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on Education |
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Issue of 2011‒02‒12
23 papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Marina Murat; Davide Ferrari; Patrizio Frederic; Giulia Pirani |
| Abstract: | Using data from PISA 2006, we examine the performance of immigrant students in different international educational environments. Our results show smaller immigrant gaps – differences in scores with respect to natives - where educational systems are more flexible and students’ mobility between courses and school programs is higher. Unlike previous studies, our analysis reveals no direct relation between these gaps and education models, be they comprehensive or tracking, adopted by countries |
| Keywords: | International migration; educational systems; PISA; |
| JEL: | F22 I21 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:depeco:0637&r=edu |
| By: | Andrés Fuentes |
| Abstract: | Almost all workers are educated at least to the upper secondary level and vocational education contributes to one of the most successful transition performances of youth to employment in the OECD. Higher education enjoys an excellent reputation, as reflected in one of the highest scientific publication rates relative to population in the OECD and high placements of Swiss universities in international rankings. Participation in continuous education is among the largest in the OECD. Results for children with low socio-economic background or immigration background do not fully measure up to the high standards of the education system. Improving early childhood education and availability of childcare facilities for very young children would raise subsequent educational attainment, especially for these groups of children. Accountability of schools for their education outcomes should be raised. In tertiary education, attainment rates among the young are modest for a high-income OECD country, reflecting the importance of the upper secondary vocational system. A larger supply of tertiary graduates could have benefits for productivity performance especially in the context of demographic ageing. Public spending per pupil on pre-primary education is low in international comparison whereas spending on tertiary academic education per graduate is among the highest in the OECD. |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2011–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:838-en&r=edu |
| By: | Jibum Kim; Jinkook Lee |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how educational attainment may affect the prevalence of disability among older Koreans, a population for whom the association between health and education has been little studied. It performs descriptive and logistic regression analysis on five nationally representative data sets, all collected between 2004 and 2006, regarding education and disability among Koreans at least 65 years of age. It finds the relationship between education and disability to be strongest between less than primary school graduates and primary school graduates. Beyond the primary school level, the educational gradient on disability is weak. |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:811&r=edu |
| By: | HINDRIKS, Jean (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE & Department of Economics, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); VERSCHELDE, Marijn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); RAYP, Glenn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); SCHOORS, Koen (CERISE, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows the value of school autonomy for educational performance. To fully capture the informational advantage of local actors, we define school autonomy as the operational empowerment of the principals and teachers. The Flemish secondary school system in Belgium is analyzed as it is has a long history of educational school autonomy, but considerable variation between schools in school staff empowerment. Combining detailed school level and pupil level data from the PISA 2006 study with a semiparametric hierarchical model, we find strong indications that operational school autonomy is associated with high educational performance if appropriate accountability systems are active. Sensitivity tests show that both low and high-performers benefit from this kind of school autonomy. |
| Keywords: | educational performance, PISA, school autonomy, educational production function, semiparametric |
| JEL: | I28 H52 |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010082&r=edu |
| By: | Kathleen A. Carroll (UMBC); Lisa M. Dickson (UMBC); Jane E. Ruseski (University of Alberta) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops models of decision making in a university setting with and without faculty participation. The models predict values for the level of services or programs offered and the quality of those services in a university setting for either private nonprofit or public universities. These predictions indicate conditions under which outcomes are similar or differ with faculty participation in the decision process. The model predicts that without shared governance that universities may overinvest in non-academic quality (e.g. athletics, recreational activities). This would be exacerbated in for-profit forms of higher education. Notably, nonprofit and/or public institutions are not inefficient relative to for-profit institutions, which questions the rationale for subsidies to for-profit institutions. If academic quality provides positive externalities as has been suggested in the literature, then shared governance may be socially preferred to university decision making without faculty involvement. |
| Keywords: | higher education, faculty governance, university decision making, incentives, nonprofit organization, public organization, organizational behavior |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umb:econwp:11129&r=edu |
| By: | Parra Osorio, Juan Carlos; Wodon, Quentin |
| Abstract: | Fe y Alegría is a catholic network of schools that started operations in Colombia in 1971, and in 2009 served more than 72,000 students in 61 schools. This paper assesses the performance of Fe y Alegría secondary schools in Colombia using test scores for Spanish and mathematics, as well as detailed information on the characteristics of the household to which students belong. Simple statistics suggest that Fe y Alegría schools perform worse than other schools for all years in the sample. However, Fe y Alegría schools also cater to poorer students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Once controls are included for student background, Fe y Alegría schools actually often perform as well and in some cases better than other schools for mathematics and Spanish, thus partially reversing the previous finding. |
| Keywords: | Education; Faith-based schools; Public-private partnerships; Fe y Alegría; Colombia |
| JEL: | I20 H43 L31 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28518&r=edu |
| By: | John Richards (Simon Fraser University) |
| Abstract: | While Canada has made progress in the past two decades in terms of lowering high-school dropout rates, those rates remain unacceptably high for boys and certain groups limited by poverty or other factors. In this paper, the author warns that the male share of the dropout population continues to rise, with five males now dropping out for every three females. As well, some groups of immigrants, those living in rural areas and Aboriginals also exhibit a worrisome lack of educational achievement compared with the Canadian average. The author recommends strategies to target groups who are falling between the cracks. Among them: education authorities should collect and use reliable data on student performance in core subjects, and should experiment aggressively on initiatives targeted to improve education outcomes for vulnerable groups of Canadians. |
| Keywords: | Education Papers, Canadian education, school dropouts, dropout rates, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) |
| JEL: | H52 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:109&r=edu |
| By: | HINDRIKS, Jean (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE & Department of Economics, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); VERSCHELDE, Marijn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); RAYP, Glenn (SHERPPA, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium); SCHOORS, Koen (CERISE, Department of General Economics, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | Educational tracking is a very controversial issue in education. The tracking debate is about the virtues of uniformity and vertical differentiation in the curriculum and teaching. The pro-tracking group claims that curriculum and teaching better aimed at children's varied interest and skills will foster learning efficacy. The anti-tracking group claims that tracking systems are inefficient and unfair because they hinder learning and distribute learning inequitably. In this paper we provide a detailed within-country analysis of a specific educational system with a long history of early educational tracking between schools, namely the Flemish secondary school system in Belgium. This is interesting place to look because it provides a remarkable mix of excellence and inequality. Indeed the Flemish school system is repeatedly one of the best performer in the international harmonized PISA tests in math, science and reading; whereas it produces some of the most unequal distributions of learning between schools and students. Combining evidence from the PISA 2006 data set at the student and school level with recent statistical methods, we show first the dramatic impact of tracking on social segregation; and then, the impact of social segregation on equality of educational opportunity (adequately measured). It is shown that tracking, via social segregation, has a major effect on inequality of opportunity. Children of different economic classes will have different access to knowledge. |
| Keywords: | tracking, ability grouping, educational performance, social segregation, inequality, PISA |
| JEL: | I28 H52 D63 |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010081&r=edu |
| By: | Goulart, Pedro (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam); Bedi, Arjun S. (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | Notwithstanding increased educational expenditure, Portugal continues to record poor educational outcomes. Underlining the weak expenditure-educational success link, a large body of work in educational economics displays that there is a tenuous relationship between a range of school inputs and cognitive achievement. Among others, the inability to establish a clear link between inputs and success has been attributed to the difficulty of controlling for unobserved attributes such as ability, motivation and interest. Against this background, and inspired by a large body of work in educational psychology which explicitly measures constructs such as educational motivation and interest, this paper examines whether a child’s interest in school has any bearing on educational success after controlling for the kinds of variables typically used in educational economics analyses. We rely on two data sets collected in Portugal in 1998 and 2001 and examine the interest-educational success link using both cross-section and panel data. Our estimates suggest that after controlling for time-invariant unobservable traits and for the simultaneous determination of interest and achievement, there is little support for the idea that prior interest in school has a bearing on future educational success. |
| Keywords: | schooling, Portugal, educational outcomes, interest in school |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5462&r=edu |
| By: | Bichaka Fayissa; Shah Danyal; J.S. Butler |
| Abstract: | Using the NLSY79 panel data set from 1979-2006 for a cross-section of 12,686 individuals, this paper investigates the effect of educational attainment on the health status of an individual as measured by “the inability to work for health reasons.” The present study bridges the gap in the literature by using the fixed-effects model, random-effects model, between-effects, and the Arellano-Bond dynamic model to analyze the impact of education on health status. We use these alternative models to control unobserved heterogeneity. Educational attainment has a statistically significant and positive effect on the quality of an individual’s health status. |
| Keywords: | Education, Health Status, Fixed-Effects, Random-Effects, Between-Effects, Arellano-Bond Model |
| JEL: | I12 I20 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mts:wpaper:201101&r=edu |
| By: | Winters, John V |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the effects of the local human capital level and the presence of higher education institutions on the quality of life in U.S. metropolitan areas. The local human capital level is measured by the share of adults with a college degree, and the relative importance of higher education institutions is measured by the share of the population enrolled in college. This paper finds that quality of life is positively affected by both the local human capital level and the relative importance of higher education institutions. Furthermore, these effects persist when these two measures are considered simultaneously, even though the two are highly correlated. That is the human capital stock and higher education institutions have a shared effect and also separate effects on quality of life. |
| Keywords: | human capital; higher education; college towns; quality of life; amenities |
| JEL: | R13 J31 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28484&r=edu |
| By: | MANZI, Jorge (Measurement Center MIDE UC, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile); SAN MARTIN, Ernesto (Measurement Center MIDE UC & Dep. Of Statistics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile); VAN BELLEGEM, Sébastien (Toulouse School of Economics, France; Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | Value-added analysis is a common tool in analysing school performances. In this paper, we analyse the SIMCE panel data which provides individual scores of about 200,000 students in Chile, and whose aim is to rank schools according to their educational achievement. Based on the data collection procedure and on empirical evidences, we argue that the exogeneity of some covariates is questionable. This means that a nonvanishing correlation appears between the school-specific effect and some covariates. We show the impact of this phenomenon on the calculation of the value-added and on the ranking, and provide an estimation method that is based on instrumental variables in order to correct the bias of endogeneity. Revisiting the definition of the value-added, we propose a new calculation robust to endogeneity that we illustrate on the SIMCE data. |
| Keywords: | value-added, school effectiveness, multilevel model, endogeneity, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | C33 C51 I21 |
| Date: | 2010–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010046&r=edu |
| By: | Traag Tanja; Marie Olivier; Velden Rolf van der (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate how successful social bonding theory is at predicting juvenile delinquency and school dropout behaviour. We adopt a simple dynamic approach which assumes that past involvement in risky behaviour reduces individual restraints for future participation in risky behaviour. We use a ten years education panel following Dutch adolescents who participated in a survey in their first year of high school in 1999. This information was matched to annual information on police arrests based on registry data. Our results show that school performance (as measured by test scores) is the key social bond element preventing young people from engaging in risk behaviour. We also find that involvement in past risky behaviour increases the likelihood of future missteps and that the protective influence of school performance is mitigated. |
| Keywords: | labour economics ; |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2011006&r=edu |
| By: | GABSZEWICZ, Jean (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); GINSBURGH, Victor (Université Libre de Bruxelles, ECARES, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium and Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B- 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); LAUSSEL, Didier (Université de la Méditerranée, Aix-en-Provence, France); WEBER, Shlomo (Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA and New Economic School, Moscow, Russia) |
| Abstract: | We examine patterns of acquiring non-native languages in a model with two linguistic communities with heterogeneous learning skills, where every individual faces the choice of self-learning the foreign language or acquiring it at a profit-maximizing linguistic school. We consider a one-school model with divisions in both communities and various two-school settings with a school in each community. We compare the number of learners and welfare implications under self- learning with those obtained under various schooling contexts. In particular, we show that for communities with similar size, introducing language schools always increases the number of learners with respect to the exclusive self-learning option. |
| Keywords: | communicative benefits, linguistic equilibrium, learning costs |
| JEL: | C72 D83 Z13 |
| Date: | 2010–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010073&r=edu |
| By: | Mazhar MUGHAL; Natalia VECHIU |
| Abstract: | The role of Foreign Direct Investment in higher education in the developing countries (Does FDI promote education?) |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tac:wpaper:2010-2011_10&r=edu |
| By: | Bonikowska, Aneta; Hou, Feng |
| Abstract: | Current knowledge about the favourable socioeconomic attainment (in education and earnings) among children of immigrants is based on the experiences of those individuals whose immigrant parents came to Canada before the 1970s. Since then, successive cohorts of adult immigrants have experienced deteriorating entry earnings. This has raised questions about whether the outcomes of their children have changed over time. This study shows that successive cohorts of childhood immigrants who arrived in Canada at age 12 or younger during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s had increasingly higher educational attainment (as measured by the share with university degrees) than their Canadian-born peers by age 25 to 34. Conditional on education and other background characteristics, male childhood immigrants who arrived in the 1960s earned less than the Canadian-born comparison group, but the two subsequent cohorts had similar earnings as the comparison group. Female childhood immigrants earned as much as the Canadian-born comparison group, except for the 1980s cohort, which earned more. |
| Keywords: | Education, training and learning, Children and youth, Ethnic diversity and immigration, Educational attainment, Immigrant children and youth, Ethnic groups and generations in Canada, Immigrants and non-permanent residents, Outcomes of education |
| Date: | 2011–01–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2011330e&r=edu |
| By: | Aldieri, Luigi; Vinci, Concetto Paolo |
| Abstract: | In this paper we have investigated the impact of the level of education on the number of children in Italy. We have selected 1,490 families from the 1997- 2005 Longitudinal Investigation on Italian Families (ILFI) dataset. Our dependent variable is represented by the number of children ever born to each respondent (and to his partner). Since the number of children ever born (CEB) is a count variable, we have implemented three empirical models: Poisson, Zero-Truncated Poisson and an Instrumental Variable Poisson, where grandparents’ education is exerted as an instrument of parents’ education. In particular, we have considered two stages for each model: in the first stage, we have estimated the impact of female’s education on her number of children, and in the second one, we have used also partner’s education to identify the previous effect. From the empirical results, we may observe a significant negative effect of the level of education on the number of children. |
| Keywords: | Fertility; Human Capital; Education |
| JEL: | J13 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:28534&r=edu |
| By: | Pamela Lenton (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses levels of over-education and wage returns to education for males across eleven regions of the UK using Labour Force Survey data. Significant differences are found in the probability of being over-educated across regions; also, differences are found in the return to the ‘correct’ level of education in each region, in each case associated with flexibility of movement between and into particular regions, which determines the ease of job matching. Furthermore, evidence is found that, after controlling for the level of education acquired, there exists a premium to the ‘correct’ level of education, which varies across UK regions. |
| Keywords: | education, returns |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2011001&r=edu |
| By: | Geraint Johnes; Aradhna Aggarwal; Ricardo Freguglia; Gisele Spricigo |
| Abstract: | The effect of education on labour market outcomes is analysed using both survey and administrative data from The Brazilian PNAD and RAIS-MIGRA series, respectively. Occupational destination is examined using both multinomial logit analyses and structural dynamic discrete choice modelling. The latter approach is particularly useful as a means of evaluating policy impacts over time. We find that policy to expand educational provision leads initially to an increased take-up of education, and in the longer term leads to an increased propensity for workers to enter non-manual employment. |
| Keywords: | occupation, education, development |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:007203&r=edu |
| By: | Nina Guyon (Paris School of Economics (PSE)); Eric Maurin (Paris School of Economics (PSE)); Sandra McNally (Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The tracking of pupils by ability into elite and non-elite schools represents a controversial policy in many countries. There is no consensus on how large the elite track should be and little agreement on the effects of any further increase in its size. This paper presents a natural experiment where the increase in the size of the elite track was followed by a significant improvement in average educational outcomes. This experiment provides a rare opportunity to isolate the overall effect of allowing entry to the elite track for a group that was previously only at the margin of being admitted. |
| Keywords: | Education, Tracking, Selection |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.152&r=edu |
| By: | CREMER, Helmuth (Toulouse School of Economics ( University or Toulouse and Institut Universitaire de France), F-3000 Toulouse, France); GAHVARI, Firouz (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Economics, IL, USA); PESTIEAU, Pierre (CREPP, University of Liege, B-4000 Liège, Belgium; Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a unified treatment of externalities associated with fertility and human capital accumulation within pas-as-you-go pension systems. It considers an overlapping generations model in which every generation consists of high earners and low earners with the proportion of types being determined endogenously. The number of children is deterministically chosen but the children’s future ability is in part stochastic, in part determined by the family background, and in part through education. In addition to the customary externality source associated with a change in average fertility rate, this setup highlights another externality source. This is due to the effect of a parent’s choice of number and educational attainment of his children on the proportion of high- ability individuals in the steady state. Our other results include: (i) Investments in education of high- and low-ability parents must be subsidized; (ii) direct child subsidies to one or both parent types can be negative; i.e., they can be taxes; (iii) net subsidies to children (direct child subsidies plus education subsidies) to at least one type of parents must be positive; (iv) parents who have a higher number of children should invest less in their education. |
| Keywords: | pay-as-you-go social security, endogenous fertility, education, endogenous ratio of high to low ability types, three externality sources, education subsidies, child subsidies |
| JEL: | H2 H5 |
| Date: | 2010–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2010054&r=edu |
| By: | Barbara Mueller (EHB Schweiz); Stefan C. Wolter (Institute of Economics, University of Berne) |
| Abstract: | When information about the true abilities of job-seekers and applicants are hard to get, statistical discrimination by employers can be an efficient strategy in the hiring and wage setting process. But statistical discrimination can induce costs, if labor relations cannot be terminated in the short term and wages are fixed over a certain period. In this paper we use a unique longitudinal survey that follows the PISA 2000 students in their educational and work-life career. We test whether deviance in the PISA test scores from what one would have predicted based on observable characteristics, influences the probability to succeed in the transition from compulsory school into a firm-based apprenticeship and whether it can explain differences of the individual performances during training. Our results suggest that hard-to-get information plays a significant role in the transition, but not always in a symmetric manner. |
| Keywords: | Statistical discrimination, school-to-work transition, PISA |
| JEL: | I2 J24 J71 |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0053&r=edu |
| By: | Dirk Van Damme; Kiira Karkkainen |
| Abstract: | The OECD Directorate for Education surveyed the impact of the economic recession on education for the first time in June 2009. Responses were received from seventeen OECD member countries, the Flemish Community of Belgian and two Canadian provinces. The results of the survey reflect the observations of officials in education ministries and public agencies in member countries regarding various aspects of the impact of the economic recession and fiscal crisis on education. |
| Date: | 2011–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:56-en&r=edu |