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on Education |
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Issue of 2011‒01‒03
nineteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Charles Kenny |
| Abstract: | There has been considerable progress in school construction and enrollment worldwide. Paying kids to go to school can help overcome remaining demand-side barriers to enrollment. Nonetheless, the quality of education appears very poor across the developing world, limiting development impact. Thus we should measure and promote learning not schooling. Conditional cash transfers to students on the basis of attendance and scores, school choice, decentralization combined with published test results, and teacher pay based on attendance and performance may help. But learning outcomes are primarily affected by the broader environment in which students live, suggesting a learning agenda that stretches far beyond education ministries. [Working paper no. 236]. |
| Keywords: | teachers, enrollment, conditional transfers, developing world, ministries, performance, students, education, decentralization, learning, schooling, attendance, environment, Education policy, development, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3386&r=edu |
| By: | Böckerman, Petri; Haapanen, Mika |
| Abstract: | A polytechnic, higher education reform took place in Finland in the 1990s. It gradually transformed former vocational colleges into polytechnics and expanded higher education to all Finnish regions. We implement instrumental variables estimators that exploit the exogenous variation in the regional availability of polytechnic education together with matriculation exam scores. Our IV results show that polytechnic graduates have a higher migration probability than those of vocational college graduates. However, a master’s degree did not increase migration propensity in comparison with a polytechnic degree. We also find that an increase in the availability of polytechnic education did not reduce migration. |
| Keywords: | Migration; higher education; polytechnic reform; IV estimation |
| JEL: | I20 J10 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27629&r=edu |
| By: | Kitagawa, Fumi (University of Bristol); Wigren, Caroline (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | The recent rise in university-industry partnerships has stimulated an important public policy debate degrading the theoretical rationale for government support for knowledge transfer/exchanges from higher education sector. This paper draws on a particular case study conducted at Lund University, which is the largest comprehensive research university in Sweden. We ask the role of fundamental research at the university and organizational responses to growing expectations with respect to its subsequent use and applications, particularly those of ‘Centres of research excellence’. We identify new forms of intermediary organizations as ‘brokers on the boundaries’ which bridge the gap between everyday scientific activities of researchers, entrepreneurial activities of academics, and more centralized forms of strategic initiatives taken by an ‘entrepreneurial university’ as an organizational actor. The paper concludes by identifying organizational strategic choices and constraints, and implications for rapidly changing higher education and research policies in Sweden and beyond. |
| Keywords: | Academic Entrepreneurship; Sweden |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2010–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2010_002&r=edu |
| By: | Machin Stephen; Marie Olivier; Vujić Sunčica (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the crime reducing potential of education, presenting causal statistical estimates based upon a law that changed the compulsory school leaving age in England and Wales. We frame the analysis in a regression-discontinuity setting and uncover significant decreases in property crime from reductions in the proportion of people with no educational qualifications and increases in the age of leaving school that resulted from the change in the law. The findings show that improving education can yield significant social benefits and can be a key policy tool in the drive to reduce crime. |
| Keywords: | public economics ; |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2010061&r=edu |
| By: | Quentin David (CREA, Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | In this contribution, we study the organization and the funding mechanisms of higher education. We show that higher education is organized and funded very differently among OECD countries. We put forward the fact that this heterogeneity in its organization and funding corresponds to different conceptions about the nature of higher education. It can either be considered as a private investment good or as a public good. The Asian countries studied treat higher education as a private investment good. An important part of higher education is organized and funded by the private sector, notably the beneficiaries, but its provision is regulated by the State. The Anglo-Saxon countries seem to consider higher education as a good located at the border between the private and the public good. The organization and the funding of institutions are really shared between the private and the public sectors. In the Continental European countries, the conception of higher education is closer to that of a public good. Most of the funding comes from the States and it is often underfunded. Finally, higher education is considered as a real public good in the Scandinavian countries where students can even be subsidized to attend higher education |
| Keywords: | higher education expenditures, public/private funding of higher education, international comparison of education systems |
| JEL: | H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:10-24&r=edu |
| By: | Matías Tapia |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a one-to-one matching model to analyze how different education funding regimes affect incentives and equilibrium allocations in competitive markets served by heterogeneous private providers. The main result is that alternative funding schemes change the relative incentives faced by schools with different productivities, dramatically altering equilibrium allocations and outcomes. The paper also explicitly characterizes equilibrium in markets served by for-profit and non-profit schools, an analysis that has not been made in previous literature. The basic version of the model is calibrated using data from Chile´s education market and used to simulate the impact of alternative policy scenarios. |
| Keywords: | Education funding, school competition, heterogeneous firms, for-profit and non-profit firms. |
| JEL: | I21 I22 L33 D40 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:387&r=edu |
| By: | Paolo Ghinetti (Università del Piemonte Orientale); Simone Moriconi (Università del Piemonte Orientale and Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use a representative sample drawn from the `Indagine Statistica sull' Inserimento Professionale dei Laureati' by the Italian National Statistical Institute and data by the Italian Ministry of Education to look at the wage returns from attendance to a regional university (i.e. not located in a metropolitan area) three years after graduation. Our results show that, after accounting for observed characteristics of individuals and colleges, a wage premium is associated to graduating in a regional university. This finding may be interpreted as regional universities enhancing the local human capital stock or creating specific skills needed by the local economic environment. |
| Keywords: | University graduates’ labour market, regional university, wage differentials |
| JEL: | J31 I21 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:10-23&r=edu |
| By: | Servaas van der Berg (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Debra Shepherd (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | Economists regard information and feedback as important ways for self-correction in a system. This study analyses one aspect of information and feedback in the South African education system. Continuous assessment (CASS) carries a 25% weight in the final matriculation (Grade 12) mark and, more importantly, provides feedback on performance that affects examination preparation and effort. Weak assessment in schools means that pupils are getting wrong signals that may have important consequences for the way they approach the final examination. Moreover, similarly wrong signals earlier in their school careers may also have affected their subject choice and career planning. This study analyses data on CASS and compares it to the externally assessed matric exam marks for three years for a number of subjects. There are two signalling dimensions to inaccurate assessments: (i) Inflated CASS marks give students a false sense of security that they are well-prepared for the matric exams, thereby leading to unrealistic expectations and diminished effort. (ii) A weak correlation between CASS and the exam marks means poor signalling in another dimension: Relatively good students may get relatively low CASS marks. This indicates poor reliability of assessment, as the examination and continuous assessment should both be testing the same mastery of the national curriculum. The paper analyses the extent of each of these two dimensions of weak signalling in South African schools, by subject, province, socio-economic background of schools, and public versus independent schools. The analysis draws disturbing conclusions for a large part of the school system. |
| Keywords: | Economics of Education, assessment, asymmetric information, South Africa |
| JEL: | I21 D82 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers127&r=edu |
| By: | Haegeland, Torbjørn (Statistics Norway); Kirkebøen, Lars Johannessen (Statistics Norway); Raaum, Oddbjørn (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | Massive cross-sectional evidence exists indicating that children of more educated parents outperform their schoolmates. However, evidence for causal interpretation of this association is weak. We examine a causal relationship using two approaches for identification within the same data: cousins with twin parents and adopted children. We find no effect of mothers' education on children's school performance using the children-of-twins approach. However, for adopted children, mother's education has a small positive effect. Tracking the work experience of parents during offspring childhood, we find no support that this effect can be explained by a higher labor force participation among more educated mothers. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, education, twin parents, adoptees |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5369&r=edu |
| By: | Nour, Samia Satti Osman Mohamed (Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, Khartoum University, and UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we discuss the interaction between science policies (and particularly in the area of scientific research) and higher education policies in Gulf and Mediterranean Arab countries. Our analysis reveals a discrepancy between the two sub-regions with respect to integration in the global market, cooperation in scientific research and international mobility of students. The paper discusses the implications of the analysis of reform policies and higher education restructuring. |
| Keywords: | : Higher Education, Science Policies, Arab Region, Regional Influence, Global Influence |
| JEL: | I20 I23 I28 O10 O15 O30 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2010065&r=edu |
| By: | Cooray, Arusha (University of Wollongong) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effect of the quantity and quality of education on economic growth. Using a number of proxy variables for the quantity and quality of education in a cross section of low and medium income countries, this study finds that education quantity when measured by enrolment ratios, unambiguously influences economic growth. The effect of government expenditure on economic growth is largely indirect through its impact on improved education quality. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth, Education Quantity, Enrolment, Government Spending on Education, Education Quality, Cross Country |
| JEL: | O11 O15 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uow:depec1:wp10-14&r=edu |
| By: | Masatoshi Kato (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University); Hiroyuki Odagiri (Faculty of Social Innovation, Seijo University) |
| Abstract: | How does the establishment of new university educational programs promote university-industry joint research? To study this question for the fields of life sciences and biotechnology, we first compile the data on the establishment of new undergraduate and graduate programs in these fields in Japanese universities since the 1950s. We then analyze statistically whether and how such establishment contributed to the occurrence and frequency of university-industry joint research in biotechnology. The results suggest that, first, the expansion of such university programs in fact contributed to the promotion of university-industry joint research and, second, these collaborations increased following the 1998 legislation to promote technology transfer from universities (the so-called TLO Act) and the 1999 legislation to allow universities to retain rights on their inventions made with government research funds (the so-called Japanese Bayh-Dole Act). |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:67&r=edu |
| By: | Gabor Kertesi (Institute of Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Gabor Kezdi (Central European University, Institute of Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents and decomposes the test score gap between Roma and non-Roma 8th graders in Hungary in 2006. Our data connect national standardized test scores to an individual panel survey with detailed data on ethnicity and family background. The test score gap is approximately one standard deviation for both reading and mathematics, which is similar to the gap between African-American and White students of the same age group in the U.S. in the 1980s. After accounting for on health, parenting, school fixed effects and family background, the gap disappears in reading and drops to 0.15 standard deviation in mathematics. Health, parenting and schools explain most of the gap, but ethnic differences in those are almost entirely accounted for by differences in parental education and income. |
| Keywords: | test score gap, Roma minority, Hungary |
| JEL: | J15 I20 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:bworkp:1010&r=edu |
| By: | Orkodashvili, Mariam |
| Abstract: | Certain cases from any single country might provide examples for consideration of corruption issues for other countries or regions. Corruption cases and the strategies of fighting them in Georgian flagship universities might be noteworthy and useful for other countries facing similar problems. The paper discusses the features of corruption in higher education system in Georgia and the ways to decrease its prevalence. It emphasizes the importance of the aspirations of the country to join NATO in its effectiveness to conduct higher education reforms and to fight corruption. The paper also analyses the three interventions that have served to combat corruption in Georgian higher education. These interventions are: the initiation of Unified National Entrance Examinations, a new system to accredit higher education institutions, and the restructuring of higher education staff. The paper makes a suggestion that these reforms shattered the complacency and confidence of corrupt individuals, decreased the level of familiarity with corrupt systems and channels, increased the risk of bribe taking, and made the re-channeling of corrupt practices risky and expensive. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, discusses the implications of the reforms, and offers recommendations for further actions. |
| Keywords: | corruption; bribery; risk aversion; quality manilulation; accreditation; testing; reforms. |
| JEL: | L38 A23 O17 G34 I21 I28 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2010–08–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27679&r=edu |
| By: | Laura Crispin; Subhra B. Saha; Bruce A. Weinberg |
| Abstract: | Older, industrial cities have suffered with the shift from manufacturing to services, but the increased importance of innovation as an economic driver may help industrial cities, which are often rich in the institutions that generate innovation. This paper studies how innovation is related to wages for different types of workers (e.g., more-educated versus less, and younger versus older) and to real estate prices for cities. We also study industrial and occupational employment shares. Our estimates indicate that innovation and aggregate education are associated with greater productivity in cities. They indicate that innovation and aggregate education impact wages less in industrial cities, but that they impact real estate prices more. We also find greater effects of innovation and aggregate education for more-educated and prime-aged workers. We pay particular attention to controlling for causality and adjustments of factor inputs. |
| Keywords: | Cities and towns ; Education - Economic aspects |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwp:1025&r=edu |
| By: | Zukauskaite, Elena (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role of university knowledge in innovation processes of cultural industries. Most of the previous studies on cultural industries highlighted the importance of locally clustered firms in innovation processes. Studies, analyzing university-industry collaboration focused on technological development or industrial R&D, neglecting cultural industries as object of analysis. The paper addresses this gap in the literature while analyzing collaboration with university patterns and innovation processes of new media firms in Scania, Southern Sweden. The findings reveal that innovation, influenced by industry-academia collaboration, takes place not only in technology based industries. Collaborative aspects of innovation process go beyond R&D transfer and include joint competence building, changes in market concepts and new social corporate responsibility actions. This paper adds to the understanding of innovation processes in cultural industries by introducing university as one more important actor in the knowledge exchange networks. |
| Keywords: | University-industry collaboration; innovation; cultural industries; new media; knowledge exchange |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2010–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2010_015&r=edu |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (University of Illinois at Chicago); Larsen, Nicholas (University of Illinois at Chicago); Pieper, Paul (University of Illinois at Chicago) |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the production of PhDs in the United States and Canada in the post-WW II period, overall and by gender and major discipline. The effects of the explanatory variables lagged six years are consistent with the model. Military conscription with educational exemptions and the Vietnam War increased male PhD production in the U.S., but have no effect for U.S. females or in Canada. Government expenditures on research and development enhanced PhD production, especially for males and in the physical sciences in the U.S. A higher rate of growth of non-farm productivity encouraged PhD production in the U.S., but not in Canada. The cyclical indicator, the adult male unemployment rate, has a weak positive effect for males in both the U.S. and Canada, suggesting that the negative effect of the opportunity cost of time was stronger than the positive wealth effect. Other variables the same, there has been an increase over time in PhD production for females, but there is no such trend for males. The result has been an increase over time in PhD production for both males and females, but the faster increase for females has narrowed the gender gap. |
| Keywords: | PhD, educational attainment, conscription, Korean War, Vietnam War, research funding |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5367&r=edu |
| By: | Peter Adamson; UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre |
| Abstract: | O presente Report Card apresenta uma primeira visão global das desigualdades no bem-estar das crianças em 24 dos países mais ricos do mundo. São examinadas três dimensões da desigualdade: bem-estar material, educação e saúde. Em cada um dos casos e para cada país, a questão que se coloca é "até que ponto estão as crianças a ser deixadas para trás?" O presente relatório defende a ideia de que as crianças merecem ter o melhor começo possível, que as primeiras experiências podem lançar uma longa sombra sobre as suas vidas e que as crianças não podem ser responsabilizadas pelas circunstâncias em que nascem. Neste sentido, o parâmetro utilizado - o grau de desigualdade na base da pirâmide ao nível do bem-estar das crianças - mede os progressos que estão a ser feitos no sentido de uma sociedade mais justa. Reunindo dados relativos à maioria dos países da OCDE, o relatório tenta demonstrar quais destes países estão a deixar que as crianças fiquem para trás mais do que o necessário na educação, saúde e bem-estar material (utilizando os países com melhores desempenhos como padrão mínimo para o que pode ser alcançado). Chamando a atenção para a profundidade das disparidades reveladas, e resumindo o que se sabe sobre as suas consequências, defende-se que o "ficar para trás" é uma questão fundamental, não só para milhões de crianças na actualidade, mas também para o futuro económico e social dos seus países. |
| Keywords: | child poverty; comparative analysis; education; health; housing conditions; nutrition; policy and planning; social conditions; social indicators; |
| JEL: | A1 A14 D1 H0 I0 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inreca:inreca623&r=edu |
| By: | Jean-Yves Lesueur (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69003, France; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne, UMR 5824, 93, chemin des Mouilles, Ecully, F-69130, France; ENS-LSH, Lyon, France) |
| Abstract: | La littérature sur la mesure et les déterminants de la production scientifique des enseignantschercheurs s’est montrée particulièrement prolifique ces dix dernières années. Le cas français est particulièrement intéressant à étudier tant les successions de réformes en vue d’améliorer la position des universités françaises dans le classement de Shanghai se sont récemment succédées à un rythme effréné. La réforme du statut des enseignants chercheurs et l’application progressive de la loi du 10 août 2007 Liberté et Responsabilité des Universités ont ouvert un changement structurel profond dans le management des ressources humaines au sein des universités françaises. Dans ce contexte, si la littérature s’est intéressée aux critères de mesure de la production scientifique, rares sont les études qui ont pu contrôler, lors de l’évaluation de la production scientifique, les multiples facettes qui animent l’activité d’un enseignant-chercheur à partir d’une même base statistique. La mise en place en France depuis 2009 de la Prime d’Excellence Scientifique (PES) offre une base de données originale et particulièrement adaptée à cette attente à deux niveaux. D’une part la procédure de sélection des candidats respecte les conditions d’une logique de tournoi bien connue des économistes du travail. D’autre part la richesse des données permet de contrôler les différentes dimensions de l’activité des enseignants – chercheurs ainsi que leur environnement de recherche lors de l’étude des facteurs explicatifs de leur production scientifique. Nous exploitons dans cet article les données relatives aux candidats de la première campagne de la PES 2009 appartenant au domaine des sciences économiques. L’économétrie des données censurée est utilisée en mobilisant deux critères de mesure de la production scientifique, l’un qualitatif l’autre quantitatif. Les résultats économétriques obtenus confirment l’existence d’un effet Saint Matthieu lié au cycle de vie de la production scientifique. L’étude complète les rares résultats délivrés par la littérature sur les économistes français. |
| Keywords: | Scientific productivity, academic promotion, tournament, Saint Matthieu effect, Lotka Law |
| JEL: | J3 J4 C5 M5 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1030&r=edu |