|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2011‒10‒15
thirty papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Mariana Alfonso; Ana Santiago; Marina Bassi |
| Abstract: | Enseña Chile (ECh) is one model in the direction of helping close the achievement gap between low-income and high-income students in Chile, and is a first adaptation of the Teach for America (TFA) model in Latin America. This paper provides the first evidence on the impact of the implementation, and is the first evaluation of Teach For America model to shed light on how it affects non-cognitive skills. While it is still premature to speculate the full effect of ECh corps members on student academic achievement and cognitive and non-cognitive abilities, preliminary results from the follow-up wave seem to suggest that ECh-treated schools have made greater gains in Spanish and Mathematics test scores, as well as in non-cognitive abilities such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, intellectual and meta-cognitive abilities. One could expect these effects to help improve the overall comprehension of other subjects in the future. Further, the impact on motivation and studying abilities could also impact the student's schooling outcomes beyond their exposure to the Enseña Chile teachers. The forthcoming analysis will provide a fuller picture of the effect of ECh corps members on student achievement, cognitive and non-cognitive abilities, and a wide array of other measures, as well as the heterogeneity of the impacts and their effect over time. |
| Keywords: | Education :: Educational Assessment, Education :: Teacher Education & Quality |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:32738&r=edu |
| By: | Mariana Alfonso; Ana Santiago |
| Abstract: | Having a good teacher is the most important school-related factor for student achievement, to the point of closing the gap between low and high-income students. However, the empirical literature is almost silent regarding teacher selection. This paper estimates a teacher selection model using recruitment data from Enseña Perú, a program that recruits top university graduates from all majors and places them in vulnerable schools. Our results suggest that candidates with volunteering experience and who finished their college degree in the top third of their class are significantly more likely to be selected into the program. Teacher recruitment policy that identifies these qualities, which might be related to leadership, high motivation, social commitment and deep content knowledge, could considerably improve the quality of the teaching force. |
| Keywords: | Education :: Teacher Education & Quality |
| JEL: | I20 I21 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:35739&r=edu |
| By: | A. Tampieri |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a theory on how students.social background affects their school attainment and job opportunities. We study a setup where students differ in ability and social background, and we analyse the interaction between a school and an employer. Students with disadvantaged background are penalised compared to other students: they receive less teaching and/or are less likely to be hired. A surprising result is that policy aiming to subsidise education for disadvantaged students might in fact decrease their job opportunities. |
| JEL: | C73 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp779&r=edu |
| By: | Eduardo Morales-Ramos |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates private returns to education in Mexico by means of the Mincer model. The natural ability bias that the literature reports in this type of estimations is tried to be solved using the control function method. Through this method some variables relevant to wage determination are included in the model, such as natural ability index, mother's education, household infrastructure, height and health. Results suggest that the returns to education by year of schooling in Mexico are between 8.2 % and 8.4 %. On the other hand, results by level of education suggest that more education is associated with higher returns. The highest return to education in both absolute and relative terms is provided by Postgraduate education followed by Graduate education. In general, results suggest that there is a convex relationship between education level and wage. |
| Keywords: | Private returns to education, natural ability bias, natural ability index, mother's education, Mexico. |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2011-07&r=edu |
| By: | Marco Tonello (Catholic University Milan & University of Milan-Bicocca) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on mechanisms of “peer interactions” among native and non-native students. We present a theoretical framework based on Lazear (2001) education production model and on the “sub-cultural” sociological theory and we test the theoretical predictions exploiting a dataset of Italian junior high school. Results show that non-native school share has small and negative impacts on Language test scores of natives’ peers, while it does not significantly affect Math test scores. The negative effects to natives’ attainment are concentrated in schools characterized by low levels of non-natives’ isolation or where non-natives’ school share is above 10%. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects, native and non-native students, social interactions |
| JEL: | J15 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2011/10/doc2011-21&r=edu |
| By: | Martin D. Dooley; A. Abigail Payne; A. Leslie Robb |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first Canadian study of the link between cost to the student and the choice of university. Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial increase in the differences among Ontario universities in “net cost” defined as tuition and fees minus the expected value to an academically strong student of a guaranteed merit scholarship. Our estimates generally indicate no relationship between net cost and the overall share of strong applicants that a university is able to attract. An increase in net cost is associated with an increase in the ratio of strong students from high income neighborhoods to strong students from middle income and low income neighborhoods in Arts and Science programs but not in Commerce and Engineering. Finally, more advantaged students are more likely to attend university, but merit aid is not of disproportionate benefit to those from more economically advantaged backgrounds given registration. |
| Keywords: | health education and welfare, university, choice, cost. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:deptwp:2011-07&r=edu |
| By: | Martin D. Dooley; A. Abigail Payne; A. Leslie Robb |
| Abstract: | We use a unique set of linked administrative data sets to explore the determinants of persistence and academic success in university. The explanatory power of high school grades greatly dominates that of other variables such as university program, gender, and neighbourhood and high school characteristics. Indeed, high school and neighbourhood characteristics, such as average standardized test scores for a high school or average neighbourhood income, have weak links with success in university. |
| Keywords: | university success, high school, neighbourhood. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcm:deptwp:2011-08&r=edu |
| By: | Roland G. Fryer, Jr |
| Abstract: | The racial achievement gap in education is an important social problem to which decades of research have yielded no scalable solutions. Recent evidence from "No Excuses" charter schools – which demonstrates that some combination of school inputs can educate the poorest minority children – offers a guiding light. In the 2010-2011 school year, we implemented five strategies gleaned from best practices in "No Excuses" charter schools – increased instructional time, a more rigorous approach to building human capital, more student-level differentiation, frequent use of data to inform instruction, and a culture of high expectations – in nine of the lowest performing middle and high schools in Houston, Texas. We show that the average impact of these changes on student achievement is 0.276 standard deviations in math and 0.059 standard deviations in reading, which is strikingly similar to reported impacts of attending the Harlem Children’s Zone and Knowledge is Power Program schools – two strict “No Excuses” adherents. The paper concludes with a speculative discussion of the scalability of the experiment. |
| JEL: | H0 I0 I21 J0 K0 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17494&r=edu |
| By: | Eugenio C. Severin; Christine Capota |
| Abstract: | The introduction of technology in education is gaining momentum worldwide. One model of incorporating technology into education that has gained tremendous traction in Latin America and the Caribbean is One-to-One computing. The term "One-to-One" refers to the ratio of digital devices per child so that each child is provided with a digital device, most often a laptop, to facilitate learning. The objective of this document is to provide an overview of One-to-One implementations with a regional focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. It also proposes a systemic approach to improve the quality of education in contexts of mass laptop distributions to students and teachers. |
| Keywords: | Education :: e-Learning, Education :: Teacher Education & Quality, Science & Technology :: New Technologies |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:35818&r=edu |
| By: | Tushar Agrawal (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates returns to education in India using a nationally representative survey. We estimate the standard Mincerian wage equation separately for rural and urban sectors. To account for the possibility of sample selection bias, Heckman two-step procedure is used. The findings indicate that returns to education increase with the level of education and differ for rural and urban residents. Private rates of returns are higher for graduation level in both the sectors. In general, the disadvantaged social groups of the society tend to earn lower wages. We find family background is an important determinant affecting the earnings of individuals. Using quantile regression method, we show the effect of education is not the same across the wage distribution. Returns differ considerably within education groups across different points of the wage distribution. Returns to education are positive at all quantiles. The results show that the returns are lower at the bottom quantiles and are higher at the upper quantiles. |
| Keywords: | Returns to Education; Wage Differential; Quantile Regression; India |
| JEL: | C13 I20 I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2011-017&r=edu |
| By: | Patricia Justino (Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex); Marinella Leone (Department of Economics, University of Sussex); Paola Salardi (Department of Economics, University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | The Timor Leste secession conflict lasted for 25 years. Its last wave of violence in 1999, following the withdrawal of Indonesian troops, generated massive displacement and destruction with widespread consequences for the economic and social development of the country. This paper analyzes the impact of the conflict on the level and access to education of boys and girls in Timor Leste. We examine the short-term impact of the 1999 violence on school attendance and grade deficit rates in 2001, and the longer-term impact of the conflict on primary school completion of cohorts of children observed in 2007. We compare also the educational impact of the 1999 wave of violence with the impact of other periods of high-intensity violence during the 25 years of Indonesian occupation. The short-term effects of the conflict are mixed. In the longer term, we find a strong negative impact of the conflict on primary school completion among boys of school age exposed to peaks of violence during the 25-year long conflict. The effect is stronger for boys attending the last three grades of primary school. This result shows a substantial loss of human capital among young males in Timor Leste since the early 1970s, resulting from household investment trade-offs between education and economic survival. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:100&r=edu |
| By: | M. Fort; N. Schneeweis; R. Winter-Ebmer |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between education and fertility, exploiting compulsory schooling reforms in Europe as source of exogenous variation in education. Using data from 8 European countries, we assess the causal effect of education on the number of biological kids and the incidence of childlessness. We find that more education causes a substantial decrease in childlessness and an increase in the average number of children per woman. Our findings are robust to a number of falsification checks and we can provide complementary empirical evidence on the mechanisms leading to these surprising results. |
| JEL: | I2 J13 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp787&r=edu |
| By: | Hou, Linke; Wang, Xiaobing; Yu, Xiaohua |
| Abstract: | This study establishes a life-cycle model that a representative agent chooses optimal time of education to maximize his/her life earning, which implies that there may exist nonlinear relation between education and earning. Using the data of Chinese off-farm wage employment, we find that the duration of schooling years will increase by 1.7 years with 1 percent increase in rate of return to education. The empirical results also indicate that controversies about return to education might arise from model misspecification without consideration of nonlinearity and sample selection. |
| Keywords: | return to schooling, life-cycle model, rational expectation, China, Labor and Human Capital, I20, J43, Q01, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:114530&r=edu |
| By: | Anna R. Haskins (University of Wisconsin-Madison) |
| Abstract: | Though sociologists have examined the consequences of mass imprisonment of African-American men on the incarcerated men, their families, and their communities, no study has considered its impact on racial disparities in educational achievement. Analyzing the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and its rich paternal incarceration data, this study asks whether children with fathers who have been in prison are less prepared for school both academically and behaviorally as a result, and whether racial disparities in imprisonment explain some of the gap in white and black children‘s educational outcomes. Using a variety of estimation strategies, I show that experiencing paternal incarceration by age 5 is associated with lower child school readiness in behavioral but not cognitive skills. While the main effect of incarceration does not vary by race, boys with incarcerated fathers in their early childhood years have substantially worse behavioral skills at school entry. Because of the negative effects of incarceration on boys‘ behavioral skills and the much higher exposure of black children to incarceration, mass incarceration facilitates the intergenerational transmission of male behavioral disadvantage, and plays a role in explaining the persistently low achievement of black boys. |
| Keywords: | imprisionment, families, boys, education, race, educational achievement |
| JEL: | D10 I39 J12 J13 I21 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:crcwel:1338&r=edu |
| By: | John H. Tyler |
| Abstract: | The past decade has seen increased testing of students and the concomitant proliferation of computer-based systems to store, manage, analyze, and report the data that comes from these tests. The research to date on teacher use of these data has mostly been qualitative and has mostly focused on the conditions that are necessary (but not necessarily sufficient) for effective use of data by teachers. Absent from the research base in this area is objective information on how much and in what ways teachers actually use student test data, even when supposed precursors of teacher data use are in place. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by analyzing usage data generated when teachers in one mid-size urban district log onto the web-based, district-provided data deliver and analytic tool. Based on information contained in the universe of web logs from the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years, I find relatively low levels of teacher interaction with pages on the web tool that contain student test information that could potentially inform practice. I also find no evidence that teacher usage of web-based student data is related student achievement, but there is reason to believe these estimates are downwardly biased. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17486&r=edu |
| By: | Christine Valente (University of Sheffield, UK) |
| Abstract: | Between 1996 and 2006, Nepal experienced violent civil conflict as a consequence of a Maoist insurgency, which many argue also brought about an increase in female empowerment. This paper exploits within and between-district variation in the intensity of violence to estimate the impact of conflict intensity on two key areas of the life of women in Nepal, namely education and marriage. Overall conflict intensity had a small, positive effect on female educational attainment, whereas abductions by Maoists had the reverse effect. Male schooling was not significantly affected by either conflict measure. Conflict intensity and Maoist abductions during school age both increased the probability of early female marriage, but exposure to conflict during marriageable age does not appear to have affected women’s long-term marriage probability. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:105&r=edu |
| By: | G. Brunello; M. Fort; N. Schneeweis; R. Winter-Ebmer |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the contribution of health related behaviors to the education gradient, using an empirical approach that addresses the endogeneity of both education and behaviors in the health production function. We apply this approach to a multi-country data set, which includes 12 European countries and has information on education, health and health behaviors for a sample of individuals aged 50+. Focusing on self reported poor health as our health outcome, we find that education has a protective role both for males and females. When evaluated at the sample mean of the dependent variable, one additional year of education reduces self-reported poor health by 7.1% for females and by 3.1% for males. Health behaviors - measured by smoking, drinking, exercising and the body mass index - contribute to explaining the gradient. We find that the effects of education on smoking, drinking, exercising and eating a proper diet account for at most 23% to 45% of the entire effect of education on health, depending on gender. |
| JEL: | J1 I12 I21 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp788&r=edu |
| By: | Wocken, Meike; Jens-Peter, Loy |
| Abstract: | In this study we evaluate the combination of traditional classroom education with additional content and support provided by an online Learn Content Management System (LCMS). Main focuses are individual learning characteristics and eLearning aspects. Findings are that not all dimensions of eLearning success meet the expected outcomes. Using achieved scores in examinations to measure successful application of eLearning is suitable only to a limited extent. eLearning objectives have to be defined with respect to eLearning's target group. |
| Keywords: | evaluation methodologies, eLearning process management, teaching / learning strategies, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:115764&r=edu |
| By: | Janet W. Looney |
| Abstract: | The majority of OECD countries now implement one form or another of standards-based assessment and evaluation. The core logic of standards-based systems rests upon the alignment of three key elements: standards defining the knowledge and skills – or competences – students are expected to have attained at different stages of their education; curricula, which cover the objectives identified in standards; and student assessments and school evaluations which measure attainment of standards. If systems are misaligned, it is impossible to draw valid conclusions about the success of student learning or to develop effective strategies for school improvement. Yet, no system can achieve perfect alignment. This report proposes that rather than thinking of alignment literally, as a lining up of the various elements and actors across systems, it may be more appropriate to approach it as a matter of balance and coherence. The discussion touches on both the technical and social dimensions of alignment.<BR>La majorité des pays de l’OCDE met désormais en oeuvre un système d’évaluation fondé sur des normes, quelle que soit la forme de ce système. La logique de base des systèmes d’évaluation fondés sur des normes repose sur l’alignement de trois éléments clés : des normes définissant les connaissances et les compétences que les élèves sont censés avoir acquis à différents stades de leur éducation; des programmes qui couvrent les objectifs identifiés dans les normes ; et des évaluations des étudiants et des écoles, qui mesurent le niveau des normes. Si les éléments clés de ces systèmes sont mal alignés, il est impossible de tirer des conclusions valables sur la réussite de l’apprentissage des élèves ou de développer des stratégies efficaces pour l’amélioration des écoles. Cependant, aucun système ne peut parvenir à un alignement parfait. Ce rapport propose qu’au lieu de penser l’alignement de manière littérale, à savoir une succession de divers éléments et d’acteurs au travers des systèmes, il serait plus approprié de l’aborder en termes d’équilibre et de cohérence. La discussion porte sur les dimensions techniques et sociales de l’alignement. |
| Date: | 2011–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:64-en&r=edu |
| By: | Raphaela Hyee (Queen Mary, University of London) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a model that combines intra-household bargaining with competition on the marriage market to analyse women's and men's incentives to invest in education. Once married, spouses bargain over their share of total household income. They have the option of unilateral divorce and subsequent remarriage. Through this channel, the marriage market situation (the quality of prospective spouses and the distribution of resources in other couples) influences the distribution within existing couples. Individuals differ in their educational attainment, and more educated individuals contribute more to household income. I use this model to study the impact of changes in the rates of educational attainment of men and women on intra-household distribution. An increase in the number of women who obtain a university degree over an above the number of men who do so benefits men without degrees; university educated men, however, are not able to translate this change on the marriage market into a significantly larger share of household income. Hence, men's incentive to invest in education <i>decreases</i> if more women become educated. Even without assuming any heterogeneity in tastes between men and women, equilibria arise in which men and women decide to become educated at different rates. |
| Keywords: | Family bargaining, Gender education gap, Investment in education |
| JEL: | D13 D31 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:wp683&r=edu |
| By: | Triulzi, Giorgio; Scholz, Ramon; Pyka, Andreas |
| Abstract: | In the last two decades, University-Industry Relationships have played an outstanding role in shaping innovation activities in Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals. Despite the growing importance and the considerable scope of these relationships, there still is an intensive and open debate on their short and long term effects on the research system in life sciences. So far, the extensive literature on this topic has not been able to provide a widely accepted answer. This work introduces a new way to analyse University-Industry Relationships (UIRs) which makes use of an agent-based simulation model. With the help of simulation experiments and the comparison of different scenario results, new insights on the effects of these relationships on the innovativeness of the research system can be gained. In particular, focusing on knowledge interactions among heterogeneous actors, we show that: (i) universities tend to shift from a basic to an applied research orientation as a consequence of relationships with industry, (ii) universities' innovative capabilities benefit from industry financial resources but not so much from cognitive resources of the companies, (iii) biotech companies' innovative capabilities largely benefit from the knowledge interaction with universities and (iv) adequate policies in terms of public basic research funding can contrast the negative effects of UIRs on university research orientation. -- |
| Keywords: | University-Industry Relationships,Knowledge Dynamics,University Patenting,Technology Transfer,Agent-Based Modelling |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:332011&r=edu |
| By: | Alfano, Marco (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, University College London); Arulampalam, Wiji; Kambhampati, Uma |
| Abstract: | This paper makes a significant contribution on both conceptual and methodological fronts, in the analysis of the effect of maternal autonomy on school enrolment age of children in India. The school entry age is modelled using a discrete time duration model where maternal autonomy is entered as a latent characteristic, and allowed to be associated with various parental and household characteristics which also conditionally affect school entry age. The model identification is achieved by using proxy measures collected in the third round of the National Family Health Survey of India, on information relating to the economic, decision-making, physical and emotional autonomy of a woman. We concentrate on three very different states in India – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. Our results indicate that female autonomy is not associated with socio-economic characteristics of the woman or her family in Kerala (except maternal education), while it is strongly correlated to these characteristics in both Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Secondly, while female autonomy is significant in influencing the school starting age in UP, it is less important in AP and not significant at all in Kerala. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:970&r=edu |
| By: | Olga N. Shemyakina (University of Sheffield, UK) |
| Abstract: | Shortly following its independence in 1991, Tajikistan suffered a violent civil war. This study explores the effect of this conflict on education and labour market outcomes for men and women. The study uses the 2003 and 2007 Tajik Living Standards Measurement Surveys and employs the regional and cohort-level exposures to the conflict to identify these relationships. The results suggest that the conflict had a large and lasting impact on education. In the conflict affected regions, women who were of school age during the war are significantly less likely to complete both nine and eleven years of schooling as compared to women of the similar age from the lesser affected areas. Thus, the gap in education created during the war may have become permanent. Further, these young women were also more likely to have held a job in the last 14 days. The increased workforce participation among young women signals that creation of new local jobs is likely to be welcomed by women if the government were to pursue job-creating policies. Conditional on being employed, men and women in the more conflict affected areas do not receive wages that are significantly different from wages received by men and women in the lesser affected areas. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:106&r=edu |
| By: | Francisco González-Gómez (Universidad de Granada. Department of Applied Economics); Jorge Guardiola (Universidad de Granada. Department of Applied Economics); Óscar Martín Rodríguez (Universidad de Granada.); Miguel Ángel Montero Alonso (Universidad de Granada. Department of Estadística e Investigación Operativa) |
| Abstract: | In line with recent research, the question this paper raises is whether or not gender differences also exist in e-learning. This study is based on a sample of 1,185 students who are doing on-line courses at the Universidad de Granada in Spain. The main conclusion is that female students are more satisfied than male students with the e-learning subjects that make up the sample. Furthermore, we find that female students assign more importance to the planning of learning, as well as to being able to contact the teacher in various ways. |
| Keywords: | : Gender Studies; Evaluation Methodologies |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2011–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:fegper:01/11&r=edu |
| By: | Philip Verwimp; Jan Van Bavel |
| Abstract: | Next to the taking of lives and the destruction of infrastructure, violent conflict also affects the long-term growth path of a country by its effect on human capital accumulation. This paper investigates the effect of exposure to violent conflict on the completion of primary schooling. We use a nationwide household survey that collected detailed education, migration, gender and wealth data and combine this with secondary sources on the location and timing of the conflict. Depending on specification we find that the odds to complete primary schooling for a child exposed to the violence declined by 40 to 50% compared to a non-exposed child. The schooling of boys from non-poor households is affected most by conflict, followed by boys and girls from poor households. The schooling of girls from non-poor households is least affected. Forced displacement is found to be one of the channels through which the impact is felt. We perform robustness checks for our results. |
| Keywords: | schooling; violent conflict; gender; Africa |
| JEL: | O12 I21 J16 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/98414&r=edu |
| By: | Parag A. Pathak (MIT); Tayfun Sönmez (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | In Fall 2009, officials from Chicago Public Schools changed their assignment mechanism for coveted spots at selective college preparatory high schools midstream. After asking about 14,000 applicants to submit their preferences for schools under one mechanism, the district asked them to re-submit their preferences under a new mechanism. Officials were concerned that "high-scoring kids were being rejected simply because of the order in which they listed their college prep preferences" under the abandoned mechanism. What is somewhat puzzling is that the new mechanism is also manipulable. This paper introduces a method to compare mechanisms based on their vulnerability to manipulation. Under our notion, the old mechanism is more manipulable than the new Chicago mechanism. Indeed, the old Chicago mechanism is at least as manipulable as any other plausible mechanism. A number of similar transitions between mechanisms took place in England after the widely popular Boston mechanism was ruled illegal in 2007. Our approach provides support for these and other recent policy changes involving matching mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | student assignment, Boston mechanism, matching, strategy-proofness |
| Date: | 2011–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:784&r=edu |
| By: | Harold E. Cuffe; William T. Harbaugh; Jason M. Lindo; Giancarlo Musto; Glen R. Waddell |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effects of a school-based incentive program on children's exercise habits. The program offers children an opportunity to win prizes if they walk or bike to school during prize periods. We use daily child-level data and individual fixed effects models to measure the impact of the prizes by comparing behavior during prize periods with behavior during non-prize periods. Variation in the timing of prize periods across different schools allows us to estimate models with calendar-date fixed effects to control for day-specific attributes, such as weather and proximity to holidays. On average, we find that being in a prize period increases riding behavior by sixteen percent, a large impact given that the prize value is just six cents per participating student. We also find that winning a prize lottery has a positive impact on ridership over subsequent weeks; consider heterogeneity across prize type, gender, age, and calendar month; and explore differential effects on the intensive versus extensive margins. |
| JEL: | I12 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17478&r=edu |
| By: | Albert Banal-Estañol (Universitat Pompeu Fabra & City University); Inés Macho-Stadler (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona); David Pérez-Castrillo (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | We study collaborative and non-collaborative projects that are supported by government grants. First, we propose a theoretical framework to analyze optimal decisions in these projects. Second, we test our hypotheses with a unique dataset containing academic publications and research funds for all the academics at the major engineering departments in the UK. We find that the type of the project (measured by its level of appliedness) is increasing in the type of both the university and firm partners. Also, the quality of the project (number and impact of the publications) increases with the quality of the researcher and firm, and with the affinity in the partners’ preferences. The collaboration with firms increases the quality of the project only when the firms’ characteristics make them valuable partners. |
| Keywords: | industry-science links, research collaborations, basic versus applied research |
| JEL: | O32 I23 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2011/9/doc2011-23&r=edu |
| By: | Weible, Daniela; Burgelt, Doreen; Inken, B. Christoph; Gunter, Peter; Rothe, Andrea; Salamon, Petra; Weber, Sascha A. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2011–09–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae11:115739&r=edu |
| By: | Hazan, Moshe; Zoabi, Hosny |
| Abstract: | Conventional wisdom suggests that in developed countries income and fertility are negatively correlated. We present new evidence that between 2001 and 2009 the cross-sectional relationship between fertility and women's education in the U.S. is U-shaped. At the same time, average hours worked increase monotonically with women's education. This pattern is true for all women and mothers to newborns regardless of marital status. In this paper, we advance the marketization hypothesis for explaining the positive correlation between fertility and female labor supply along the educational gradient. In our model, raising children and home-making require parents' time, which could be substituted by services bought in the market such as baby-sitting and housekeeping. Highly educated women substitute a significant part of their own time for market services to raise children and run their households, which enables them to have more children and work longer hours. Finally, we use our model to shed light on differences between the U.S. and Western Europe in fertility and women's time allocated to labor supply and home production. We argue that higher inequality in the U.S. lowers the cost of baby-sitting and housekeeping services and enables U.S. women to have more children, spend less time on home production and work more than their European counterparts. |
| Keywords: | fertility; U.S. - Europe differences; Women's education |
| JEL: | E24 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8590&r=edu |