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on Education |
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Issue of 2012‒03‒08
eleven papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Carolina Castagnetti (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia); Silvia Dal Bianco (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia); Luisa Rosti (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia) |
| Abstract: | Italian university system was reformed in 2001. This paper tests the screening role of degree scores for 2004-Italian graduates. We find support of the strong screening hypothesis for prereform type degrees, while we do not find any evidence of signalling effects for post-reform 3-years degrees. We gauge that the shutting down of the signal can be partially ascribed to the poor quality of students who obtained a 3-years degree without taking any further education. |
| Keywords: | Screening, Italy, Higher Education |
| JEL: | I23 J08 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pav:wpaper:146&r=edu |
| By: | C. Kirabo Jackson |
| Abstract: | I analyze the longer-run effects of a college-preparatory program implemented in inner-city schools that included payments to eleventh- and twelfth- grade students and their teachers for passing scores on Advanced Placement exams. Affected students attended college in greater numbers, were more likely to remain in college beyond their first year, more likely to earn a college degree, more likely to be employed, and earned higher wages. This is the first credible evidence that implementing college-preparatory programs in existing urban schools can improve both the long-run educational and labor market outcomes of disadvantaged students. |
| JEL: | H0 I20 J01 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17859&r=edu |
| By: | Riddell, W. Craig (University of British Columbia, Vancouver); Song, Xueda (York University, Canada) |
| Abstract: | Adoption of innovations by firms and workers is an important part of the process of technological change. Many prior studies find that highly educated workers tend to adopt new technologies faster than those with less education. Such positive correlations between the level of education and the rate of technology adoption, however, do not necessarily reflect the true causal effect of education on technology adoption. Relying on data from the Workplace and Employee Survey, this study assesses the causal effects of education on technology use and adoption by using instrumental variables for schooling derived from Canadian compulsory school attendance laws. We find that education increases the probability of using computers in the job and that employees with more education have longer work experiences in using computers than those with less education. However, education does not influence the use of computer-controlled and computer-assisted devices or other technological devices such as cash registers and sales terminals. Our estimates are consistent with the view that formal education increases the use of technologies that require or enable workers to carry out higher order tasks, but not those that routinize workplace tasks. |
| Keywords: | technology use and adoption, education, causal effects, compulsory schooling laws, heterogeneity in technology |
| JEL: | I20 O33 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6377&r=edu |
| By: | Kuehn, Zoe; Landeras, Pedro |
| Abstract: | We take a dierent look at the PISA 2006 data set considering time input as the main ingredient for scholarly achievement. Across countries, absolute time spent studying is negatively related to scholarly achievement, while a larger fraction of total study time spent in the classroom is associated to better performance. However, at the country level more total study time (class time plus homework time) is associated to better performance. When considering dierent groups of students, this positive relationship between time input and scholarly achievement breaks down. In particular girls and students with a migratory background spend more time in class rooms and doing homework but perform worse. We estimate a non-linear production function for education which allows us to consider marginal rates of substitution among various input factors for the production of education: dierent time inputs, family characteristics, and aspects of school environment. We nd that compensating for less class time or lower socio-economic background by individual study time, is enormously time-costly or even impossible for students in Spain, as well as for students in the three best and the three worst performing OECD countries. Our results also show that in particular additional hours of class time rather than more teachers or better-equipped schools can compensate for a less advantageous family background. |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2012-02&r=edu |
| By: | Riddell, Chris (Cornell University); Riddell, W. Craig (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether policies that encourage recipients to exit welfare for full-time employment influence participation in educational activity. The Self-Sufficiency Project ('SSP') was a demonstration project where long-term welfare recipients randomly assigned to the treatment group were offered a generous earnings supplement if they exited welfare for full-time employment. We find that treatment group members were less likely to upgrade their education along all dimensions: high-school completion, enrolling in a community college or trade school, and enrolling in university. Thus, 'work-first'; policies that encourage full-time employment may reduce educational activity and may have adverse consequences on the long-run earnings capacity of welfare recipients. We also find that there was a substantial amount of educational upgrading in this population. For instance, among high-school dropouts at the baseline, 19% completed their diploma by the end of the demonstration. Finally, we simulate the consequences of the earnings supplement in the absence of adverse effects on educational upgrading. Doing so alters the interpretation of the lessons from the SSP demonstration. |
| Keywords: | welfare policy, human capital, experimental methods, earnings supplementation |
| JEL: | I38 J08 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6378&r=edu |
| By: | Javier García-Estévez (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB); Néstor Duch-Brown (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | Human capital is one of the most important channels via which universities positively affect regional development. This paper analyzes the relationship between university characteristics and graduation rates, and the role of regional characteristics in this process. We assemble a dataset for the entire public university system in Spain over the last decade. Observing the same university over several years helps us address the problem of unobserved heterogeneity. The main findings that can be drawn from our results are that university features, such as expenditure, student-teacher ratio and financial-aid to students are important in accounting for graduation rates. Likewise, regional characteristics such as labour market conditions appear to matter when generating graduate students. |
| Keywords: | Universities, graduation, human capital, regional economy |
| JEL: | C31 I23 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2012/3/doc2012-4&r=edu |
| By: | Sarah Brockhoff (University of Freiburg); Tim Krieger (University of Paderborn); Daniel Meierrieks (University of Paderborn) |
| Abstract: | This contribution investigates the role of education in domestic terrorism for 133 countries between 1984 and 2007. The findings point at a nontrivial effect of education on terrorism. Lower education (primary education) tends to promote terrorism in a cluster of countries where the socioeconomic, political and demographic conditions are unfavorable, while higher education (university education) reduces terrorism in a cluster of countries where conditions are more favorable. This suggests that country-specific circumstances mediate the effect of education on the (opportunity) costs and benefits of terrorism. For instance, the prevalence of poor structural conditions in combination with advances in education may explain past and present waves of terrorism and political instability in the Middle East. The results of this study imply that promoting education needs to be accompanied by sound structural change so that it can positively interact with (individual and social) development, thereby reducing terrorism. |
| Keywords: | terrorism, education, negative binomial regression, revolution, conflict resolution |
| JEL: | D74 I21 I25 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:wpaper:47&r=edu |
| By: | Isabelle Huault (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris IX - Paris Dauphine); Véronique Perret (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris IX - Paris Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to contribute to the literature on Critical Management Education (CME) by drawing on the work of philosopher, Jacques Rancière, whose thinking provides a means of resolving the dilemma underlying CME. It raises fundamental questions regarding the position of authority and the expertise of the critical educator, while at the same time dispelling the illusion of collaboration and consensus with students and managers. By presenting equality as an assumption to be actualised, Rancière invites us to reject the appropriation harboured by expert knowledge and the assignation of positions that this implies. On this basis, we can restructure the place of management and management education as a fertile ground for the emergence of dissensus in order to politicise what was neutralised and to give voice to those who have no voice. |
| Keywords: | Critical Management Education - Critical Management Studies - Emancipation - Rancière |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00664214&r=edu |
| By: | KOISSY KPEIN Sandrine; KUEPIE Mathias; TENIKUE Michel |
| Abstract: | This paper uses Demographic and Health Surveys data from about 30 sub-Saharan African countries to investigate the link between the birth of an “unintended child” and schooling decisions of children (dropout and entry). After controlling for local unobserved heterogeneity, we show that, the birth of an “unintended child” hinders child schooling. It reduces the probability of current school enrolment. As for school dynamics, it increases the probability that a child aged 6 to 18 years drops out of school and it decreases the probability that a child aged 6 to 9 years starts schooling. This result suggests that, the unexpected birth of a child strengthens household’s resources constraints and reduces human capital investments. The results also highlight the importance of the timing of the unexpected birth and the heterogeneity of the effect according to child characteristics. |
| Keywords: | unwanted fertility; education school dropout; school enrollment |
| JEL: | I20 J13 O12 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2012-12&r=edu |
| By: | Sebastian Braun; Nadja Dwenger; Dorothea Kübler; Alexander Westkamp |
| Abstract: | Quotas for special groups of students often apply in school or university admission procedures. This paper studies the performance of two mechanisms to implement such quotas in a lab experiment. The first mechanism is a simplified version of the mechanism currently employed by the German central clearinghouse for university admissions, which first allocates seats in the quota for top-grade students before allocating all other seats among remaining applicants. The second is a modied version of the student-proposing deferred acceptance (SDA) algorithm, which simultaneously allocates seats in all quotas. Our main result is that the current procedure, designed to give top-grade students an advantage, actually harms them, as students often fail to grasp the strategic issues involved. The modified SDA algorithm significantly improves the matching for top-grade students and could thus be a valuable tool for redesigning university admissions in Germany. |
| Keywords: | College admissions, experiment, quotas, matching; Gale-Shapley mechanism, Boston mechanism |
| JEL: | C78 C92 D78 I20 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2012-005&r=edu |
| By: | Audretsch, David B. (Indiana University); Leyden, Dennis P. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Link, Albert N. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Economic development practitioners and scholars recognize the link between universities and regional economic development. It is predicated on the spillover of knowledge from universities to commercialization. The literature has focused on the supply side, which involves university research and technology transfer mechanisms. We examine the role played by the demand for university-based knowledge and university-developed technology. We identify links between businesses and the university as a key conduit facilitating the spillover of knowledge using data on the Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We provide supply-side evidence on university research relationships and how the use of knowledge and technologies that flow from a university impact economic growth. We identify the role that SBIR-funded businesses play in the spillover of knowledge from the creating organization to where that knowledge is used and commercialized. Our results suggest that knowledge is systematically transmitted through university-related research. |
| Keywords: | Economic development; Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Licensing; SBIR program; University research |
| JEL: | L26 O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2012–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2012_003&r=edu |