Referee report: Winston, Gordon. “Subsidies, Hierarchy and Peers: The Awkward Economics of Higher Education.” Journal of Economic Perspectives
1. The importance/motivation/background of the issue: the economic realities of higher education. How knowing the economics behind higher education will help us in framing proper policies, and in assessing the impact of various trends in financing, enrollment
2. The conclusions of the paper, and its contribution. What do we learn from reading the paper, in particular about the nature of a highly selective university.
3. How do recent trends in state subsidies and college prices affect your understanding and interpretation of this paper?
4. How do what we have learned of the for-profit sector influence your reading of Winston? In particular, does it surprise you that there are so few for-profits among four-year colleges?
5. How does your understanding of these peer effects – based on your reading of the assigned chapter and the class discussion – help you in critically analyzing what Winston is saying?
6. How do you think online learning might complicate the picture?
