring non-technical summaries of research on topics of broad public interest
Substituting grants for loans increased the likelihood of a low-income student actually starting college at the school by only 3 percentage points, and this number is not statistically significant.
The rising cost of higher education makes it more difficult for universities and colleges to attract students from low-income families as well as those from more prosperous households. The average cost of attending a four-year college has risen from $9,539 in 1988 to $12,...
Article
Without exception, a country's lack of transparency is associated with lower exposure of emerging market funds.
Whenever economic performance falters in emerging markets, analysts are frequently heard lamenting what they call a "lack of transparency." What they mean is that some countries - and the corporations that operate there - may contribute to their woes by failing to fully disclose information about financial and economic conditions while also being less than...
Article
Teenagers whose mothers had access to legalized abortion at the time of their pregnancies had significantly lower rates of substance abuse, especially of illegal narcotics.
Abortion policy is one of the most contentious issues in the United States. Although several studies have shown a correlation between the legalization of abortion and an increase in the number of abortions, there have been contradictory results on which groups take advantage of the availability of...
Article
Currency depreciation does lead to more foreign inflows into local equity markets.
Economic theory dictates that capital will flow to wherever its marginal product is highest, and that the free movement of capital across international borders will enhance welfare and efficiency in the global economy. However, the multiple emerging-market financial crises of the 1990s convinced many observers that global investors often behave irrationally and promote market "contagion...