Ronald G. Ehrenberg – författare

The last two decades have been a turbulent period for American higher education, with profound demographic shifts, gyrating salaries, and marked changes in the economy. While enrollments rose about 50% in that period, sharp increases in tuition and fees at colleges and universities provoke accusations of inefficiency, even outright institutional greed and irresponsibility. As the 1990s progress, surpluses in the academic labor supply may give way to shortages in many fields, but will there be enough new Ph.D.'s to go around? Drawing on the authors' experience as economists and educators, this book offers an accessible analysis of three crucial economic issues: the growth and composition of undergraduate enrollments, the supply of faculty in the academic labor market, and the cost of operating colleges and universities. The study provides valuable insights for administrators and scholars of education.

Science and the University investigates the tremendous changes that have taken place in university research over the past several decades, gauging the current state of research in higher education and examining issues and challenges crucial to its future. Scientific research increasingly dominates the aims and agendas of many American universities, and this proliferation - and changes in the way research is conducted - has given rise to important questions about the interrelations of higher education, funding for scientific research, and government policy. The cost of doing science, the commercialization of university research, the changing composition and number of Ph.D. students, the effect of scientific research on other university programs - these are just a few of the many issues explored in this volume from the vantage points of scholars in such diverse fields as economics, biochemistry, genetics, and labor studies.

Modern Labor Economics: Theory and Public Policy, now in its fourteenth edition, continues to be the leading text for one-semester courses in labor economics at the undergraduate and graduate levels.It offers a thorough overview of the modern theory of labor market behaviour and reveals how this theory is used to analyze public policy. Designed for students who may not have extensive backgrounds in economics, the text balances theoretical coverage with examples of practical applications that allow students to see concepts in action.The authors believe that showing students the social implications of the concepts discussed in the course will enhance their motivation to learn. As such, this text presents numerous examples of policy decisions that have been affected by the ever-shifting labor market. This new edition continues to offer:a balance of relevant, contemporary examples;coverage of the current economic climate;introduction to basic methodological techniques and problems;tools for review and further study.This fourteenth edition presents updated data throughout and a wealth of new examples, such as the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns, gig work, nudges, monopsony power in the technology industry, and the effect of machine learning on inequality.Supplementary materials for students and instructors are available on the book’s companion website.

America’s colleges and universities are the best in the world. They are also the most expensive. Tuition has risen faster than the rate of inflation for the past thirty years. There is no indication that this trend will abate.Ronald G. Ehrenberg explores the causes of this tuition inflation, drawing on his many years as a teacher and researcher of the economics of higher education and as a senior administrator at Cornell University. Using incidents and examples from his own experience, he discusses a wide range of topics including endowment policies, admissions and financial aid policies, the funding of research, tenure and the end of mandatory retirement, information technology, libraries and distance learning, student housing, and intercollegiate athletics.He shows that colleges and universities, having multiple, relatively independent constituencies, suffer from ineffective central control of their costs. And in a fascinating analysis of their response to the ratings published by magazines such as U.S. News & World Report, he shows how they engage in a dysfunctional competition for students.In the short run, colleges and universities have little need to worry about rising tuitions, since the number of qualified students applying for entrance is rising even faster. But in the long run, it is not at all clear that the increases can be sustained. Ehrenberg concludes by proposing a set of policies to slow the institutions’ rising tuitions without damaging their quality.

Despite the worldwide prestige of America's doctoral programs in the humanities, all is not well in this area of higher education and hasn't been for some time. The content of graduate programs has undergone major changes, while high rates of student attrition, long times to degree, and financial burdens prevail. In response, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 1991 launched the Graduate Education Initiative (GEI), the largest effort ever undertaken to improve doctoral programs in the humanities and related social sciences. The only book to focus exclusively on the current state of doctoral education in the humanities, Educating Scholars reports on the GEI's success in reducing attrition and times to degree, the positive changes implemented by specific graduate programs, and the many challenges still to be addressed. Over a ten-year period, the Foundation devoted almost eighty-five million dollars through the GEI to provide support for doctoral programs and student aid in fifty-four departments at ten leading universities.The authors examine data that tracked the students in these departments and in control departments, as well as information gathered from a retrospective survey of students. They reveal that completion and attrition rates depend upon financial support, the quality of advising, clarity of program requirements, and each department's expectations regarding the dissertation. The authors consider who earns doctoral degrees, what affects students' chances of finishing their programs, and how successful they are at finding academic jobs. Answering some of the most important questions being raised about American doctoral programs today, Educating Scholars will interest all those concerned about our nation's intellectual future.

Public concern over sharp increases in undergraduate tuition has led many to question why colleges and universities cannot behave more like businesses and cut their costs to hold tuition down. Ronald G. Ehrenberg and his coauthors assert that understanding how academic institutions are governed provides part of the answer.Factors that influence the governance of academic institutions include how states regulate higher education and govern their public institutions; the size and method of selection of boards of trustees; the roles of trustees, administrators, and faculty in shared governance at campuses; how universities are organized for fiscal and academic purposes; the presence or absence of collective bargaining for faculty, staff, and graduate student assistants; pressures from government regulations, donors, insurance carriers, athletic conferences, and accreditation agencies; and competition from for-profit providers.Governing Academia, which covers all these aspects of governance, is enlightening and accessible for anyone interested in higher education. The authors are leading academic administrators and scholars from a wide range of fields including economics, education, law, political science, and public policy.Contributors: Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Cornell University; James O. Freedman, Dartmouth College; Thomas H. Hammond, Michigan State University; Donald E. Heller, Pennsylvania State University; Benjamin E. Hermalin, University of California, Berkeley; Gabriel E. Kaplan, University of Colorado; Adam T. Kezsbom, Cornell University; Daniel B. Klaff, Cornell University; Susanne Lohmann, University of California, Los Angeles; Matthew P. Nagowski, Cornell University; Michael A. Olivas, University of Houston Law Center; Brian Pusser, University of Virginia; Sarah E. Turner, University of Virginia; John D. Wilson, Michigan State University

American colleges and universities simultaneously face large numbers of faculty retirements and expanding enrollments. Budget constraints have led colleges and universities to substitute part-time and full-time non-tenure-track faculty for tenure-track faculty, and the demand for faculty members will likely be high in the decade ahead.This heightened demand is coming at a time when the share of American college graduates who go on for PhD study is far below its historic high. The declining interest of American students in doctoral programs is due to many factors, including long completion times, low completion rates, the high cost of doctoral education, and the decline in the share of faculty positions that are tenured or on the tenure track. In short, doctoral education is in crisis because the impediments are many and the rewards are few; students often choose instead to enroll in professional programs that result in more marketable credentials.In Doctoral Education and the Faculty of the Future, scientists, social scientists, academic administrators, and policy makers describe their efforts to increase and improve the supply of future faculty. They cover topics ranging from increasing undergraduate interest in doctoral study to improving the doctoral experience and the participation of underrepresented groups in doctoral education.

Public concern over sharp increases in undergraduate tuition has led many to question why colleges and universities cannot behave more like businesses and cut their costs to hold tuition down. Ronald G. Ehrenberg and his coauthors assert that understanding how academic institutions are governed provides part of the answer.Factors that influence the governance of academic institutions include how states regulate higher education and govern their public institutions; the size and method of selection of boards of trustees; the roles of trustees, administrators, and faculty in shared governance at campuses; how universities are organized for fiscal and academic purposes; the presence or absence of collective bargaining for faculty, staff, and graduate student assistants; pressures from government regulations, donors, insurance carriers, athletic conferences, and accreditation agencies; and competition from for-profit providers.Governing Academia, which covers all these aspects of governance, is enlightening and accessible for anyone interested in higher education. The authors are leading academic administrators and scholars from a wide range of fields including economics, education, law, political science, and public policy.Contributors: Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Cornell University; James O. Freedman, Dartmouth College; Thomas H. Hammond, Michigan State University; Donald E. Heller, Pennsylvania State University; Benjamin E. Hermalin, University of California, Berkeley; Gabriel E. Kaplan, University of Colorado; Adam T. Kezsbom, Cornell University; Daniel B. Klaff, Cornell University; Susanne Lohmann, University of California, Los Angeles; Matthew P. Nagowski, Cornell University; Michael A. Olivas, University of Houston Law Center; Brian Pusser, University of Virginia; Sarah E. Turner, University of Virginia; John D. Wilson, Michigan State University

American public higher education appears to be in a state of crisis. Declining funding for public colleges and universities has led to declining faculty salaries relative to those of private institutions and to increasing tuition, threatening access and compromising quality. Ronald G. Ehrenberg and a team of experts examine the current state of public higher education, the public policies that shape it, and what the future may hold for institutions and their students, faculty, and administrators. Sounding a warning about the declining condition of public higher education, Ehrenberg and his contributors make a compelling case for increasing support for these institutions. An overview of national trends and the forces that drive them is followed by studies of the financial complexities found in representative states (California, Georgia, and Texas, among others), an analysis of the implications of these developments, and prescriptions for improving public higher education at the state and national levels.In concluding chapters, contributors provide valuable assessments of the critical issues and their practical implications-from state policy initiatives to the privatization of public universities.

""This timely book provides a wide-ranging and insightful discussion of how labor market institutions and policies influence the mechanisms of economic integration and how economic integration inturn is likely to influence key features of labor markets. It offers both a clear analysis of these issues and a wealth of comparative labor market data."" Robert J. Flanagan, Stanford UniversityA volume of the Integrating National Economies Series

Published twice per year in conjunction with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Research in Labor Economics contains new cutting edge peer reviewed research applying economic theory and econometrics to policy related topics pertinent to worker well-being, often with an international focus. Like other high quality journals, one volume each year contains papers on a wide range of labor economics topics. Unlike other journals, the second volume is devoted to a topic related to IZA's areas of activity with a policy focus. Typical themes of each volume include labor supply, work effort, schooling, on-the-job training, earnings distribution, discrimination, migration, and the effects of government policies.