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.

Business taxes vs. human capital investments as economic development programs

Posted on April 18, 2011 by timbartik

I recently received a question from an advocate for early childhood education and other education programs. This question arises from this advocate’s interactions with state government legislative staff. These staff persons are judging these educational investments by their effects on … Continue reading →

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

Why business incentive competition within metro areas makes no sense

Posted on April 15, 2011 by timbartik

The April 8 New York Times had an article by A.G. Sulzberger on competition for business within the Kansas City metropolitan area, between the Kansas and Missouri portions of the KC metro area. The article quoted me as saying that … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Incentive design issues, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on Why business incentive competition within metro areas makes no sense

Budget deficits and early childhood programs

Posted on April 14, 2011 by timbartik

For better or worse, it appears we are engaged in a debate about how to reduce projected future budget deficits. This is true both at the federal level and in many states. What relationship, if anything, do early childhood programs … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development, Timing of benefits | Comments Off on Budget deficits and early childhood programs

Trends in early childhood care and education, 1995 to 2005

Posted on April 13, 2011 by timbartik

Clive Belfield has a useful paper, recently posted at the National Institute for Early Education Research website, on trends in usage and spending for early childhood care and education. The paper combines data from three National Household Education surveys, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs | Comments Off on Trends in early childhood care and education, 1995 to 2005

Financing early childhood programs

Posted on April 12, 2011 by timbartik

John Merrow, a veteran education reporter for PBS and NPR, has an interesting recent blog post on preschool education. In this blog post, he accurately observes that despite much rhetorical support for early childhood education, our society has not been … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs | Comments Off on Financing early childhood programs

Limitations of special education cost savings as an argument for early childhood programs

Posted on April 11, 2011 by timbartik

A previous post argues that in some cases, some targeted preschool programs may yield large short-term and medium-term savings in special education costs. For example, these cost savings may start out at 11% after 1 year, and then increase by … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, Timing of benefits | Comments Off on Limitations of special education cost savings as an argument for early childhood programs

Special education cost savings from pre-k programs can be higher for targeted pre-k programs, or if special education costs are higher, or if special education effects of a program are higher

Posted on April 8, 2011 by timbartik

In a previous post, I provided estimates of the savings in special education costs from a high-quality universal pre-k program. I stated that these cost savings started out at about 4% of the pre-k program’s costs in kindergarten. That is, … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Local variation in benefits, Timing of benefits | 2 Comments

State economic development benefits from reducing ADHD

Posted on April 7, 2011 by timbartik

In chapter 12 of Investing in Kids, I also consider the state economic development benefits from reducing “attention deficit hyperactivity disorders”. We might imagine public health and education policies that might intervene to reduce such disorders. I based my estimated … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | Comments Off on State economic development benefits from reducing ADHD

Governors’ budget proposals reveal debate over how state government can best respond to economic distress

Posted on April 6, 2011 by timbartik

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has a useful recent report that summarizes the budget proposals for fiscal year 2012 of 48 Governors. (Fiscal year 2012 runs from July 1 2011 to June 30 2012 in most states.)  … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development, Incentive design issues | Comments Off on Governors’ budget proposals reveal debate over how state government can best respond to economic distress

The economic development benefits of converting low-weight births to normal-weight births

Posted on April 5, 2011 by timbartik

In chapter 12 of Investing in Kids, I extend my estimates of economic development benefits beyond early childhood programs, to other changes that would increase human capital. Unlike the case of early childhood programs, I don’t analyze the costs of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic development | Comments Off on The economic development benefits of converting low-weight births to normal-weight births