We examine short-run impacts of changes in residential neighborhoods on the well-being of families residing in high-poverty public housing projects who received Section 8 housing vouchers through a random lottery. Households offered vouchers experienced improvements in multiple measures of well-being relative to a control group, including increased safety, improved health among household heads, and fewer behavior problems among boys. There were no significant short-run impacts of vouchers on the employment, earnings, or welfare receipt of household heads. Children in households offered vouchers valid only in low poverty neighborhoods also had reduced likelihood of injuries, asthma attacks, and victimizations by crime.

This paper examines the effect of skill-biased technological change as measured by computerization on the recent widening of U. S. educational wage differentials. An analysis of aggregate changes in the relative supplies and wages of workers by education from 1940 to 1996 indicates strong and persistent growth in relative demand favoring college graduates. Rapid skill upgrading within detailed industries accounts for most of the growth in the relative demand for college workers, particularly since 1970. Analyses of four data sets indicate that the rate of skill upgrading has been greater in more computer-intensive industries.

Current concern with the impact of new technologies on the wage structure motivates this study. We offer evidence that technology-skill and capital-skill (relative) complementarities existed in manufacturing early in this century and were related to the adoption of electric motors and particular production methods. Industries, from 1909 to 1929, with more capital per worker and a greater proportion of motive energy coming from purchased electricity employed relatively more educated blue-collar workers in 1940 and paid their production workers substantially more. We also find a strong positive association between changes in capital intensity and the nonproduction worker wage bill from 1909–1919 implying capital-skill complementarity as large as in recent years.

A simple supply and demand framework is used to analyze changes in the U. S. wage structure from 1963 to 1987. Rapid secular growth in the demand for more-educated workers, “more-skilled” workers, and females appears to be the driving force behind observed changes in the wage structure. Measured changes in the allocation of labor between industries and occupations strongly favored college graduates and females throughout the period. Movements in the college wage premium over this period appear to be strongly related to fluctuations in the rate of growth of the supply of college graduates.

The authors examine the effects of renegotiation in an agency relationship. They show how renegotiation affects (1) the set of actions the principal can induce the agent to take and (2) the cost of implementing a given action. The authors show that, when the principal receives an unverifiable signal of the agent's action, renegotiation can improve welfare. This result stands in contrast to earlier findings that renegotiation lowers welfare when the principal receives no signal about the agent's action prior to renegotiation.

[The evaluation of the quality of governmental auditors' work is of keen interest among governmental audit policy-makers. However, as there is little published evidence on which to base such evaluations at this time, this paper discusses the results of an exploratory study on the subject. The study assumes that the extent to which an auditor actually performs the audit procedures prescribed by a given audit program is an important indicator of the quality of the auditor's work. Accordingly, responses were sought from governmental auditors at all levels of government as to their failure to perform prescribed procedures, even though they affirmed performance through sign-offs on their working papers. To offer anonymity to the respondents and to encourage truthful responses, the survey was based on the randomized response technique. The findings indicate that a number of false sign-offs have occurred among governmental auditors as a group. Within the governmental group, the study found that false sign-off rates were slightly higher among auditors at the state level than those at the federal level. Also, rates were slightly higher among auditors not working under a civil service system than those who were, and higher among those who were not certified compared to those who were. It also found that independence of the audit function was not helpful in explaining positive false sign-off rates. However, the significance of these differences as a way of describing the false sign-off rates of governmental auditors was not strong.]

The evaluation of the quality of governmental auditors work is of keen Interest among governmental audit policy-makers. However, as there is little published evidence on which to base such evaluations at this time, this paper discusses the results of an exploratory study on the subject. The study assumes that the extent to which an auditor actually performs the audit procedures prescribed by a given audit program is an important Indicator of the quality of the auditor's work. Accordingly, responses were sought from governmental auditors at all levels of government as to their failure to perform prescribed procedures, even though they affirmed performance through sign-offs on their working papers. To offer anonymity to the respondents and to encourage truthful responses, the survey was based on the randomized response technique. The findings Indicate that a number of false sign-offs have occurred among governmental auditors as a group. Within the governmental group, the study found that false sign-off rates were slightly higher among auditors at the state level than those at the federal level. Also, rates were slightly higher among auditors not working under a civil service system than those who were, and higher among those who were not certified compared to those who were. It also found that independence of the audit function was not helpful in explaining positive false sign-off rates. However, the significance of these differences as a way of describing the false sign-off rates of governmental auditors was not strong.

The Moving to Opportunity (MTO) demonstration assigned housing vouchers via random lottery to public housing residents in five cities. We use the exogenous variation in residential locations generated by MTO to estimate neighborhood effects on youth crime and delinquency. The offer to relocate to lower-poverty areas reduces arrests among female youth for violent and property crimes, relative to a control group. For males the offer to relocate reduces arrests for violent crime, at least in the short run, but increases problem behaviors and property crime arrests. The gender difference in treatment effects seems to reflect differences in how male and female youths from disadvantaged backgrounds adapt and respond to similar new neighborhood environments.