CLOSUP publications

We assess the potential for expanding regional planning by asking local government officials their perspectives on the potential for increasing regionalism in their communities, and the most promising approaches to achieving greater regionalism. Our...

This paper focuses on the labor market outcomes that represent a key marker of the transition to adulthood—the attainment of economic stability and self-sufficiency. Achieving labor market success is a necessary condition for a successful transition...

We analyze SSI applications and benefit receipt after the 1996 welfare reform by single mothers who received cash assistance in February 1997. We address these questions: First, what characteristics are associated with SSI applications and how do...

Since the early 1970s, dramatic changes in the economy, demographic composition of the population and in public policies have combined to reduce the antipoverty effects of economic growth. Because economic growth is now necessary, but not...

Over the last three decades, structural changes in the American labor market eliminated many highly‐paid, stable jobs that had previously been available to workers with a high school diploma or less. Job security is important, particularly for the...

This report seeks to identify and quantify some of the challenges faced by districts as they push their students to higher academic levels in a time of fiscal hardship. We have conducted surveys and interviews of school and district level personnel...

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ opinions on the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—also known as the Federal Stimulus Package—based on statewide surveys in the Spring 2009 and Fall 2009 waves of the...

Local government officials from across the state of Michigan were surveyed as part of the Michigan Public Policy Survey program during Fall 2009 in the second MPPS survey wave. This wave focused on educational, economic, and workforce development...

This first brief examines a variety of policy issues related to smoke-free legislation including economic issues, public health issues, and questions of the role of government in the private...

This second brief examines potential reform of the individual health insurance market in Michigan. Attention is paid to how policy changes would affect both insurers and Michigan...

This third brief examines potential reform of the business tax structure in Michigan. The brief describes the current Michigan Business Tax and other forms of business taxes, and analyzes each type of tax in terms of its advantages and...

This fourth brief in the series provides an overview of programs developed to spur economic growth through college scholarships and discusses the effects of such programs, with a particular focus on the Kalamazoo Promise. Note: On of Oct. 13,...

This fifth brief in the series provides an overview of transportation funding for highways, roads and bridges, and offers information on possible policy options to modify that...

The sixth brief reviews trends in crime rates, the incarceration rate, and corrections expenditures. The brief also examines potential solutions to reduce the cost of corrections while maintaining public...

Local government officials from across the state of Michigan were surveyed as part of the Michigan Public Policy Survey program. These officials report low trust in the state government and give low marks in their evaluation of the job performance...

Despite the concern that student plagiarism has become increasingly common, there is relatively little objective data on the prevalence or determinants of this illicit behavior. This study presents the results of a natural field experiment designed...

This paper takes advantage of a unique policy change to examine how principals make decisions regarding teacher dismissal. In 2004, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) signed a new collective bargaining agreement that...

This paper studies the effect of employment protection on worker productivity and firm output in the context of a public school system. In 2004, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) signed a new collective bargaining...

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act compelled states to design schoolaccountability systems based on annual student assessments. The effect of this Federal legislation on the distribution of student achievement is a highly controversial but...

Despite the concern that student plagiarism has become increasingly common, there is relatively little objective data on the prevalence or determinants of this illicit behavior. This study presents the results of a natural field experiment designed...

This first report in the MPPS program highlights key findings from the spring 2009 inaugural wave of the...

Using a difference-in-difference hedonic regression approach, this study examines the external neighborhood effects of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Projects built in Santa Clara County from 1987 to 2000. It finds that a majority of the LIHTC...

Cleveland and Detroit have had similar losses in employment and population and have the same poverty rates. Both have experienced property abandonment that resulted in each city's owning thousands of parcels of tax-reverted land. The reputations of...

Policymakers are increasingly relying on emissions trading programs to address environmental problems caused by air pollution. If polluting firms in an emissions trading program face different economic regulations and investment incentives in their...

The standard revealed-preference hedonic estimate of a city's quality of life is proportional to that city's cost-of-living relative to its wage-level. Adjusting the standard hedonic model to account for federal taxes, non-housing costs, and...