|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2011‒12‒13
43 papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Robert Metcalfe; Simon Burgess; Steven Proud |
| Abstract: | We use a sharp, exogenous and repeated change in the value of leisure to identify the impact of student effort on educational achievement. The treatment arises from the partial overlap of the world’s major international football tournaments with the exam period in England. Our data enable a clean difference-in-difference design. Performance is measured using the high-stakes tests that all students take at the end of compulsory schooling. We find a strongly significant effect: the average impact of a fall in effort is 0.12 SDs of student performance, significantly larger for male and disadvantaged students, as high as many educational policies. |
| Keywords: | student effort, educational achievement, schools |
| JEL: | I20 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:11/276&r=edu |
| By: | Tom Coupe (Kyiv School of Economics, Kyiv Economic Institute); Anna Olefir (World Bank); Juan Diego Alonso (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Using a rich data set of almost the entire population of Ukrainian secondary schools, the authors estimatethe effect of school size and class size on the performance of secondary schools on Ukraine's External Independent Test. They find that larger schools tend to have somewhat better performance, both in terms of test scores and in terms of test participation. The size of this effect is relatively small, however, especially in rural areas for which the estimates are likely to be more clean estimates. Class size is found to be insignificant in most specifications and, if significant, of negligible size. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education, Secondary Education, Teaching and Learning, Education For All, Primary Education |
| JEL: | I28 I29 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kse:dpaper:44&r=edu |
| By: | Meschi, Elena (Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia); Swaffield, Joanna (University of York); Vignoles, Anna (Institute of Education, University of London) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the relative importance of local labour market conditions and pupil educational attainment as primary determinants of the post-compulsory schooling decision. Using a nested logit model we formally incorporate the structured and sequential decision process pupils engage with. Our findings show that, on average, the key drivers of the schooling decision are pupil educational attainment and parental aspirations rather than local labour market conditions. However, there is some evidence that higher local unemployment rates encourage males to invest in education, and that interactions with educational attainment suggest local labour market conditions impact heterogeneously across the pupil population. |
| Keywords: | post-compulsory education, local labour markets, parental aspirations, educational attainment, nested logit |
| JEL: | I21 J18 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6143&r=edu |
| By: | Maria De Paola; Vincenzo Scoppa (Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effects on student achievement of a number of remedial courses provided by an Italian University. To identify the causal effect of remediation we use a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, relying on the fact that students whose performance at a placement test was below a certain cutoff were assigned to the treatment. We deal with partial compliance using the assignment rule as an instrumental variable for the effective attendance to remedial courses. From our analysis it emerges that students just below the cutoff, attending the remedial courses, acquire a higher number of credits compared to students just above the cutoff. We also find that remedial courses reduce the probability of dropping out from academic career. On the other hand, we do not find any statistically significant effect on the average grade obtained at passed exams. |
| Keywords: | Remedial Courses, Tertiary Education, Public Policy, Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, Instrumental Variables |
| JEL: | I23 I21 I28 C26 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201114&r=edu |
| By: | Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. (University of Melbourne); Sinning, Mathias (Australian National University); Stillman, Steven (University of Otago) |
| Abstract: | We use 2009 Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) data to link institutional arrangements in OECD countries to the disparity in reading, math, and science test scores for migrant and native-born students. We find that achievement gaps are larger for those migrant youths who arrive later and for those who do not speak the test language at home. Institutional arrangements often serve to mitigate the achievement gaps of some migrant students while leaving unaffected or exacerbating those of others. For example, earlier school starting ages help migrant youths in some cases, but by no means in all. Limited tracking on ability appears beneficial for migrants' relative achievement, while complete tracking and a large private school sector appear detrimental. Migrant students' achievement relative to their native-born peers suffers as educational spending and teachers' salaries increase, but is improved when examination is a component of the process for evaluating teachers. |
| Keywords: | migrant youths, PISA test scores, schools, institutions, academic achievement |
| JEL: | F22 I24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6150&r=edu |
| By: | Will Dobbie; Roland G. Fryer, Jr |
| Abstract: | Charter schools were developed, in part, to serve as an R&D engine for traditional public schools, resulting in a wide variety of school strategies and outcomes. In this paper, we collect unparalleled data on the inner-workings of 35 charter schools and correlate these data with credible estimates of each school's effectiveness. We find that traditionally collected input measures -- class size, per pupil expenditure, the fraction of teachers with no certification, and the fraction of teachers with an advanced degree -- are not correlated with school effectiveness. In stark contrast, we show that an index of five policies suggested by over forty years of qualitative research -- frequent teacher feedback, the use of data to guide instruction, high-dosage tutoring, increased instructional time, and high expectations -- explains approximately 50 percent of the variation in school effectiveness. Our results are robust to controls for three alternative theories of schooling: a model emphasizing the provision of wrap-around services, a model focused on teacher selection and retention, and the "No Excuses'' model of education. We conclude by showing that our index provides similar results in a separate sample of charter schools. |
| JEL: | I20 J10 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17632&r=edu |
| By: | J. Ignacio García-Pérez (Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo (Universidad Pablo de Olavide); J. Antonio Robles-Zurita (Universidad Pablo de Olavide) |
| Abstract: | Grade retention practices are at the forefront of the educational debate. In this paper, we use PISA 2009 data for Spain to measure the effect of grade retention on students’achievement. One important problem when analyzing this question is that school outcomes and the propensity to repeat a grade are likely to be determined simultaneously. We address this problem by estimating a Switching Regression Model. We find that grade retention has a negative impact on educational outcomes, but we confirm the importance of endogenous selection, which makes observed differences between repeaters and non-repeaters appear 14.6% lower than they actually are. The effect on PISA scores of repeating is much smaller (-10% of non-repeaters’average) than the counterfactual reduction that non-repeaters would suffer had they been retained as repeaters (-24% of their average). Furthermore, those who repeated a grade during primary education suffered more than those who repeated a grade of secondary school, although the effect of repeating at both times is, as expected, much larger. |
| Keywords: | Grade retention, educational scores, PISA |
| JEL: | D63 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2011/12/doc2011-37&r=edu |
| By: | S Bradley; Jim Taylor |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the extent to which exam performance at the end of compulsory education has been affected by three major education reforms: the introduction of a quasi-market following the Education Reform Act (1988); the specialist schools initiative introduced in 1994; and the Excellence in Cities programme introduced in 1999. We use data for all state-funded secondary schools in England over the period 1992-2006. The empirical analysis, which is based on the application of panel data methods, indicates that the government and its agencies have substantially overestimated the benefits flowing from these three major reforms. Only about one-third of the improvement in GCSE exam scores during 1992-2006 is directly attributable to the combined effect of the education reforms. The distributional consequences of the policy, however, are estimated to have been favourable, with the greatest gains being achieved by schools with the highest proportion of pupils from poor families. But there is evidence that resources have not been allocated efficiently. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:916&r=edu |
| By: | Meghir, Costas (Yale University); Palme, Mårten (Stockholm University); Schnabel, Marieke (University College London) |
| Abstract: | A number of studies have shown that education reforms extending compulsory schooling reduce criminal behavior of those affected by the reform. We consider the effects of a major Swedish educational reform on crime by exploiting its staggered implementation across Sweden. We first show that the reform reduced crime rates for the generation directly affected by the reform. We then show that the benefits extended to the next generation with large reductions in the crime rates of the children of those affected. The effect operates only through the father and points in the direction of improved parenting rather than resources. |
| Keywords: | comprehensive school, economics of crime, returns to education, returns to human capital |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 K42 N34 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6142&r=edu |
| By: | Francesco Vona (Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques) |
| Abstract: | Expansion of higher education leads in principle to attainments’ equalization. Using EU-SILC dataset, this hypothesis is tested for 12 European countries. The paper novelty is to convert multi-dimensional information on parental background in a continuous scale to express origins in relative terms, eliminating the influence of compositional changes. It is shown that the higher education expansion brought about an increase in background-related inequality, which mainly occurred in last decade and has been concentrated in the bottom-half of the background distribution. In the top half, a timid inversely U-shaped relationship emerged especially when considering the transition from upper-secondary to tertiary education. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education Expansion, Educational Inequality, Family Background, Measuring Family Background. |
| JEL: | I21 I23 J62 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1112&r=edu |
| By: | Abdul-Hamid, Husein; Abu-Lebdeh, Khattab M.; Patrinos, Harry Anthony |
| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, the Jordanian education system has made significant advances. Net enrollment in basic education increased from 89 percent in 2000 to 97 percent in 2006. Transition rates to secondary education increased from 63 to 79 percent in the same period. At the same time, Jordan made significant gains on international surveys of student achievement, with a particularly impressive gain of almost 30 points on the science portion of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Changes in test scores over time are presented and analyzed using decomposition analysis. The trends are related to policy changes over time. It is argued that benchmarking education systems and constant feedback between researchers and policymakers contributed to this achievement. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education,Education For All,Teaching and Learning,Secondary Education,Primary Education |
| Date: | 2011–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5890&r=edu |
| By: | Renata Ivanova; Byeongju Jeong |
| Abstract: | The paper attempts to explain a U-shaped pattern of return migration rates with respect to educational attainment. We develop a two period OLG model with emigration and return migration decisions undertaken by agents heterogeneous in terms of educational attainment. The immigration policy is considered as an additional determinant for the migration decision. The model predicts that the combination of two forces - relative returns to schooling and uncertain opportunities for status adjustment - results in favorable conditions for migrants with secondary education to remain abroad permanently. |
| Keywords: | return migration; skilled migration; returns to education; |
| JEL: | F2 F22 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp449&r=edu |
| By: | Khan, Rana Ejaz Ali; Raza, Maryam |
| Abstract: | Government of Punjab is committed to attain the universalization of school education by providing free education and even in a number of districts the free books and through the programs of food for education. The stipends on the subsidized schooling are also part of the policy by Government of Punjab. The rapid increase in enrolment in private schools reflects the partial failure of these schemes and making the target of universalization of school education difficult. The paper examines the household choice of private versus public sector schools as an outcome of child, household and school characteristics by using logit model. Data has been collected from Bahawalpur city through stratified sampling of clusters and random sampling of households. A survey of 627 households having at least one school-going child made the data available. The study found that income of the household, education of the parents, English as medium of instruction in school and distance of public school from the household enhance the preference of private schools. To universalize the school education more public sector schools are required near to the households. The adaptation of English as medium of instruction may increase the school enrolment. |
| Keywords: | School Choice; Private Schools; Public sector schools; education; cost of schooling; Pakistan |
| JEL: | O15 I21 D1 R2 |
| Date: | 2011–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34794&r=edu |
| By: | Riddell, W. Craig (University of British Columbia, Vancouver); Song, Xueda (York University, Canada) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the effects of education on both job search intensity and re-employment success for unemployed workers. Given that the positive correlation between education and job search intensity or re-employment success is likely to be confounded by the endogeneity of education, we make use of data on compulsory schooling laws to create instrumental variables to assess the causal effects of education. Based on data from the Labour Force Survey and the Canadian Census, we find that education both significantly increases job search intensity and significantly improves re-employment success for the unemployed. The evidence on job search intensity provides insights into one potential mechanism through which education may increase the probability of re-employment following unemployment. |
| Keywords: | education, adaptability, unemployment, job search, causal effects, compulsory schooling laws |
| JEL: | I21 J64 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6134&r=edu |
| By: | Carneiro, Pedro; Lokshin, Michael; Ridao-Cano, Cristobal; Umapathi, Nithin |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates average and marginal returns to schooling in Indonesia using a non-parametric selection model. Identification of the model is given by exogenous geographic variation in access to upper secondary schools. We find that the return to upper secondary schooling varies widely across individuals: it can be as high as 50 percent per year of schooling for those very likely to enroll in upper secondary schooling, or as low as -10 percent for those very unlikely to do so. Average returns for the student at the margin are well below those for the average student attending upper secondary schooling. |
| Keywords: | average return; Marginal return; marginal treatment effect; Return to Education |
| JEL: | J2 J3 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8689&r=edu |
| By: | Malte Reimers (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen / Germany); Stephan Klasen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen / Germany) |
| Abstract: | While the majority of micro studies finds that rural education increases agricultural productivity, various recent cross‐country regressions analyzing the determinants of agricultural productivity were only able to detect an insignificant or even surprisingly negative effect of schooling. In this paper, we show that this failure to find a positive impact of education in the international context appears to be a data problem related to the inappropriate use of enrolment and literacy indicators. Using a panel of 95 developing and middle‐income countries from 1961 to 2002 that includes data on educational attainment, we show that education indeed has a highly significant, positive effect on agricultural productivity which is robust to the use of different control variables, databases and econometric methods. Distinguishing between different levels of education further reveals that only primary and secondary schooling attainment has a significant positive impact while the effect of tertiary education is insignificant. When distinguishing between income groups, our results indicate that even though the coefficient of the education variable is highly significant and positive for all quintiles, the returns to education are higher for the countries belonging to the richest three quintiles. This finding can be interpreted as support for the claim that education will have larger impacts on agricultural productivity in the presence of rapid technical change since it helps farmers to adjust more readily to the new opportunities provided by technological innovations. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural productivity, agricultural production function, cross‐country regression, education, human capital |
| JEL: | I20 I25 O13 O15 O47 Q10 |
| Date: | 2011–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:iaidps:214&r=edu |
| By: | S Bradley; G Migali; Jim Taylor |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effect on test scores of a UK education reform which has increased <br/>funding of schools and encouraged their specialisation in particular subject areas, enhancing pupil choice and competition between schools. Using several data sets, we apply cross-sectional and difference-in-differences matching models, to confront issues of the choice of an appropriate control group and different forms of selection bias. We demonstrate a statistically significant causal effect of the specialist schools policy on test score outcomes. The duration of specialisation matters, and we consistently find that the longer a school has been specialist the larger is the impact on test scores. We finally disentangle the funding effect from a specialisation effect, and the latter occurs yielding relatively large improvements in test scores in particular subjects. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:908&r=edu |
| By: | Daniel Montolio (University of Barcelona (UB) and Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB)); Amedeo Piolatto (University of Barcelona (UB) and Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB)) (Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Human capital and, therefore, education have an impact on the societys future welfare. In this paper we study the connection between the voters support to public education and the retirement concerns. We show that voters anticipate the positive effect of education on future pensions. The support for a publicly financed education system increases, the more redistributive the pension system is, and this is true also amongst citizens preferring a private school. We also show that the ends against the middle equilibrium can occur even when the voters preferred tax rate is decreasing in income. |
| Keywords: | olg, pension system, altruism, education, voting |
| JEL: | D72 H55 H31 H42 H52 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bar:bedcje:2011268&r=edu |
| By: | Schlicht-Schmälzle, Raphaela; Teltemann, Janna; Windzio, Michael |
| Abstract: | This article analyses from a cross-national comparative perspective how deregulation of compulsory education affects two central educational outcomes: efficiency and equality. The conflict between public regulation on the one hand and the market model on the other hand describes one of the most fundamental political struggles. In several fields of societal life, such as compulsory education, the state traditionally holds a strong monopoly in almost all capitalist societies. However, using three waves of PISA school level data we show that the degree of public regulation varies cross-nationally. The central finding of our analyses is that deregulation of education increases educational achievement of individual students across all social classes and thereby fosters the educational efficiency of the national education systems. Nevertheless, it also becomes evident that higher social classes benefit more strongly from deregulation, which increases the degree of educational inequality. These results indeed confirm that deregulation of education provokes an efficiency-versus-equality trade-off in national education systems. -- Der Konflikt zwischen einer staatlichen Regulation schulischer Bildung auf der einen Seite und einem deregulierten Marktmodell auf der anderen Seite stellt eine der fundamentalsten politischen Auseinandersetzungen der letzten Jahrzehnte dar. Traditionellerweise hält der Staat das Monopol der Bildungsorganisation, doch seit einigen Jahren haben verschiedene Länder verstärkt auf eine Privatisierung und Flexibilisierung schulischer Bildung gesetzt. Allerdings variiert der Grad der Standardisierung bzw. Deregulierung über verschiedene nationale Bildungssysteme deutlich. Der Beitrag untersucht mithilfe eines internationalen Vergleichs wie sich eine Deregulierung des schulischen Sektors auf die zentralen bildungspolitischen Outcomes Effizienz (bzw. Leistung) und Chancengleichheit auswirkt. Mit Daten aus drei Wellen der OECD PISA-Studie zeigen wir, dass sich eine Deregulierung des schulischen Sektors positiv auf die Leistungen aller Schüler auswirkt und somit die Effizienz von Bildungssystemen steigert. Allerdings wird auch deutlich, dass höhere soziale Schichten stärker von einer Deregulierung profitieren. Damit bestätigt sich die Annahme, dass die Deregulierung schulischer Bildung zu einem Trade-off zwischen Effizienz und Gleichheit führt. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:sfb597:157&r=edu |
| By: | Simon Burgess; Marcela Umaña-Aponte |
| Abstract: | We use a unique longitudinal dataset on an adolescent friendship network to evaluate variations on educational aspirations of young people from disadvantaged and middle income backgrounds. We evaluate whether such people who have friends from wealthier backgrounds have higher aspirations than otherwise similar young people without such links. The results suggest that there are such effects. Individuals from low income families with friends from high income families are 15.2% more likely to expect to stay in full time education after they finish compulsory school. We find similar effects for the educational aspirations and expectations of middle income children. These effects are quantitatively and statistically significant, and robust to the inclusion of a wide range of control variables. We also show that friend’s mother’s aspirations matter too. Having friends whose mothers hope they will go to university increases the wish to carry on full time education by 30% points. This is conditional on the young person’s own mother’s aspirations for her/him. |
| Keywords: | Networks, Friendships, Aspirations, Adolescents, Income, Education. |
| JEL: | L14 C33 I24 Z13 I3 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:11/271&r=edu |
| By: | Zorlu, Aslan (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Using unique administrative individual data, this paper examines ethnic differences in degree performance in Dutch colleges and universities. The paper estimates parametric duration models and accounts for unobserved heterogeneity to assess the sources of ethnic disparities. The analysis shows that ethnic minorities from non-western countries have a significantly lower degree performance and higher risk of dropping-out. Especially, Turkish, Moroccan and Caribbean students are less likely to graduate, and graduates among them need much more time to complete their study. There is no evidence that this disadvantage stems from poor parental socioeconomic position and the choice of study subject. |
| Keywords: | tertiary education, drop-out |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6158&r=edu |
| By: | Alejandra Traferri |
| Abstract: | I study gender differences in major choice and college entrance probabilities in University of Campinas, a Brazilian public university dependent on the State of Sao Paulo. As with most Brazilian public universities, students select a major, and then compete for a place in that major by taking a major-specific entrance exam. This singular characteristic of the Brazilian case allows me to differentiate the effect of gender on major-specific entrance probabilities and preferences. I propose a model and econometric strategy which can account for two important issues, selectivity bias and the fact that expected utility depends on the probability of entering the different majors. I find evidence of gender differences in preferences and entrance probabilities. For most majors, gender differences in major choice are mostly explained by differences in preferences. However, for the most demanding majors (those that require higher grades from students), differences in major choice are explained in a large proportion by differences in entrance probabilities. Finally, I find that gender has important interactions with other variables. In particular, gender effects depend on education, socioeconomic characteristics and family background. |
| Keywords: | Major choice, gender differences, college entrance, test, vestibular, brazilian universities |
| JEL: | C35 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:403&r=edu |
| By: | Jim Taylor |
| Abstract: | This paper challenges the view held by the UK Government that the introduction of the English Baccalaureate will lead to an improvement in educational outcomes in secondary education. Evidence is presented to show that this new qualification is biased against disadvantaged pupils from low-income families, pupils with special needs, and pupils who have little inclination to study a foreign language. Furthermore, the English Baccalaureate is deeply flawed when used as a school performance indicator and should not be included in the School Performance Tables. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:907&r=edu |
| By: | Belzil, Christian (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris); Hansen, Jörgen (Concordia University); Liu, Xingfei (Concordia University) |
| Abstract: | We show that a calibrated dynamic skill accumulation model allowing for comparative advantages, can explain the weak (or negative) effects of schooling on productivity that have been recently reported (i) in the micro literature on compulsory schooling, ii) in the micro literature on estimating the distribution of ex-post returns to schooling, and (iii) in the macro literature on education and growth. The fraction of the population more efficient at producing skills in the market than in school is a pivotal quantity that determines the sign (and magnitude) of different parameters of interest. Our model reveals an interesting paradox; as low-skill jobs become more skill-enhancing (ceteris paribus), IV estimates of compulsory schooling become increasingly negative, and ex-post returns to schooling (inferred from a Roy model specification of the earnings equation) become negative for an increasing fraction of the population. This arises even if each possible input to skill production has a strictly positive effect. Finally, our model provides a foundation for the weak (or negative) effect education on growth measured in the empirical literature. |
| Keywords: | education and growth, returns to schooling, comparative advantages, dynamic skill accumulation, compulsory schooling reforms, dynamic discrete choice, dynamic programming |
| JEL: | I2 J1 J3 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6167&r=edu |
| By: | Simon Burgess; Eleanor Sanderson; Marcela Umana-Aponte |
| Abstract: | Homophily is the tendency to establish relationships among people who share similar characteristics or attributes. This study presents evidence of homophilic behaviour for an adolescent friendship network of 6,961 links in the West of England. We control for unobserved characteristics by estimating school and individual fixed effects and present evidence on the role of length and closeness of friendships on the degree of homophily. We also exploit the dynamics of the friendship by comparing similarities among existing and future friends. Results indicate that academic achievement, personality, educational aspirations, bad behaviour and mother’s education are essential in the friendship formation process. However, income and parents’ occupational class proved to be insignificant. We also show that the degree of homophily among friends selected from a random process is much lower than that of the observed friendships. |
| Keywords: | Networks, Homophily, Segregation, Friendships, Adolescents |
| JEL: | L14 C33 D83 Z13 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:11/267&r=edu |
| By: | Bratsberg, Bernt (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Raaum, Oddbjørn (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Røed, Knut (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Children of immigrant parents constitute a growing share of school cohorts in many OECD countries, and their educational performance is vital for successful social and economic integration. This paper examines educational outcomes of first and second generation non- OECD immigrants in Norway. We show that children of immigrants, and particularly those born outside Norway, are much more likely to leave school early than native children. Importantly, this gap shrunk sharply over the past two decades and second generation immigrants are now rapidly catching up with the educational performance of natives. For childhood immigrants, upper secondary completion rates decline with age at arrival, with a particularly steep gradient after age seven. Finally, we find that immigrant-native attainment gaps disappear when we condition on grade points from compulsory school. |
| Keywords: | immigrant children, educational attainment, school performance |
| JEL: | J15 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6138&r=edu |
| By: | Jean Luc De Meulemeester |
| Abstract: | We present in this paper the main characteristics and motivations for reforming higher education systems, first in England (a successful process from the point of view of the policy-makers) since the early 80s and then at the European level since the mid-90s. We stress the shift from a Humboldtian model with relatively autonomous universities (with a protective state funding them and allowing them to pursue their own agenda) to a new model where universities increasingly become tools of wider economic (and social) policies. We stress the role of English reforms as models for European-wide reforms in order to maximize the contribution of higher education to competitiveness, innovation and employability objectives. We make a link with the various theories of justice at our disposal, and we stress the dominance of the utilitarian views. We should nevertheless stress that some elements of the “new model” (as principles of fairness concerning a right level of accountability, the introduction of top-up fees, the stress on equality of opportunity) also involve other philosophical perspectives (Rawlsian, for example). |
| JEL: | H52 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/105062&r=edu |
| By: | Jason M. Lindo; Isaac D. Swensen; Glen R. Waddell |
| Abstract: | We consider the effect of legal access to alcohol on student achievement. We first estimate the effect using an RD design but argue that this approach is not well suited to the research question in our setting. Our preferred approach instead exploits the longitudinal nature of the data, identifying the effect by measuring the extent to which a student’s performance changes after he gains legal access to alcohol, controlling flexibly for the expected evolution of grades as students make progress towards their degrees. We find that students’ grades fall below their expected levels upon being able to drink legally, but by less than previously documented. We also show that there are effects on women and that the effects are persistent. |
| JEL: | I18 I21 K32 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17637&r=edu |
| By: | Angela Cipollone (Department of Ecoomics and Finance, LUISS University) |
| Abstract: | By using data from the latest wave of the Indonesia Life Family Survey, this paper investigates whether child time allocation depends on the joint impact of liquidity constraints, risk attitudes and time preferences. We employ a double selection model of school hours to control for endogeneity of borrowing constraints and sample selection in school enrolment. Our measures of time preferences and risk attitudes are elicited from individuals’ responses to hypothetical gambles, and households’ risk profile is proxied by the past occurrence of shocks. It will be shown that, under liquidity constraints, risk averse parents raise a precautionary demand for education as an ex-ante risk coping strategy in order to insure future consumption through higher returns from children’s work. |
| JEL: | D10 D91 J01 J22 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lui:celegw:1108&r=edu |
| By: | A Aggarwal; R Freguglia; Geraint Johnes; G Spricigo |
| Abstract: | The impact of education on labour market outcomes is analysed using data from various rounds of the National Sample Survey of India. Occupational destination is examined using both multinomial logit analyses and structural dynamic discrete choice modelling. The latter approach involves the use of a novel approach to constructing a pseudo-panel from repeated cross-section data, and 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 takeup of education, and in the longer term leads to an increased propensity for workers to enter non-manual employment. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:4149&r=edu |
| By: | R Freguglia; G Spricigo; Geraint Johnes; A Aggarwal |
| 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. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:4148&r=edu |
| By: | Carneiro, Pedro (University College London); Lokshin, Michael (World Bank); Ridao-Cano, Cristobal (World Bank); Umapathi, Nithin (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates average and marginal returns to schooling in Indonesia using a non-parametric selection model. Identification of the model is given by exogenous geographic variation in access to upper secondary schools. We find that the return to upper secondary schooling varies widely across individuals: it can be as high as 50 percent per year of schooling for those very likely to enroll in upper secondary schooling, or as low as -10 percent for those very unlikely to do so. Average returns for the student at the margin are well below those for the average student attending upper secondary schooling. |
| Keywords: | returns to schooling, marginal return, average return, marginal treatment effect |
| JEL: | J31 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6162&r=edu |
| By: | Jérémie Gignoux (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris - INRA, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Francisco H. G. Ferreira (The World Bank - The World Bank, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor - IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes two related measures of educational inequality: one for educational achievement and another for educational opportunity. The former is the simple variance (or standard deviation) of test scores. It is selected after careful consideration of two measurement issues that have typically been overlooked in the literature: the implications of the standardization of test scores for inequality indices, and the possible sample selection biases arising from the PISA sampling frame. The measure of inequality of educational opportunity is given by the share of the variance in test scores which is explained by pre-determined circumstances. Both measures are computed for the 57 countries in which PISA surveys were conducted in 2006. Inequality of opportunity accounts for up to 35% of all disparities in educational achievement. It is greater in (most of) continental Europe and Latin America than in Asia, Scandinavia and North America. It is uncorrelated with average educational achievement and only weakly negatively correlated with per capita GDP. It correlates negatively with the share of spending in primary schooling, and positively with tracking in secondary schools. |
| Keywords: | Educational inequality ; Educational achievement ; Inequality of opportunity |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00646594&r=edu |
| By: | Filiztekin, Alpay |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates social returns to education in Turkey. Most evidence on spillovers from human capital comes mostly from developed countries, and estimates vary from country to country. The paper finds that social returns to education are around 3-4%, whereas private returns per year of education amount to 5% in Turkey. Moreover, the findings indicate that workers with lower skills, or working in sectors with lower average wages benefit most from externalities. The results are robust to a series of checks, using a number of individual and regional controls, as well as instrumental variable estimation. |
| Keywords: | human capital externalities; returns to education; wages |
| JEL: | J31 A20 R23 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35124&r=edu |
| By: | Wang, Le (University of New Hampshire) |
| Abstract: | China's phenomenal growth is accompanied by both relatively low level of standards of living and high inequality. It is widely believe that investing in education could be an effective strategy to promote higher standards of living as well as to reduce inequality. However, little is known about whether this belief is empirically supported. To this end, we employ a recently developed distributional approach to estimate returns to education across the whole earnings distribution in urban China during economic transition. We find that returns to education are generally more pronounced for individuals in the lower tail of the earnings distribution than for those in the upper tail, in stark contrast to the results found in developed countries. Our result implies that education indeed reduces earnings inequality while increasing individuals' earnings. We also find that the returns to education are uniformly larger for women than for men across the distribution. The results suggest the presence of added effects of education on earnings, as opposed to productivity-enhancing effects, for disadvantaged groups. Finally, we find that rates of educational return increased over time for all parts of the earnings distribution. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, inequality, gender gap, economic transition, instrumental variable quantile regression |
| JEL: | J24 J61 J31 J7 J15 C31 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6173&r=edu |
| By: | Giorgio Brunello; Margherita Fort; Nichole Schneeweis; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer |
| Abstract: | We study the contribution of health-related behaviors to the health-education gradient by distinguishing between short-run and long-run mediating effects: while in the former only current or lagged behaviors are taken into account, in the latter we consider the entire history of behaviors. We use an empirical approach that addresses the endogeneity of education and behaviors in the health production function. Focusing on self-reported poor health as our health outcome, we find that education has a protective effect for European males and females aged 50+. We also find that the mediating effects of health behaviors - measured by smoking, drinking, exercising and the body mass index - account in the short run for 17% to 31% and in the long run for 23% to 45% of the entire effect of education on health, depending on gender. |
| Keywords: | Health, education, health behaviors, Europe. |
| JEL: | I1 I12 I21 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2011_06&r=edu |
| By: | Sterzi, Valerio |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with an issue which is particularly relevant in the literature on IPR and university-industry knowledge transfer: is the ownership structure of academic inventions relevant for patent quality and the efficiency of the knowledge transfer process? This question is also particularly signi cant in Europe where some countries have followed the Bayh-Dole Act example to increase the involvement level of universities in IP management. The paper uses a novel dataset of academic inventors in the UK, which includes university patents (i.e. patents owned by universities) and corporate patents (i.e. patents signed by academic scientists but owned by private companies) in the period 1990-2001. The UK is an interesting case to study due to the tradition of university involvement in IP management as it was one of the fi rst countries to implement the university ownership model. The main results may be summarised as follows. (1) Controlling for observable patent and scientist characteristics, corporate patents received more citations than university patents in the first three years after fi ling, but (2) this difference is less signi cant when considering a longer time window. However, (3) there is no knowledge fertilisation across public (university) and private institutions: university patents mainly cite other university patents and the same reasoning applies to corporate patents. Moreover (4) knowledge flows from university patents are even more geographically localised than those from corporate patents. Finally, (5) among scientists characteristics, professor's scientifi c quality and his patenting experience seem to be correlated with patent value. From a policy prospective, the results in points (1), (2) and (3) cast some doubts on the role of university ownership as an instrument to foster and facilitate knowledge transfer between academia and industry and raise serious questions about the effect of policies towards increasing the role of technology transfer offices in managing academic patents. |
| Keywords: | Academic patent; Patent value; Citations |
| JEL: | O34 O33 L33 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:34955&r=edu |
| By: | Grimes, Arthur (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust); Stillman, Steven (University of Otago); Young, Chris (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust) |
| Abstract: | We use New Zealand school board of trustees data to examine whether schools where parents have high rates of homeownership experience high parental voting turnout in elections. We also investigate whether homeownership influences the probability that a school board proceeds to election, indicating parental willingness to serve as a school trustee. Similarly, we examine whether state-owned social housing rates affect these outcomes. We compile results initially without controlling for other factors, and then controlling for a wide range of other characteristics, to test the robustness of simple observed associations between homeownership and state-ownership rates and outcome variables. Our findings show no discernible effect of homeownership on parental voting turnout in school elections after controls are added (contrary to the simple positive association), but a (robust) positive impact of both homeownership and state-ownership rates on the probability that a school holds an election. |
| Keywords: | homeownership, school elections, parental voice, social capital |
| JEL: | I28 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6168&r=edu |
| By: | Maitra, Pushkar (Monash University); Pal, Sarmistha (Brunel University); Sharma, Anurag (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the extent of gender gap in private school enrolment in India, an issue that has not been adequately addressed previously. Results based on individual level unit record data shows that a girl is less likely to be sent to private schools holding other factors constant and controlling for selection into school enrollment, and this disadvantage is particularly higher for younger girls in the family. The extent of gender bias in private school enrolment is double that of overall enrollment. Additionally, irrespective of policy reforms and overall economic growth, female disadvantage in rural private school enrolment appears to have increased over the decade 1993-94 to 2004-05. This can partly be attributed to the declining agricultural output as well as labour force participation rates among rural women over much of this period. Our results have important policy implications at a time when policy makers are eager to explore a potential role for private sector in delivering basic education. |
| Keywords: | policy reforms, economic growth, private school choice, gender gap, India |
| JEL: | I25 O10 C21 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6135&r=edu |
| By: | David Johnston; Carol Propper; Stephen Pudney; Michael Shields |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of survey measurement error on the empirical relationship between child mental health and personal and family characteristics, and between child mental health and educational progress. Our contribution is to use unique UK survey data that contains (potentially biased) assessments of each child's mental state from three observers (parent, teacher and child), together with expert (quasi-) diagnoses, using an assumption of optimal diagnostic behaviour to adjust for reporting bias. We use three alternative restrictions to identify the effect of mental disorders on educational progress. Maternal education and mental health, family income, and major adverse life events, are all significant in explaining child mental health, and child mental health is found to have a large influence on educational progress. Our preferred estimate is that a 1-standard deviation reduction in ‘true' latent child mental health leads to a 2-5 months loss in educational progress. We also and a strong tendency for observers to understate the problems of older children and adolescents compared to expert diagnosis. |
| Keywords: | Child mental health; Education; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; Measurement error |
| JEL: | C30 I10 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:11/264&r=edu |
| By: | Rajshri Jayaraman (ESMT European School of Management and Technology); Dora Simroth (ESMT European School of Management and Technology) |
| Abstract: | At the end of 2001, the Indian Supreme Court issued a directive ordering states to institute school lunches – known locally as “midday meals” – in government primary schools. This paper provides a large-scale assessment of the enrollment effects of India’s midday meal scheme, which offers warm lunches, free of cost, to 120 million primary school children across India and is the largest school feeding program in the world. To isolate the causal effect of the policy, we make use of staggered implementation across Indian states in government but not private schools. Using a panel data set of almost 500,000 schools observed annually from 2002 to 2004, we find that midday meals result in substantial increases in primary school enrollment, driven by early primary school responses to the program. Our results are robust to a wide range of specification tests. |
| Keywords: | primary school enrollment, school lunches, natural experiment, ITT |
| Date: | 2011–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esm:wpaper:esmt-11-11&r=edu |
| By: | FitzGerald, John; Byrne, David; Znuderl, Nu?a |
| Keywords: | Ireland |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp414&r=edu |
| By: | Katsuhiko Hori (Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University); Katsunori Yamada (Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | This study augments a second-generation Schumpeterian growth model to employ human capital explicitly. We clarify the general-equilibrium interactions of subsidy policies to R&D and human capital accumulation in a unified framework. Despite a standard intuition that subsidizing these growth-enhancing activities is always mutually growth promoting, we find asymmetric effects for subsidies on R&D and those on education. Our theoretical result of asymmetric policy effects provides an important empirical caveat that empirical researchers may find false negative relationships between education subsidies and the output growth rate, if they merely rely on the standard human capital model. |
| Keywords: | Schumpeterian growth model; human capital accumulation; subsidies |
| JEL: | O15 O32 O41 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:798&r=edu |