Problems with international measures of education

Comparative studies often use standard measures of educational attainment. Each country’s indigenous educational credentials are reclassified into a standard set of categories. Because the indigenous credentials differ among countries, the reclassification process varies greatly, and it differs depending on which standard classification system is used. In a review of two comparative studies using two different standard classification systems, three observations were made: 1) translating the indigenous credentials into the standard categories can lead to very different distributions of similar countries’ populations in the standard categories. 2) Reclassifying the indigenous credentials into the standard categories appears to follow different decision rules in different countries. 3) The heterogeneity of the indigenous credentials combined into the standard categories tends to distort cross-country similarities and differences. We discuss the weaknesses of the two standard sets of categories and call for further efforts to improve them.     

Truth-in-sentencing, law enforcement, and inmate population growth

This paper presents the empirical estimation of an econometric model of the flow of prisoners into a state correctional system. Specifically, an econometric model was built to control for the number of parolees, the probability of admission to the state system, the size of the state population, the unemployment and poverty rates, the number of law enforcement officers within the state, and the state-wide “truth-in-sentencing” law, which requires convicts to serve at least 85% of their sentences. One primary result was that increases in the number of law enforcement officers has generated a decline in the growth rate of the prison population. This suggests that a “deterrent effect” is created when more police are placed on the beat. Furthermore, the results indicate that the truth-in-sentencing law has also slowed the rate of inmate population growth. This finding may reflect the growing trend for courts to hand down nontraditional sentences and to adjust prison sentences to reflect a constant “real time” of incarceration by crime.