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on Education |
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Issue of 2010‒05‒02
eighteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Stephen Machin; Kjell Salvanes |
| Abstract: | Among policymakers, educators and economists there remains a strong, sometimes heated, debate on the extent to which good schools matter. This is seen, for instance, in the strong trend towards establishing accountability systems in education in many countries across the world. In this paper, in line with some recent studies, we value school quality using house prices. We, however, adopt a rather different approach to other work, using a policy experiment regarding pupils' choice to attend high schools to identify the relationship between house prices and school performance. We exploit a change in school choice policy that took place in Oslo county in 1997, where the school authorities opened up the possibility for every pupil to apply to any of the high schools in the county without having to live in the school's catchment area (the rule that applied before 1997). Our estimates show evidence that parents substantially value better performing schools since the sensitivity of housing valuations to school performance falls significantly by over 50% following the school choice reform. |
| Keywords: | School choice, school performance, house prices, |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:ceedps:0113&r=edu |
| By: | José García-Quevedo (University of Barcelona & IEB); Francisco Mas-Verdú (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia & IEB); Jose Polo-Otero (University of Barcelona & CYD Foundation & IEB) |
| Abstract: | PhD graduates hold the highest education degree, are trained to conduct research and can be considered a key element in the creation, commercialization and diffusion of innovations. The impact of PhDs on innovation and economic development takes place through several channels such as the accumulation of scientific capital stock, the enhancement of technology transfers and the promotion of cooperation relationships in innovation processes. Although the placement of PhDs in industry provides a very important mechanism for transmitting knowledge from universities to firms, information about the characteristics of the firms that employ PhDs is very scarce. The goal of this paper is to improve understanding of the determinants of the demand for PhDs in the private sector. Three main potential determinants of the demand for PhDs are considered: cooperation between firms and universities, R&D activities of firms and several characteristics of firms, size, sector, productivity and age. The results from the econometric analysis show that cooperation between firms and universities encourages firms to recruit PhDs and point to the existence of accumulative effects in the hiring of PhD graduates. |
| Keywords: | PhD, university, R&D, technology transfer |
| JEL: | O32 J24 I23 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2010/4/doc2010-13&r=edu |
| By: | Kristina A. Schapiro (Monitor Group, London) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of migration on educational outcomes of children. It looks at the outcomes of internationally as well as internally migrating children and identifies the specific barriers they face in access to quality schooling. It discusses the various channels through which migration affects the education and wellbeing of non-migrant children in migrant households. It subsequently examines the variations in educational attainment of second-generation migrant children. To conclude, the paper recognizes the policy challenges surrounding the migration-education linkage and considers some of the strategies that have been implemented to improve the schooling outcomes of children affected by migration. |
| Keywords: | Migration, children, education, human capital, human development, policy |
| JEL: | O1 O15 F22 F2 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-57&r=edu |
| By: | Kevin Lang |
| Abstract: | From the perspective of someone who is both an economist and a former school board member, this paper assesses the use of test-score data by policy-makers and academic researchers. The absence of interval scales often makes the interpretation of test-scores and the indicators derived from them highly problematic. Economists have both been deficient in alerting policy-makers to the inherent difficulties in using such data and cavalier in their own treatment of them. Test score data often merely confirm what administrators already know. Nevertheless they can be useful if used as a trigger for further investigation, and, in particular, as a lever for encouraging principals and other administrators to act on information about teacher (or school) quality. |
| Keywords: | NCLB; No Child Left Behind; value-added-measurement in education; accountability; high-stakes testing |
| JEL: | I21 I28 H75 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:143&r=edu |
| By: | Antonio Di Paolo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona & IEB); Josep Lluís Raymond (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona & IEB); Jorge Calero (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the investigation of the intergenerational mobility of education in several European countries and its changes across birth cohorts (1940-1980), using a new mobility index that considers the total degree of mobility as the weighted sum of mobility with respect to both parents. Moreover, this mobility index enables the analysis of the role of family characteristics as mediating factors in the statistical association between individual and parental education. We find that Nordic countries display lower levels of educational persistence but that the degree of mobility increases over time only in those countries with low initial levels. Moreover, the results suggest that the degree of mobility with respect to fathers and mothers converges to the same level and that family characteristics accounts for an important part of the statistical association between parental education and children’s schooling; a particular finding is that the most important elements of family characteristics are the family’s socio-economic status and educational assortative mating of the parents. |
| Keywords: | educational economics, intergenerational mobility, Europe, birth cohorts, family |
| JEL: | J62 I21 I29 D13 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2010/4/doc2010-10&r=edu |
| By: | Pedro Martins |
| Keywords: | Teacher incentives, pupil attainment |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:ceedps:0112&r=edu |
| By: | Horstschräer, Julia; Sprietsma, Maresa |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the short-term effects of the introduction of the Bachelor degree in the framework of the Bologna Process on college enrollment and drop-out rates. We use variation in the timing of the Bachelor implementation at the department level to identify the effect of the reform based on longitudinal administrative student data from Germany. We find no significant effects on college enrollment or drop-out rates for most subjects. -- |
| Keywords: | higher education,college enrollment drop-out,Bologna Process |
| JEL: | I28 I21 C23 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10018&r=edu |
| By: | Gindling, T. H. (University of Maryland, Baltimore County); Poggio, Sara Z. (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) |
| Abstract: | For many immigrants, especially those from Central America and Mexico, it is common for a mother or father (or both) to migrate to the United States and leave their children behind. Then, after the parent(s) have achieved some degree of stability in the United States, the children follow. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we examined the hypothesis that separation during migration results in problems at school after re-unification. We find that children separated from parents during migration are more likely to be behind others their age in school and are more likely to drop out of high school. |
| Keywords: | immigrant children, education, family separation |
| JEL: | I2 J13 J61 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4887&r=edu |
| By: | Wei Ha (Policy Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP); Junjian Yi (Economics Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong); Junsen Zhang (Economics Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of both permanent and temporary emigration on human capital formation and economic growth of the source regions. To achieve this end, this paper explores the Chinese provincial panel data from 1980 to 2005. First, the fixed effects model is employed to estimate the effect of emigration on school enrollment rates in the source regions. Relative to this aspect, we find that the magnitude (scale) of permanent emigrants (measured by the permanent emigration ratio) is conducive to the improvement of both middle and high schools enrollments. In contrast, the magnitude of temporary emigrants has a significantly positive effect on middle school enrollment but does not have a significant effect on high school enrollment. More interestingly, different educational attainments of temporary emigrants have different effects on school enrollment. Specifically, the share of temporary emigrants with high school education positively affects middle school enrollment, while the share of temporary emigrants with middle school education negatively affects high school enrollment. Second, the instrumental variable method is applied to estimate the effect of emigration on economic growth within the framework of system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The estimation results suggest that both permanent and temporary emigrations have a detrimental effect on the economic growth of the source regions. Our empirical tests provide some new evidence to the "brain drain" debate, which has recently received increasing attention. |
| Keywords: | Brain drain, human capital, emigration, economic growth |
| JEL: | J22 J24 O12 O15 F22 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-37&r=edu |
| By: | Pieters, Janneke (Groningen University) |
| Abstract: | Previous studies show that rising returns to education have lead to higher wage inequality in developing countries. However, given the importance of non-wage employment and indirect effects of education through labour supply and fertility choices, a similar relationship does not necessarily hold for inequality between households. Based on a decomposition analysis for India, we find counteracting impacts of education on household expenditure inequality. Declining returns to education of household heads reduced inequality, driven by the self-employed. In contrast, rising returns to spouses? education increased inequality in urban areas. We also find that changes in education levels increased rural and urban inequality, due to persistently high illiteracy. Finally, the indirect effect on fertility had a small equalizing impact in urban areas, but slightly increased inequality in rural areas. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:rugggd:gd-114&r=edu |
| By: | Natalia Kyui (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I) |
| Abstract: | This paper makes a thorough analysis of the returns to tertiary education and education-occupation matches within a transition economy and compares these returns to similar returns in a developed economy. This study shows through the example of the Russian Federation that the increase in the returns to education which happened in previous years does not indicate that the labor market is becoming closer to that of developed countries. The standard estimation of the returns to education is deconstructed in three parts characterizing the labor market : education-occupation match, payment for occupations and payment for productivity within occupations. First, I compare the non-parametric estimation of wage distributions by educational and occupational groups within the Russian labor market and a developed country's labor market (I take France as an example). Second, I estimate a joint reduced-form model of the educational choice, labor market participation, placement of employees among occupational categories and wage formation. This joint model allows us to take into account correlations between unobservable factors that simultaneously influence the educational choice, occupational choice and final wage. A wide range of explanatory variables is used, characterizing not only individuals, but also their households, job, industries of work and regions. This allows us to analyze the influence of the family's network on the placements among occupational categories and wage formation. I take into account the observed heterogeneity of returns to education among the analyzed population. The results show the advantages of the proposed approach for the analysis of transition labor markets when compared with the standard approaches to transition economies. |
| Keywords: | Returns to education, occupational choice, transition economy. |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00476379_v1&r=edu |
| By: | Flip Klijn (Harvard Business School); Joana Pais (Technical University of Lisbon; UECE–Research Unit on Complexity and Economics); Marc Vorsatz (Fundacion de Estudios de Economia Aplicada (FEDEA)) |
| Abstract: | We experimentally investigate in the laboratory two prominent mechanisms that are employed in school choice programs to assign students to public schools. We study how individual behavior is influenced by preference intensities and risk aversion. Our main results show that (a) the Gale-Shapley mechanism is more robust to changes in cardinal preferences than the Boston mechanism independently of whether individuals can submit a complete or only a restricted ranking of the schools and (b) subjects with a higher degree of risk aversion are more likely to play "safer" strategies under the Gale-Shapley but not under the Boston mechanism. Both results have important implications for the efficiency and the stability of the mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | school choice, risk aversion, preference intensities, laboratory experiment, Gale-Shapley mechanism, Boston mechanism, efficiency, stability, constrained choice |
| JEL: | C78 C91 C92 D78 I20 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hbs:wpaper:10-093&r=edu |
| By: | Natalia Kyui (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper makes a thorough analysis of the returns to tertiary education and education-occupation matches within a transition economy and compares these returns to similar returns in a developed economy. This study shows through the example of the Russian Federation that the increase in the returns to education which happened in previous years does not indicate that the labor market is becoming closer to that of developed countries. The standard estimation of the returns to education is deconstructed in three parts characterizing the labor market : education-occupation match, payment for occupations and payment for productivity within occupations. First, I compare the non-parametric estimation of wage distributions by educational and occupational groups within the Russian labor market and a developed country's labor market (I take France as an example). Second, I estimate a joint reduced-form model of the educational choice, labor market participation, placement of employees among occupational categories and wage formation. This joint model allows us to take into account correlations between unobservable factors that simultaneously influence the educational choice, occupational choice and final wage. A wide range of explanatory variables is used, characterizing not only individuals, but also their households, job, industries of work and regions. This allows us to analyze the influence of the family's network on the placements among occupational categories and wage formation. I take into account the observed heterogeneity of returns to education among the analyzed population. The results show the advantages of the proposed approach for the analysis of transition labor markets when compared with the standard approaches to transition economies. |
| Keywords: | Returns to education, occupational choice, transition economy. |
| JEL: | J24 J30 J31 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:10031&r=edu |
| By: | Katalin Erdõs (Department of Economics and Regional Studies, University of Pécs); Attila Varga (Department of Economics and Regional Studies, University of Pécs) |
| Abstract: | Knowledge flows from universities to the regional economy can take different forms ranging from formal research collaborations to consultancy and informal personal connections. One of the knowledge communication channels drawing substantial interest of both researchers and regional policy makers is academic spin-off firm formation. According to the concept of the “academic entrepreneur” (Etzkowitz) university spin-off firm formation has grown naturally from the academic culture of the US where professors traditionally behave very much like entrepreneurs while setting up and maintaining research labs, hiring research assistants, “marketing” research results in conferences and publications or networking with colleagues and funding agencies. Spinning off a company is just a step forward from such entrepreneurial tasks of academics. Thus according to this concept academic motivations are main drivers in university spin-off firm formation in the US. Despite this challenging view the empirical literature pays relatively little attention to the particular “academic” features of university spin-offs and rarely considers the specificities of university entrepreneurship most notably the role of scientists as entrepreneurs. Empirical evidence suggests that Europe performs less successfully than the US in transferring knowledge from university labs to the regional economy via spin-off companies. One potential reason behind this difference is that institutions that determine the continental European research system hold back the emergence of academic entrepreneurs. Thus it is the main research question in our paper whether those specific “academic” drivers behind university spin-off firm formation are present at all in the continental European context. The related question is whether professional characteristics of the academics, their social capital, the norms of academia and the academic and business environment support or hinder these academic motivations? This paper is based on interviews carried out with university researchers who actively participate in firm formation in Hungary. Hungary is an excellent European case since the features of its university system are rooted in the continental (mainly German) tradition, but it also inherits some characteristics from the even more centralized socialist (soviet) tradition. |
| Keywords: | University, spin-off, academic entrepreneurship, regional university technology transfer |
| JEL: | I23 O18 O33 R11 |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pec:wpaper:2009/7&r=edu |
| By: | Sascha Ruhle (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Bergische Universität Wuppertal); Daniel Mühlbauer (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Bergische Universität Wuppertal); Marc Grünhagen (Lehrstuhl für Unternehmensgründung und Wirtschaftsentwicklung, Bergische Universität Wuppertal); Jens Rothenstein (Lehrstuhl für Empirische Wirtschafts- und Sozialforschung, Bergische Universität Wuppertal) |
| Abstract: | This working paper addresses the question which dimensions of Ajzens (1988) Theory of Planned Behavior, named attitude towards start-up, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms can be used to explain the entrepreneurial intentions of business students. Furthermore we hypotheses an influence of attendance in entre-preneurship lectures, having entrepreneurs within ones family and the cultural background as possible enhancers of entrepreneurial intentions via the dimensions of the TPB. We found not only a highly significant connection between all dimensions of Ajzens model and the entrepreneurial intention, but although evidences for an influ-ence of the individuals social and cultural background on the EI. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurial Intentions, Theory of planned behavior, university entrepreneurship, student survey, new firm creation |
| JEL: | L26 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp10004&r=edu |
| By: | Boboc, Cristina; Driouchi, Ahmed; Titan, Emilia |
| Abstract: | This study looks at how health, education, and economic development are inter-related in the case of Europe. Factorial analyses besides econometric models, implemented on a panel data from EUROSTAT show that the included variables are interrelated. The new members of the European Union are found to be investing in education, research and development and health care. Furthermore, they have high economic growth and high improvements in education and health state indicators. However, the instability and economic risks that have appeared during the transition process do affect the level of social protection. The existing social protection system increases poverty rates and slows the convergence towards developed economies. Two main directions for enhancing human development in EU new member economies are identified. They include the strengthening of the social protection system to target the vulnerable members affected by the transition process besides increasing expenditure on research and development. |
| Keywords: | Interdependencies; Health; Education; Economic Development |
| JEL: | D31 |
| Date: | 2010–01–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:22235&r=edu |
| By: | Giannelli, Gianna Claudia (University of Florence); Mangiavacchi, Lucia (Universita de les Illes Balears) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the long-term effects of parental migration abroad on the schooling of children left behind in Albania. Although parents' migration usually benefits children economically, the lack of parental care may cause relational and psychological problems that may affect children's welfare in the long-term. The phenomenon of children left behind –mainly by fathers – is very relevant in Albania where migration has represented the only viable way to cope with increasing poverty and the absence of public resources for sustaining households’ incomes. Between 1990 and 2005 in Albania 21.7% of children under 18 have been left behind, with an average parental absence of 9.5 months. Using detailed information on family migration drawn from the Living Standard Measurement Survey for 2005, multiple choice models are applied to evaluate the school progression of older children and adolescents. A duration analysis of school participation with both discrete and continuous time models is then performed. The results show that past parental migration has a negative effect on school attendance in the long-term with higher hazards of school drop-outs for children left behind. These results are robust to the use of different econometric techniques and model specifications. |
| Keywords: | children, schooling, migration, duration analysis, Albania |
| JEL: | J13 J18 O15 P36 |
| Date: | 2010–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4888&r=edu |
| By: | Amit Shovon Ray; Sabyasachi Saha |
| Abstract: | In this paper we attempt to provide a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of academic research and patenting in India. Research inputs by a faculty member are considered to be an outcome of his/her own decision-making process, which in turn determine his/her research outputs. Exogenous parameters, like faculty background, faculty attitude, research sponsorship and institutional factors, are expected to influence both set of endogenous variables (research inputs and outputs). This production function is specified as a recursive simultaneous equation model and estimate the structural parameters using standard econometric methods. [ICRIER WP No. 247]. |
| Keywords: | production function, academic research, India, patenting, inputs, faculty members, attitude, institutional factors, econometric methods, IPR, Bayh-Dole Act, patents, variables, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2476&r=edu |