nep-edu New Economics Papers
on Education
Issue of 2006‒03‒05
six papers chosen by
Joao Carlos Correia Leitao
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. Public investment and higher education inequality By Berardino Cesi
  2. Education, Growth and Income Inequality By Coen Teuling; Thijs van Rens
  3. Is Teacher Pay “Adequate”? By Michael Podgursky
  4. Estimation of Cost Efficiency of Australian Universities By Jocelyn Horne; Baiding Hu
  5. Religion and education gender gap: Are Muslims different? By Mandana, Hajj; Panizza, Ugo
  6. The private and social return to schooling in Italy By Antonio Ciccone; Federico Cingano; Piero Cipollone

  1. By: Berardino Cesi
    Abstract: Empirical results show that children from high income households achieve higher levels of education and are more likely to be enrolled in post compulsory school. Theoretical findings fail to answer clearly whether greater public investment in the higher education system effectively decreases the inequality between the educational attainment of rich and poor children. We show that if the child receives a monetary transfer from his parents and allocates it between private consumption and investment in private additional education, then a further public investment decreases the educational gap. This result holds under the assumptions of both sub-stitutability and complementarity between private and public education.
    Keywords: Higher education inequality; Public education; Altruism
    JEL: H31 H52 I21 J24
    Date: 2006–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lec:leecon:06/3&r=edu
  2. By: Coen Teuling; Thijs van Rens
    Abstract: Estimates of the e¤ect of education on GDP (the social return to education)have been hard to reconcile with micro evidence on the private return. We present a simple explanation that combines two ideas: imperfect substitution between worker types and endogenous skill biased technological progress. When types of workers are imperfect substitutes, the supply of human capital is negatively related to its return, and a higher education level compresses wage di¤erentials. We use cross-country panel data on income inequality to estimate the private return and GDP data to estimate the social return. The results show that the private return falls by 2 percentage points when the average education level increases by a year, which is consistent with Katz and Murphy's [1992] estimate of the elasticity of substitution between worker types. We find no evidence for dynamics in the private return, and certainly not for a reversal of the negative e¤ect as described in Acemoglu [2002]. The short run social return equals the private return.
    Keywords: Growth, inequality, education, private and social return to schooling, compression effect
    JEL: E20 J24 O10 O15
    Date: 2001–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:942&r=edu
  3. By: Michael Podgursky (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia)
    Abstract: In school finance lawsuits plaintiffs often claim that pay levels are not sufficient to recruit teachers who can deliver constitutionally-mandated levels of educational services. In this paper I consider several ways in which one might bring economic theory and data to bear on that question. I conclude that at present, and at least for the near term, education research cannot prescribe an “adequate” level of school spending on teachers, whether in the form of pay, benefits, or professional training, that can reliability predict a target level of student performance. If courts are predisposed to intervene in this matter, a more reasonable standard for “adequacy” is whether available revenues, when spent in an efficient manner, are sufficient to staff classrooms with appropriately-certified teachers in a flexible licensing regime that satisfies both state and federal teacher quality standards.
    Keywords: Teacher compensation, School finance
    JEL: I2 J3
    Date: 2006–02–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:0601&r=edu
  4. By: Jocelyn Horne (Department of Economics, Macquarie University); Baiding Hu (Department of Economics, Macquarie University)
    Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to quantify the efficiency with which Australian universities utilise their teaching resources. The study estimates the cost efficiency of 36 universities over the period 1995-2002 using stochastic frontier analysis. The present study differs from previous cost and efficiency studies of Australian universities in two respects. First, it employs stochastic frontier analysis for the specification of a cost function for Australian universities which allows for the estimation of cost efficiency for each university under study. Second, a panel data set is utilised in the estimation of the cost function which enables not only comparisons of cost efficiency between universities but also an econometric testing of the assumption of an identical cost function for every university. The main finding is that universities are not operating efficiently as measured by cost efficiency and in relative terms. An efficiency ranking is derived and policy inferences are discussed.
    Keywords: Cost efficiency, stochastic frontier analysis, higher education
    JEL: C23 I20
    Date: 2005–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mac:wpaper:0502&r=edu
  5. By: Mandana, Hajj; Panizza, Ugo
    Abstract: This paper uses individual-level data and a differences in differences estimation strategy to test whether the education gender gap of Muslims is different from that of Christians. In particular, the paper uses data for young Lebanese and shows that, other things equal, girls (both Muslim and Christian) tend to receive more education than boys and that there is no difference between the education gender gap of Muslims and Christians. Therefore, the paper finds no support for the hypothesis that Muslims discriminate against female education.
    Keywords: Religion, Islam, Education, Gender Gap
    JEL: Z12 I20 O53
    Date: 2006–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uca:ucapdv:64&r=edu
  6. By: Antonio Ciccone (ICREA and Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Federico Cingano (Bank of Italy); Piero Cipollone (Bank of Italy)
    Abstract: We estimate the private (individual) and social return to schooling in Italy and four macro regions. Our estimates take into account the effects of schooling on employment and wages as well as the key features of the Italian tax and social insurance system. We find that the individual return to schooling compares favorably to the return to financial assets (especially in the South). At the social level, the available infrastructure-capital data indicates that the return to schooling exceeds that to infrastructures in the South.
    Keywords: Education, Regional Development, Wages, Employment probability
    JEL: I2 J31 O18 R11
    Date: 2006–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_569_06&r=edu

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