Higher Education.

The NBER's Working Group on Higher Education, directed by Charles T. Clotfelter of Duke University, met in Cambridge on May 5. The program was:

Jeffrey Groen and Michelle J. White, University of Michigan, "In State versus Out-of-State Students: The Divergence of Interest between Public Universities and State Governments"

Discussant: Caroline Minter Hoxby, NBER and Harvard University

Ronald G. Ehrenberg, NBER and Cornell University, and John J. Cheslock and Julia Epifantseva, Cornell University; "Paying Our Presidents: What Do Trustees Value?"

Discussant: Michael Rothschild, NBER and Princeton University

Bruce I. Sacerdote, NBER and Dartmouth College, "Peer Effects with Random Assignment: Results for Dartmouth Roommates" (NBER Working Paper No. 7469)

Discussant: David Zimmerman, Williams College

Larry D. Singell, Jr. and Joe A. Stone, University of Oregon, "The Good, the Poor, or the Wealthy: Who Benefits Most from College Financial Aid?"

Discussant: John Siegfried, Vanderbilt University

1. Abigail Payne, University of Illinois, "Does the Barrel Contain Fat or Pork? The Effect of Earmarking on Research Funding and Productivity at Universities"

Discussant: Irwin Feller; Pennsylvania State University

Jill M. Constantine, Williams College, and Laura Perna, University of Maryland, "Why Do So Many More Black Women than Black Men Enroll in College?"

Discussant: Sarah Turner. University of Virginia

Groen and White examine the divergence of interest between universities and state governments concerning standards for admitting in-state versus out-of-state students. Considering both public and private universities, the authors find that both favor in-state students in admissions. They also find that states gain more in expected future tax revenues when marginal in-state students, rather than marginal out-of-state students, are admitted to public universities. That is because in-state students' higher probability of locating in the state after attending a university there offsets their lower future state tax payments. Finally, the authors investigate whether states gain when very high ability students attend public universities. They find instead that states are better off when public universities are not highly selective, and when public universities restrict admission of out-of-state students, even those of high ability.

Ehrenberg, Cheslock, and Epifantseva use information on the changes in compensation and turnover of presidents of private...