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The CIBC Centre publishes several policy briefs per year on topics related to its six main research themes: early childhood, primary and secondary schooling; post- econdary education; productivity and earnings; social benefits of human capital; human capital policy; and human capital, development and growth. These briefs highlight and discuss important policy-related research findings and are written for a broad audience of policymakers, journalists, and other researchers.

If you would like to receive CIBC Centre Policy Briefs via email or regular mail, please
contact us at cibc@uwo.ca.

Policy Brief 4, March 2012

The Transferability of Skills

This brief discusses the transferability of skills across jobs and occupations. Evidence suggests that displaced workers finding new employment in jobs using similar skills experience significantly smaller wage losses than those taking new jobs in occupations that utilize a vastly different set of skills. Workers find their way back to more similar jobs than would occur with random mobility, and they are increasingly finding their way back to more similar jobs in recent years.

See additional information on this brief and an interview with Chris Robinson on the transferability of skills.

Policy Brief 3, December 2011

The Impacts of Education on Crime, Health and Mortality, and Civic Participation

This brief summarizes the state of knowledge on the non-production benefits of education.  A growing body of evidence shows that education (and related education-based initiatives) can reduce crime rates, improve health, lower mortality rates, and increase political participation.

Policy Brief 2, June 2011

Optimism, College Major, and Post-Secondary Dropout

This brief discusses the role of learning about one's own ability in driving post-secondary dropout decisions and and changes in college major. New evidence shows that nearly one-half of post-secondary students who drop out of school do so because they learn that they are not as well-suited for their programs as they initially thought. Many students also leave math/science majors for similar reasons.

Policy Brief 1, January 2011

Post-Secondary Attendance, Parental Income, and Financial Aid: Comparing the U.S. and Canada

This brief discusses new evidence that parental income has a greater impact on recent post-secondary education decisions in the U.S. than in Canada. It further examines the structure of need-based financial aid in both countries and shows that differences in aid policies do not easily explain the observed differences in post-secondary educational attendance patterns.

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