This paper develops and estimates a cost model for U.S. hospitals, analyzing the cost of excess bed capacity. A new estimate is worth making for at least two reasons. Recent changes in the economic environment of hospitals have caused their utilization rates to fall sharply, making previous estimates inaccurate. Second, we employ econometric techniques not previously applied to this problem, with estimation based on all short-term community hospitals from 1979-89. Our results, based on conservative estimates of the average optimal occupancy rate, indicate an annual cost of excess bed capacity of $17.2 billion in 1989, $24.1 billion in 1991, and over $25 billion in 1993.

This paper uses a logit analysis to develop a new index for measuring occupational segregation by race and gender. The authors use the 'L Index' to decompose race and gender segregation into two components: the 'race' and 'gender' components, and the components attributable to the race-gender distribution of residence, education, age, and public-sector employment. They present results for the 1970s and 1980s. The authors' analysis suggests that gender-based occupational segregation increased within occupational categories in the 1980s and that within gender groups, black men were more segregated by race than black women in the 1980s.

This paper explores the usage of various industrial policy tools in Japan. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the authors find that a disproportionate amount of Japanese targeting occurred in low-growth sectors and sectors with decreasing returns to scale. In addition, they find no evidence that productivity was enhanced as a result of industrial policy measures.

Because many individuals do not complete their degrees in the standard number of years, previous estimates of diploma effects, which have been based only on an individual's years of education, are biased. Using a data set from a matched sample of the 1991 and 1992 March Current Population Survey that has information on both years of education and diplomas received, this paper improves on earlier estimates and finds that using 'true' information on degree receipt substantially increases estimated sheepskin effects of high school and college degrees. Unlike past research, this paper finds that there are few statistically significant differences in sheepskin effects between race and sex groups. The relative returns to Associates and post-graduate degrees are also examined.

Mun S. Ho, , Finding Cointegration Rank in High Dimensional Systems Using the Johansen Test: An Illustration Using Data Based Monte Carlo Simulations, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Nov., 1996), pp. 726-732

Empirical evaluation of the effect of school quality, or type and amount of resources per student, on adult earnings requires a conceptual framework. A model of the returns to schooling in a simple human capital growth context is extended to illustrate how factors such as consumption benefits of students, parental concern over equity between siblings, and use of schools to facilitate parental labor supply can alter the apparent return to school quality. The need for microlevel time diary and other data on human capital formation in both classrooms and families is highlighted.