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on Education |
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Issue of 2007‒01‒06
six papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Maarten Lindeboom (Free University Amsterdam, Tinbergen Institute, HEB, Netspar and IZA Bonn); Ana Llena-Nozal (Free University Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute); Bas van der Klaauw (Free University Amsterdam, Tinbergen Institute, CEPR and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of parental education on child health outcomes. To identify the causal effect we explore exogenous variation in parental education induced by a schooling reform in 1947, which raised the minimum school leaving age in the UK. Findings based on data from the National Child Development Study suggest that postponing the school leaving age by one year had little effect on the health of their offspring. Schooling did however improve economic opportunities by reducing financial difficulties among households. We conclude from this that the effects of parental income on child health are at most modest. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, intergenerational mobility, health, regression-discontinuity |
| JEL: | I12 I28 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2516&r=edu |
| By: | John Micklewright (S3RI, University of Southampton and IZA Bonn); Sylke V. Schnepf (S3RI, University of Southampton and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Within-country differences in educational outcomes are compared for a large group of industrialised countries. We investigate where inequality is greatest, the association between inequality in learning and average levels of learning, the interpretation of measured levels of inequality, and differences in inequality at the top and bottom of the national distributions. Our analysis is based on test score data for 21 countries present in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). The use of three different surveys avoids reliance on a single source. |
| Keywords: | inequality, learning, education, TIMSS, PISA, PIRLS |
| JEL: | D39 I21 I39 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2517&r=edu |
| By: | Ana Rute Cardoso (IZA and University of Minho); Miguel Portela (Tinbergen Institute, NIPE-University of Minho and IZA); Carla Sá (Tinbergen Institute and NIPE-University of Minho); Fernando Alexandre (NIPE-University of Minho) |
| Abstract: | The Bologna process aims at creating a European Higher Education Area where intercountry mobility of students and staff, as well as workers holding a degree, is facilitated. While several aspects of the process deserve wide public support, the reduction of the length of the first cycle of studies to three years, in several continental European countries where it used to last for four or five years, is less consensual. The paper checks the extent of public confidence in the restructuring of higher education currently underway, by looking at its implications on the demand for academic programs. It exploits the fact that some programs have restructured under the Bologna process and others have not, in Portugal. Precise quantification of the demand for each academic program is facilitated by the rules of access to higher education, in a nation-wide competition, where candidates must list up to six preferences of institution and program. We use regression analysis applied to count data, estimating negative binomial models. Results indicate that the programs that restructured to follow the Bologna principles were subject to higher demand than comparable programs that did not restructure, as if Bologna were understood as a quality stamp. This positive impact was reinforced if the institution was a leader, i.e. the single one in the country that restructured the program. Still an additional increase in demand was experienced by large programs that restructured to offer an integrated master degree, thus conforming to Bologna principles while not reducing the program duration. |
| Keywords: | education policy, European Higher Education Area, economic, social and cultural integration, count data |
| JEL: | I28 I21 F15 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2532&r=edu |
| By: | Ana Rute Cardoso (IZA Bonn and University of Minho); Dorte Verner (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at identifying the major drop-out and push-out factors that lead to school abandonment in an urban surrounding, the shantytowns of Fortaleza, Northeast Brazil. We use an extensive survey addressing risk factors faced by the population in these neighborhoods, which covered both in-school and out-of-school youth, of both genders. The role of early parenthood, child labor, and poverty in pushing teenagers out of school is subject to particular attention. The potential endogeneity of some of the determinants is dealt with in the empirical analysis. We take advantage of the rich set of variables available and apply an instrumental variables approach. Early parenthood is instrumented with the age declared by the youngsters as the ideal age to start having sexual relationships; work is instrumented using the declared reservation wage (minimum salary acceptable to work). Results indicate that early parenthood has a strong impact driving teenagers out of school. Extreme poverty is another factor lowering school attendance, as children who have suffered hunger at some point in their lives are less likely to attend school. In this particular urban context, working does not necessarily have a detrimental effect on school attendance, which could be linked to the fact that dropping out of school leads most often to inactivity, and not to work. |
| Keywords: | school drop-out, investment in human capital, education, development, Latin America, Brazil |
| JEL: | I21 O15 D1 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2515&r=edu |
| By: | Kenn Ariga (Kyoto University); Giorgio Brunello (Padova University, Kyoto University, CESifo and IZA); Roki Iwahashi (University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa); Lorenzo Rocco (Padova University) |
| Abstract: | During the postwar period, many countries have de-tracked their secondary schools, based on the view that early tracking was unfair. What are the efficiency costs, if any, of de-tracking schools? To answer this question, we develop a two skills - two jobs model with a frictional labour market, where new school graduates need to actively search for their best match. We compute optimal tracking length and the output gain/loss associated to the gap between actual and optimal tracking length. Using a sample of 18 countries, we find that: a) actual tracking length is often longer than optimal, which might call for some efficient de-tracking; b) the output loss of having a tracking length longer or shorter than optimal is sizeable, and close to 2 percent of total net output. |
| Keywords: | mismatch, school tracking |
| JEL: | I2 J6 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2534&r=edu |
| By: | Nanak Kakwani; Marcelo Neri; Hyun H. Son |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:epgewp:639&r=edu |