Author Archives: timbartik

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About timbartik

Tim Bartik is a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a non-profit and non-partisan research organization in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His research specializes in state and local economic development policies and local labor markets.

New York Times magazine article on Kalamazoo Promise

Posted on September 13, 2012 by timbartik

Journalist Ted Fishman’s article on the Kalamazoo Promise (see previous blog post for description of the Promise) appears in the September 16 Sunday magazine of the New York Times. The article can be found here. The article describes the many … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development | 1 Comment

Effects of the Kalamazoo Promise

Posted on September 12, 2012 by timbartik

The Upjohn Institute website recently posted a working paper of mine, co-authored with my colleague Marta Lachowska, on the Kalamazoo Promise. Our working paper examines the immediate effects of the Kalamazoo Promise on student achievement and behavior in high schools. … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | 2 Comments

U.S. lags in international comparisons of pre-school enrollment and public investment

Posted on September 11, 2012 by timbartik

OECD recently released its 2012 edition of Education at a Glance, which compares education statistics across leading industrial countries.  (OECD stands for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It was originally set up to help administer the Marshall Plan. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | Comments Off on U.S. lags in international comparisons of pre-school enrollment and public investment

U.S. job growth and education jobs

Posted on September 7, 2012 by timbartik

The latest U.S. job growth figures, released this morning (September 7, 2012) by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, continued to show positive growth, but at an insufficient rate to boost employment rates and labor market conditions. If we focus … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on U.S. job growth and education jobs

“You can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education”

Posted on September 5, 2012 by timbartik

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, in his keynote address on September 4th to the Democratic National Convention, made the following notable statement: “You can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education”. In the context in which he made that statement, Mayor Castro’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | Comments Off on “You can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education”

Educational improvements: hard solutions versus easy solutions

Posted on September 4, 2012 by timbartik

Julie Mack, the education reporter at the Kalamazoo Gazette, recently wrote a column on school choice, largely based on an interview with me. In that column, she accurately described me as concluding that school choice has been disappointing in that … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | 1 Comment

Business taxation and state economic development goals

Posted on August 31, 2012 by timbartik

The Upjohn Institute has posted a recent working paper of mine, co-authored with my colleague George Erickcek, that looks at how different types of business tax cuts affect economic development goals such as job creation. The Institute’s website also right … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Incentive design issues | Comments Off on Business taxation and state economic development goals

How much can pre-K do to close income gaps in kindergarten readiness?

Posted on August 14, 2012 by timbartik

I was recently asked how pre-K’s effects compared with the usual income gaps in kindergarten readiness.  How much can high-quality pre-K do to help children from low-income families catch up to children from more middle-class families? My paper with Gormley … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs | 3 Comments

State government revenue capacity

Posted on July 18, 2012 by timbartik

The New York Times gave front-page coverage, on July 18, 2012, to a recent report by the State Budget Crisis Task Force. This report argued that states faced major long-term budget problems due to “rising health care costs, underfunded pensions, … Continue reading →

Posted in National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on State government revenue capacity

Federal versus state and local roles in children’s programs

Posted on July 17, 2012 by timbartik

I was recently asked to comment on a report by First Focus, which describes itself as “a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions”. This report, released on June 27, … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, National vs. state vs. local | 1 Comment