|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2012‒06‒25
forty-four papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Claudio Ferraz; Frederico Finan; Diana B. Moreira |
| Abstract: | This paper examines if money matters in education by looking at whether missing resources due to corruption affect student outcomes. We use data from the auditing of Brazil’s local governments to construct objective measures of corruption involving educational block grants transferred from the central government to municipalities. Using variation in the incidence of corruption across municipalities and controlling for student, school, and municipal characteristics, we find a significant negative association between corruption and the school performance of primary school students. Students residing in municipalities where corruption in education was detected score 0.35 standard deviations less on standardized tests, and have significantly higher dropout and failure rates. Using a rich dataset of school infrastructure and teacher and principal questionnaires, we also find that school inputs such as computer labs, teaching supplies, and teacher training are reduced in the presence of corruption. Overall, our findings suggest that in environments where basic schooling resources are lacking, money does matter for student achievement. |
| JEL: | D73 H72 I21 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18150&r=edu |
| By: | Kristof De Witte; Chris Van Klaveren |
| Abstract: | A combination of school mismanagement, weak financial situation and low student attainments led to a permanent closure of primary schools in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2007. This study examines if the school closure positively affected the test scores that children achieved on a standardized and national test and if secondary school level advices children received at the end of primary education are higher. More specifically, we examine if receiving more years of education on a new and presumably better primary school leads to higher test scores and better secondary school level advices. In doing so, we compare children who switched schools because of the school closure with a control group of children at receiving schools and with a similar ideological background. The results indicate that student test scores are unaffected by the school closure. Secondary school advices, however, tend to be higher for children who received one year of education on a new primary school, but this effect fades out, and eventually becomes negative, for students who are enrolled for a longer period in the receiving school. |
| Keywords: | School closure; Student attainments; Education Inspectorate; Primary education |
| JEL: | I20 I28 R28 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tir:wpaper:42&r=edu |
| By: | Ferraz, Claudio (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)); Finan, Frederico S. (University of California, Berkeley); Moreira, Diana B. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines if money matters in education by looking at whether missing resources due to corruption affect student outcomes. We use data from the auditing of Brazil's local governments to construct objective measures of corruption involving educational block grants transferred from the central government to municipalities. Using variation in the incidence of corruption across municipalities and controlling for student, school, and municipal characteristics, we find a significant negative association between corruption and the school performance of primary school students. Students residing in municipalities where corruption in education was detected score 0.35 standard deviations less on standardized tests, and have significantly higher dropout and failure rates. Using a rich dataset of school infrastructure and teacher and principal questionnaires, we also find that school inputs such as computer labs, teaching supplies, and teacher training are reduced in the presence of corruption. Overall, our findings suggest that in environments where basic schooling resources are lacking, money does matter for student achievement. |
| Keywords: | corruption, test scores, local governments, Brazil |
| JEL: | D73 I21 H72 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6634&r=edu |
| By: | Hart, Robert; Moro, Mirko; Roberts, Elizabeth |
| Abstract: | Research into socio-economic impacts of the 1944 Education Act in England and Wales has been considerable. We concentrate on its two most fundamental innovations. First, it provided free universal secondary education. Second, state-funded pupils were placed into grammar schools or technical schools or secondary modern schools depending on IQ tests at age 11. The secondary modern school pupils experienced relatively poor educational opportunities. This tripartite system dominated secondary education from 1947 to 1964. For this period, we use the British Household Panel Survey to investigate the influences of date of birth and family background on (a) the probability of attending grammar or technical schools, (b) the attainment of post-school qualifications, (c) the longer-term labour market outcomes as represented by job status and earnings. We link results to research into the effects of increasing the school minimum leaving age from 14 to 15, also introduced under the 1944 Act. |
| Keywords: | 1944 Education Act; date of birth; family background; qualifications; earnings |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stl:stledp:2012-10&r=edu |
| By: | Sakellariou, Chris |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to explore certain aspects underlying the substantial improvement in 8th grade student performance in Ghana on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study from2003 to 2007. The improvement was largely heterogeneous; in mathematics, performance improved more for students already performing well, while the opposite was the case for science, where students at the bottom of the score distribution experienced a spectacular increase in science scores. Most of the increase in scores for both mathematics and science is explained by over-time changes in coefficients (and a smaller part by improvements in characteristics). Contributors not accounted for (and therefore captured by changes in the constant) dominate the effects of the coefficients. One potentially important piece of information missing from the Ghana data is whether a school is private or public; this could potentially explain part of the over-time improvement. This is because over the short period between the two surveys, there was a large increase in the number of private schools in Ghana (by 36 percent between 2005/6 and 2007/8). Finally, an analysis of the over-time change in the test score gap by location (between large and small communities) revealed that the gap became more heterogeneous, narrowing for worse performing students and widening for better performing students. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education,Education For All,Secondary Education,Teaching and Learning,Primary Education |
| Date: | 2012–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6084&r=edu |
| By: | Rita van Deuren (Maastricht School of Management, Maastricht, the Netherlands (deuren@msm.nl)); Sicco C. Santema (Technische Universiteit Delft, Delft, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | In recent years the higher education sector (HE) has been influenced by a marketised approach in which students are perceived as customers and in which student satisfaction is used as a measure of educational quality. Demand-driven education can be looked at as one of the consequences of this marketisation. In response to this phenomenon Dutch universities of applied science have designed their undergraduate professional bachelor programs education in majors and minors thereby offering students the possibility to customize their educational program. However, hardly any knowledge is available on minor choices of students. This paper presents the results of a survey looking into decision making variables influencing the minor choice of undergraduate students from a consumer behaviour perspective. Bachelor students from a large university of applied sciences in the Netherlands participated in the survey. Analysis of the data led to the discovery of nine decision making attributes and five sources of information & advice. The learning value of the minor proved to be the most important minor characteristic students take into consideration when selecting a minor. The contribution of the minor to the future career opportunities of the student and to the broadening horizon of the student also proved important when choosing a minor. The same goes for the contribution of the minor to the development of the competences required for the bachelor degree. Students use several sources of information & advice to form an impression of the minor of their choice. The digital information & advice from the department that offers the minor programme is most important in finding out about the relevant minor characteristics. Students use the information that is in the digital minor catalogue and they consult minor-specific websites. Non-digital information & advice seems less important. These results contribute to the theoretical knowledge about minor selection specifically and about student choices in higher education in general. The results of this study can be used by universities of applied sciences in developing the minor portfolio, in providing information and in coaching students. This study is one of the first into minor decision making variables. Further research is needed to test its results and to elaborate on aspects of minor-selection not dealt with in this study. |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2012/06&r=edu |
| By: | Anghel, Brindusa; Cabrales, Antonio; Carro, Jesus |
| Abstract: | We evaluate a program that introduced bilingual education in English and Spanish in primary education in some public schools of the Madrid region in 2004. Under this program students not only study English as a foreign language but also some subjects (at least Science, History and Geography) are taught in English. Spanish and Mathematics are taught only in Spanish. The first class receiving full treatment finished Primary education in June 2010 and they took the standardized test for all 6th grade students in Madrid on the skills considered 'indispensable' at that age. This test is our measure of the outcome of primary education to evaluate the program. We have to face a double self-selection problem. One is caused by schools who decide to apply for the program, and a second one caused by students when choosing school. We take several routes to control for these selection problems. The main route to control for self-selected schools is to take advantage of the test being conducted in the same schools before and after the program was implemented in 6th grade. To control for students self-selection we combine the use of several observable characteristics (like parents’ education and occupation) with the fact that most students were already enrolled at the different schools before the program was announced. Our results indicate that there is a clear negative effect on learning the subject taught in English for children whose parents have less than upper secondary education, and no clear effect for anyone on mathematical and reading skills, which were taught in Spanish. |
| Keywords: | Bilingual education; Program evaluation; teaching in English |
| JEL: | H40 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8995&r=edu |
| By: | Bertoni, Marco (University of Padova); Brunello, Giorgio (University of Padova); Rocco, Lorenzo (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | We use a natural experiment to show that the presence of an external examiner in standardized school tests reduces the proportion of correct answers in monitored classes by 5.5 to 8.5% – depending on the grade and the test – with respect to classes in schools with no external monitor. We find that the effect of external monitoring in a class spills over to other classes in the same school. We argue that the negative effect of external supervision is due to reduced cheating (by students and/or teachers) rather than to distraction from having a stranger in the class. |
| Keywords: | education, testing, external monitoring |
| JEL: | C31 H52 I2 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6629&r=edu |
| By: | Thomas Breda; Son Thierry Ly |
| Abstract: | Stereotypes, role models played by teachers and social norms influence girls' academic self-concept and push girls to choose humanities rather than science. Do recruiters reinforce this strong selection by discriminating more against girls in more scientific subjects? Using the entrance exam of a French higher education institution (the Ecole Normale Supérieure) as a natural experiment, we show the opposite: discrimination goes in favor of females in more male-connoted subjects (e.g. math, philosophy) and in favor of males in more female-connoted subjects (e.g. literature, biology), inducing a rebalancing of sex ratios between students recruited for a research career in science and humanities majors. We identify discrimination by systematic differences in students' scores between oral tests (non-blind toward gender) and anonymous written tests (blind toward gender). By making comparisons of these oral/written scores differences between different subjects for a given student, we are able to control both for a student's ability in each subject and for her overall ability at oral exams. The mechanisms likely to drive this positive discrimination toward the minority gender are also discussed. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, gender stereotypes, natural experiment, sex and science |
| JEL: | I23 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:ceedps:0138&r=edu |
| By: | Ranjan, Priya (University of California, Irvine); Prakash, Nishith (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the status of education, both quantity and quality, in Bihar in both absolute terms and relative to other states in India. It then performs a regression exercise using a panel data of Indian states to identify the correlates of educational outcomes. It also surveys the broader literature on education policies which provides a perspective on the current policies in the field of education in Bihar. Finally, it makes a case for several policy initiatives that should be accorded priority by the policymakers in Bihar. |
| Keywords: | education, enrollment, out-of-school, Bihar, India |
| JEL: | I2 J31 O15 O22 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6614&r=edu |
| By: | Wolf, Marianne McGarry; Wolf, Mitch; Frawley, Tom; Torres, Ann; Wolf, Shane |
| Abstract: | This research shows that when faculty in higher education engage their students by using a social media platform that is specially designed for higher education to bring their courses up to date with current information and combine knowledge management with social media the students experience enhanced critical thinking, written communication, and learning by collaborating with classmates. The social platform used for this research is ValuePulse. |
| Keywords: | social media, higher education, ValuePulse, learning enhancements, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2012–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124597&r=edu |
| By: | Charles T. Clotfelter; Helen F. Ladd; Jacob L. Vigdor |
| Abstract: | In 2002/03, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina initiated a broad program of accelerating entry into algebra coursework. The proportion of moderately-performing students taking algebra in 8th grade increased from half to 85%, then reverted to baseline levels, in the span of just five years. We use this policy-induced variation to infer the impact of accelerated entry into algebra on student performance in math courses as students progress through high school. Students affected by the acceleration initiative scored significantly lower on end-of-course tests in Algebra I, and were either significantly less likely or no more likely to pass standard follow-up courses, Geometry and Algebra II, on a college-preparatory timetable. Although we also find that the district assigned teachers with weaker qualifications to Algebra I classes in the first year of the acceleration, this reduction in teacher quality accounts for only a small portion of the overall effect. |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18161&r=edu |
| By: | Machin, Stephen (University College London); Marie, Olivier (ROA, Maastricht University); Vujić, Sunčica (University of Bath) |
| Abstract: | We present new evidence on the causal impact of education on crime, by considering a large expansion of the UK post-compulsory education system that occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The education expansion raised education levels across the whole education distribution and, in particular for our analysis, at the bottom end enabling us to develop an instrumental variable strategy to study the crime-education relationship. At the same time as the education expansion, youth crime fell, revealing a significant cross-cohort relationship between crime and education. The causal crime reducing effect of education is estimated to be negative and significant, and considerably bigger in (absolute) magnitude than ordinary least squares estimates. The education boost also significantly impacted other productivity related economic variables (qualification attainment and wages), demonstrating that the incapacitation effect of additional time spent in school is not the sole driver of the results. |
| Keywords: | education expansion, youth crime |
| JEL: | I2 K42 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6582&r=edu |
| By: | Viktor Slavtchev (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, School of Economics and Business Administration); Stavroula Laspita (Technical University Munich, TUM School of Management, and EBS European Business School, Chair for Entrepreneurship, Strascheg Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SIIE)); Holger Patzelt (Technical University Munich, TUM School of Management) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the impact of entrepreneurship education at universities on the intentions of students to become entrepreneurs or self-employed in the short-term (immediately after graduation) and in the long-term (five years after graduation). A difference-in-differences approach is applied that relates changes in entrepreneurial intentions to changes in the attendance of entrepreneurship classes in the same period. To account for a potential bias due to self-selection into entrepreneurship classes, only individuals having no prior entrepreneurial intentions are analyzed. Our results indicate a stimulating effect of entrepreneurship education on students' intentions to become entrepreneurs or self-employed in the long-term but a discouraging effect on their intentions in the short-term. These results support the conjecture that entrepreneurship education provides more realistic perspectives on what it takes to be an entrepreneur, resulting in 'sorting'. Overall, the results indicate that entrepreneurship education may improve the quality of labor market matches, the allocation of resources and talent, and increase social welfare. Not distinguishing between short- and long-term intentions may lead to misleading conclusions regarding the economic and social impact of entrepreneurship education. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship education, university, entrepreneurial intentions, academic entrepreneurship, difference-in-differences approach |
| JEL: | A20 I20 J24 L26 M13 H43 |
| Date: | 2012–06–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2012-025&r=edu |
| By: | Gregory Kurtzon (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) |
| Abstract: | If higher ability individuals are more likely to attend college and if there is significant ability bias in the college education premium, then a significant portion of the observed complementarity between the college and non-college educated is due to changes in the ability composition of education groups. If college attainment rose to over half the population, this composition e¤ect would reverse, as is illustrated with high school attainment. If there is little ability bias, the ability distribution is nearly degenerate, with the awkward implication that the most productive in- dividuals would earn barely more without a college education than the least. |
| Keywords: | composition effects, ability bias, college attainment |
| JEL: | H52 J31 I21 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bls:wpaper:ec120050&r=edu |
| By: | Ghazala Azmat; José Garcia-Montalvo |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the determinants of school choice, focusing on the role of information. We consider how parents’ search efforts and their capacity to process information (i.e., to correctly assess schools) affect the quality of the schools they choose for their children. Using a novel dataset, we are able to identify parents’ awareness of schools in their neighborhood and measure their capacity to rank the quality of the school with respect to the official rankings. We find that parents’ education and wealth are important factors in determining their level of school awareness and information gathering. Moreover, these search efforts have important consequences in terms of the quality of school choice. |
| Keywords: | school choice, education in developing country, information gathering, household behavior |
| JEL: | I21 O12 D1 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:639&r=edu |
| By: | Pfeiffer, Friedhelm (ZEW Mannheim); Pohlmeier, Winfried (University of Konstanz) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, human capital investments are evaluated by assuming heterogeneous returns to schooling. We use the potential outcome approach to measure the causal effect of human capital investments on earnings as a continuous treatment effect. Empirical evidence is based on a sample of West German full-time employed males (BIBB/IAB survey on educational and vocational attainment and career 1998/99). Our estimate of the average partial effect (APE) of an additional year of schooling amounts to 8.7%, which is higher than OLS estimates and quite similar to conventional instrumental variable estimates. |
| Keywords: | returns to schooling, human capital, heterogeneity |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6588&r=edu |
| By: | Steven D. Levitt; John A. List; Susanne Neckermann; Sally Sadoff |
| Abstract: | A long line of research on behavioral economics has established the importance of factors that are typically absent from the standard economic framework: reference dependent preferences, hyperbolic preferences, and the value placed on non-financial rewards. To date, these insights have had little impact on the way the educational system operates. Through a series of field experiments involving thousands of primary and secondary school students, we demonstrate the power of behavioral economics to influence educational performance. Several insights emerge. First, we find that incentives framed as losses have more robust effects than comparable incentives framed as gains. Second, we find that non-financial incentives are considerably more cost-effective than financial incentives for younger students, but were not effective with older students. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, consistent with hyperbolic discounting, all motivating power of the incentives vanishes when rewards are handed out with a delay. Since the rewards to educational investment virtually always come with a delay, our results suggest that the current set of incentives may lead to underinvestment. For policymakers, our findings imply that in the absence of immediate incentives, many students put forth low effort on standardized tests, which may create biases in measures of student ability, teacher value added, school quality, and achievement gaps. |
| JEL: | C9 C93 H75 I20 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18165&r=edu |
| By: | Antman, Francisca M. (University of Colorado, Boulder) |
| Abstract: | Estimation of the causal effect of parental migration on children's educational attainment is complicated by the fact that migrants and non-migrants are likely to differ in unobservable ways that also affect children's educational outcomes. This paper suggests a novel way of addressing this selection problem by looking within the family to exploit variation in siblings' ages at the time of parental migration. The basic assumption underlying the analysis is that parental migration will have no effect on the educational outcomes of children who are at least 20 because they have already completed their educations. Their younger siblings, in contrast, may still be in school, and thus will be affected by the parental migration experience. The results point to a statistically significant positive effect of paternal U.S. migration on education for girls, suggesting that pushing a father's U.S. migration earlier in his daughter's life can lead to an increase in her educational attainment of up to 1 year relative to delaying migration until after she has turned 20. In contrast, paternal domestic migration has no statistically significant effect on educational attainment for girls or boys, suggesting that father absence does not play a major role in determining children's educational outcomes. Instead, these results suggest that the marginal dollars from U.S. migrant remittances appear to enable families to further educate their daughters. Thus, policymakers should view international migration as a potential pathway by which families raise educational attainments of girls in particular. |
| Keywords: | migration, father absence, education, gender |
| JEL: | O15 J12 J13 J16 J24 F22 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6640&r=edu |
| By: | Lindley, Joanne (University of Surrey); Machin, Stephen (University College London) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we discuss the quest for more and more education and its implications for social mobility. We document very rapid educational upgrading in Britain over the last thirty years or so and show that this rise has featured faster increases in education acquisition by people from relatively rich family backgrounds. At the same time, wage differentials for the more educated have risen. Putting these two together (more education for people from richer backgrounds and an increase in the payoff to this education) implies increasing within generation inequality and, by reinforcing already existent inequalities from the previous generation, this has hindered social mobility. We also highlight three important aspects that to date have not been well integrated into the social mobility literature: the acquisition of postgraduate qualifications; gender differences; and the poor education performance of men at the lower end of the education distribution. |
| Keywords: | wage differentials, wages, inequality, social mobility, education, educational inequality |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6581&r=edu |
| By: | Borcan, Oana (University of Gothenburg); Lindahl, Mikael (Uppsala University); Mitrut, Andreea (Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to understand how corruption responds to financial incentives and, in particular, it is an attempt to identify the causal impact of a wage loss on the prevalence of corruption in the education sector. Specifically, we exploit the unexpected wage cut in May 2010 that affected all Romanian public sector employees, including the public education staff, and examine its effect on students' scores on the high-stakes national exam which occurs at the end of high school – the Baccalaureate. To exploit the effect of an income shock on corruption, we use a difference-in-difference strategy and compare the change in the exam outcomes between the public schools – the treatment group – and the private schools – the control group, which were unaffected by the wage cut. Our findings suggest that the wage loss led the public schools to have better exam outcomes than the private schools in 2010 relative to 2009. We attribute this difference to the increased involvement in corrupt activities by public school staff, which was driven by financial incentives. These results match an unprecedentedly high number of allegations of fraud and bribery against school principals, which earned the 2010 Baccalaureate the title of the Xeroxed exam – akin to identical test answers found to have been distributed to numerous students. |
| Keywords: | high-stakes tests, bribes, school principals |
| JEL: | I2 H7 J3 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6646&r=edu |
| By: | Rulof Burger; Servaas van der Berg and Dieter von Fintel; Dieter von Fintel |
| Abstract: | In the late 1990s the South African Department of Education implemented two policies that were meant to reduce the large number of over-age learners in the school system: schools were no longer allowed to accept students who were more than two years older than the correct grade-age and students could not be held back more than once in each of four schooling phases. Our analysis uses school administrative data and household survey data to show that these policies coincided with a decrease in school enrolment of at least 400,000 and possibly as many as 900,000 learners. This effect was most noticeable for over-aged learners who remained in school due to their poor labour market prospects. Most of these students seem to have been pushed into the labour market by these policies, which could explain much of the sudden increase in labour force participation and unemployment over this period. However, since these individuals would probably have entered the labour market sooner if not for their poor employment prospects, we argue that the increase in unemployment signifies a more accurate reflection of disguised unemployment that already existed in the mid-1990s rather than a deterioration of labour market conditions. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:289&r=edu |
| By: | Menatallah Darrag (Faculty of Management Technology, The German University in Cairo); Dina Mohamed Yousri (Faculty of Management Technology, The German University in Cairo); Ahmed Badreldin (Faculty of Management, University of Marburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Academic dishonesty (AD) is an ongoing concern for authorities in higher education, where its importance is manifested in two folds. First, AD negatively affects the integrity and quality of research of individuals and institutions; and secondly it negatively affects the honesty level of the youth with far-reaching consequences for ethics and performance. Although AD is a challenge for all societies, there is strong evidence that developing countries are more prone to suffer from AD than developed countries. This exploratory paper follows similar studies for other countries, addressing the dimension of AD within higher education in Egypt. The results confirm significant levels of AD, with the top practice being to work cooperatively on individually assigned tasks. Interestingly, there are differences between the faculties, but not between public and private institutions. Management students, for example, showed by far the highest willingness to cheat on exams or to plagiarize. |
| Keywords: | Academic dishonesty, higher education, Egypt |
| JEL: | I20 I23 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:guc:wpaper:31&r=edu |
| By: | Debopam Bhattacharya; Shin Kanaya; Margaret Stevens |
| Abstract: | Selective universities are often accused of unfair admissions practices which favour applicants from specific socioeconomic groups. We develop an empirical framework for testing whether such admissions are academically fair, i.e., they admit students with the highest academic potential. If so, then the expected performance of the marginal admitted candidates - the admissions threshold - should be equalized across socioeconomic groups. We show that such thresholds are nonparametrically identified from standard admissions data if unobserved officers’ heterogeneity affecting admission decisions is median-independent of applicant covariates and the density of past-admits’ conditional expected performance is positive around the admission threshold for each socioeconomic group. Applying these methods to admissions data for a large undergraduate programme at Oxford and using blindly-marked, first-year exam-performance as the outcome of interest, we find that the admission-threshold is about 3.7 percentage-points (0.6 standard-deviations) higher for males than females and about 1.7 percentage-points (0.3 standard-deviations) higher for private-school than state-school applicants. In contrast, average admission-rates are equal across gender and school-type, both before and after controlling for applicants’ background characteristics. |
| Keywords: | University admissions, Academic fairness, Economic efficiency, Marginal admit, Conditional median restriction, Nonparametric identification |
| JEL: | C13 C14 I20 J15 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:608&r=edu |
| By: | Borcan, Oana (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Lindahl, Mikael (Department of Economics, Uppsala University, CESifo); Mitrut, Andreea (Department of Economcis, Uppsala University, UCLS) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to understand how corruption responds to financial incentives and, in particular, it is an attempt to identify the causal impact of a wage loss on the prevalence of corruption in the education sector. Specifically, we exploit the unexpected wage cut in May 2010 that affected all Romanian public sector employees, including the public education staff, and examine its effect on students’ scores on the high-stakes national exam which occurs at the end of high school—the Baccalaureate. To exploit the effect of an income shock on corruption, we use a difference-in-difference strategy and compare the change in the exam outcomes between the public schools—the treatment group—and the private schools—the control group, which were unaffected by the wage cut. Our findings suggest that the wage loss led the public schools to have better exam outcomes than the private schools in 2010 relative to 2009. We attribute this difference to the increased involvement in corrupt activities by public school staff, which was driven by financial incentives. These results match an unprecedentedly high number of allegations of fraud and bribery against school principals, which earned the 2010 Baccalaureate the title of the Xeroxed exam—akin to identical test answers found to have been distributed to numerous students. |
| Keywords: | school principles; bribes; high-stakes tests |
| JEL: | H75 I20 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0535&r=edu |
| By: | Rulof Burger (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Servaas van der Berg (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Dieter von Fintel (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | In the late 1990s the South African Department of Education implemented two policies that were meant to reduce the large number of over-age learners in the school system: schools were no longer allowed to accept students who were more than two years older than the correct grade-age and students could not be held back more than once in each of four schooling phases. Our analysis uses school administrative data and household survey data to show that these policies coincided with a decrease in school enrolment of at least 400,000 and possibly as many as 900,000 learners. This effect was most noticeable for over-aged learners who were inclined to remain in school due to their poor labour market prospects. These policies appear to have pushed many students into the labour market at earlier ages than was observed for previous generations, which explains much of the sudden increase in labour force participation and unemployment during this period. However, since these individuals would probably have entered the labour market sooner if not for their poor employment prospects, we argue that the resulting increase in unemployment signifies a more accurate reflection of disguised unemployment that already existed in the mid-1990s rather than a deterioration of labour market conditions. |
| Keywords: | South Africa, education, unemployment, participation |
| JEL: | J21 I25 J64 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers163&r=edu |
| By: | Baert, Stijn (UGent); Cockx, Bart (UGent, Université Catholique de Louvain); Verhaest, Dieter (Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB), UGent) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates whether young unemployed graduates who accept a job below their level of education accelerate or delay the transition into a job that matches their level of education. We adopt the Timing of Events approach to identify this dynamic treatment effect using monthly calendar data from a representative sample of Flemish (Belgian) youth who started searching for a job right after leaving formal education. We find that overeducation is a trap. This trap is especially important early in the unemployment spell. Our results are robust across various specifications and for two overeducation measures. |
| Keywords: | overqualification, underemployment, school-to-work transitions, duration analysis, dynamic treatment |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hub:wpecon:201227&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | At a time when having more education is increasingly necessary for success in the labour market, how is the talent pool of young higher education graduates changing around the world? According to the OECD’s latest analysis, not only has it exploded over the last decade – it’s likely to grow far larger by the year 2020. <p>As detailed in the new issue of the OECD’s brief series Education Indicators in Focus, by the year 2020, more than 200 million 25-34 year-olds in OECD and G20 countries will have higher education degrees, and 40% of them will be from China and India alone. By contrast, the United States and the European Union countries are expected to account for just over a quarter of young people with higher education degrees in OECD and G20 countries. <p>What’s more, the rapid expansion of higher education in non-OECD G20 countries has significantly altered the distribution of the talent pool among countries. A decade ago, one in six 25-34 year-olds with a higher education degree was from the United States, a similar proportion was from China, 12% came from the Russian Federation, and about 10% each were from Japan and India. But according to OECD estimates, in 2010 China moved to the head of the pack, accounting for 18% of 25-34 year-olds with higher education. The United States followed with 14%, the Russian Federation and India each had 11%, and Japan had 7%. <p>These trends are likely to only intensify further in the years ahead – raising key questions as to how the labour market will absorb the swelling number of better-educated people in the future. <p>Be sure to check your inbox for future issues of Education Indicators in Focus, which each month provides analysis and policy insights into the most pressing issues in education today, using evidence from Education at a Glance, the flagship publication of the OECD’s Indicators of Education Systems (INES) programme. |
| Date: | 2112–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaf:5-en&r=edu |
| By: | Eugenio Severin; Claudia Peirano; Denise Falck |
| Abstract: | The use of technologies within educational settings has become a priority for governments of developing countries. Investment in Technologies for Education (TEd), which has the goal of improving the quality of education and making it relevant to 21st century realities, has grown steadily during the past decade. However, efforts involving the evaluation of such projects have been inadequate thus far. The evaluation of educational technology projects is critically important, since it allows us to learn from the experience of carrying out such programs while providing vital information on expected results. The present document is intended for those who design, implement, and make decisions with respect to TEd. Its purpose is to foster the development of increasingly rigorous monitoring and evaluation processes that in turn lead to richer experiences that are more focused, effective, and sustainable. |
| Keywords: | Education, educational technology, conceptual framework, education policy, indicators, reforms and initiatives, learning impact, educational resources, infrastructure |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:72598&r=edu |
| By: | Guarino, Cassandra (Indiana University); Reckase, Mark D. (Michigan State University); Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. (Michigan State University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether commonly used value-added estimation strategies can produce accurate estimates of teacher effects. We estimate teacher effects in simulated student achievement data sets that mimic plausible types of student grouping and teacher assignment scenarios. No one method accurately captures true teacher effects in all scenarios, and the potential for misclassifying teachers as high- or low-performing can be substantial. Misspecifying dynamic relationships can exacerbate estimation problems. However, some estimators are more robust across scenarios and better suited to estimating teacher effects than others. |
| Keywords: | education, teacher labor markets, value-added, student achievement |
| JEL: | I20 J08 J24 J44 J45 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6602&r=edu |
| By: | Satyajit Chatterjee; Felicia Ionescu |
| Abstract: | Participants in student loan programs must repay loans in full regardless of whether they complete college. But many students who take out a loan do not earn a degree (the dropout rate among college students is between 33 to 50 percent). We examine whether insurance, in the form of loan forgiveness in the event of failure to complete college, can be offered, taking into account moral hazard and adverse selection. To do so, we develop a model that accounts for college enrollment and graduation rates among recent US high school graduates. In our model students may fail to earn a degree because they either fail college or choose to leave voluntarily. We find that if loan forgiveness is offered only when a student fails college, average welfare increases by 2.40 percent (in consumption equivalent units) without much effect on either enrollment or graduation rates. If loan forgiveness is offered against both failure and voluntarily departure, welfare increases by 2.15 percent and both enrollment and graduation are higher. |
| Keywords: | Student loans ; Insurance |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:12-15&r=edu |
| By: | Light, Audrey (Ohio State University); McGee, Andrew (Simon Fraser University) |
| Abstract: | We ask whether the role of employer learning in the wage-setting process depends on skill type and skill importance to productivity. Combining data from the NLSY79 with O*NET data, we use Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery scores to measure seven distinct types of pre-market skills that employers cannot readily observe, and O*NET importance scores to measure the importance of each skill for the worker's current three-digit occupation. Before bringing importance measures into the analysis, we find evidence of employer learning for each skill type, for college and high school graduates, and for blue and white collar workers. Moreover, we find that the extent of employer learning – which we demonstrate to be directly identified by magnitudes of parameter estimates after simple manipulation of the data – does not vary significantly across skill type or worker type. Once we allow parameters identifying employer learning and screening to vary by skill importance, we find evidence of distinct tradeoffs between learning and screening, and considerable heterogeneity across skill type and skill importance. For some skills, increased importance leads to more screening and less learning; for others, the opposite is true. Our evidence points to heterogeneity in the degree of employer learning that is masked by disaggregation based on schooling attainment or broad occupational categories. |
| Keywords: | employer learning |
| JEL: | J31 D83 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6623&r=edu |
| By: | Tansel, Aysit (Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the implications of private tutoring in Turkey for questions of equity regarding the provision of public education, based on an analysis of previously published research. The nature of the private tutoring and its relation to the two national selection examinations in Turkey are also discussed. |
| Keywords: | national selection examinations, educational equity, private tutoring, Turkey |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I25 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6626&r=edu |
| By: | Costas Meghir; Mårten Palme; Marieke Schnabel |
| Abstract: | The intergenerational transmission of human capital and the extent to which policy interventions can affect it is an issue of importance. Policies are often evaluated on either short term outcomes or just in terms of their effect on individuals directly targeted. If such policies shift outcomes across generations their benefits may be much larger than originally thought. We provide evidence on the intergenerational impact of policy by showing that educational reform in Sweden reduced crime rates of the targeted generation and their children by comparable amounts. We attribute these outcomes to improved family resources and to better parenting. |
| JEL: | I24 J1 J18 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18145&r=edu |
| By: | Gorgitano, Maria Teresa; Sodano, Valeria |
| Abstract: | Within the realm of public policies for a sustainable food system, the focus has gradually shifted from production oriented towards consumption oriented interventions. Whilst changing consumer behavior can have a long-lasting positive environmental impact, choosing effective sustainable consumption policy instruments may be a challenging task. In the case of food consumption, the choice of interventions is particularly difficult because of the multiple aspects- psychological, cultural, economic, religious- associated with eating habits. The paper deals with one of the most commonly used forms of intervention, nutrition education programs in public schools. The main conclusion of the paper is that a major effort should be made by the Ministry of Education, school managers and educators, in the field of food education intervention. Food education activities should be able not only to encourage better food habits but also to involve children in all aspects of the food system, with the aim of promoting the emergence of a new culture of sustainability, sovereignty and food security. Moreover, a further research effort is required in order to understand the influence of psychological and socio-demographic variables on children’s food habits, so as to provide policy makers with information which is of practical use when choosing the best strategies and tools for intervention. |
| Keywords: | sustainable consumption, nutrition education, welfare economics, food governance, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, I0, Q01, D10, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aieacp:124379&r=edu |
| By: | Chan, Gavin (Macquarie University, Sydney); Heaton, Christopher (Macquarie University, Sydney); Tani, Massimiliano (Macquarie University, Sydney) |
| Abstract: | We study whether Australian employers recognise immigrants' education acquired abroad, and if so how. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Immigrants in Australia, we apply interval regression to model migrant hourly earnings. We find substantially higher returns from human capital obtained in Australia and other OECD countries compared with non-OECD countries. These results suggest that the transfer of human capital acquired abroad is mediated by the country in which it was acquired, as found for Israel (Friedberg (2000) and the US (Bratsberg and Ragan (2002)). The results also suggest that immigrants from non-OECD countries are the ones who can gain the most from obtaining further education in Australia, and that targeted rather than generic policies in this area could reduce the extent of the education-occupation mismatch amongst immigrants. |
| Keywords: | immigration, education, economic assimilation |
| JEL: | C34 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6578&r=edu |
| By: | Hogan, John J.; Berning, Joshua P. |
| Abstract: | As food insecurity and obesity become more severe, researchers and policy makers have increased their efforts to understand the causes of these problems. The purpose of this paper is to examine what effect education has on household expenditure for healthful foods, especially among the food insecure. Using the 2009 Consumer Expenditure Survey, we estimate a two step model that addresses endogenous selection into different levels of education. We find that investments made in education can increase expenditure on fresh fruits and vegetables among food insecure households. Therefore policies that increase educational programs in conjunction with food assistance programs could reduce both food insecurity and obesity levels. |
| Keywords: | Food Insecurity, Education, Healthful Food Choices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124595&r=edu |
| By: | Francesc Dilme (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania); Fei Li (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | We present a dynamic signaling model where wasteful education takes place over several periods of time. Workers pay an education cost per unit of time and cannot commit to a fixed education length. Workers face an exogenous dropout risk before graduation. Since low-productivity workers' cost is high, pooling with early dropouts helps them to avoid a high education cost. In equilibrium, low-productivity workers choose to endogenously drop out over time, so the productivity of workers in college increases along the education process. We find that (1) wasteful education signals exist even when job offers are privately made and the length of the period is small, (2) the maximum education length is decreasing in the prior about a worker being highly productive, and (3) the joint dynamics of returns to education and the dropout rate are characterized, which is consistent with previous empirical evidence. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic Education Signaling, Dropout |
| JEL: | D83 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pen:papers:12-023&r=edu |
| By: | Afridi, Farzana (Indian Statistical Institute); Mukhopadhyay, Abhiroop (Indian Statistical Institute); Sahoo, Soham (Indian Statistical Institute) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) on children's educational outcomes via women's labour force participation. Using data from the Young Lives Study and taking advantage of the spatial and temporal variation in the intensity of implementation of the NREGS, we find that greater participation of mothers in the program is associated with better educational outcomes of their children. Father's participation in the NREGS, on the other hand, has a negative effect on children's education. Further, the estimated impact of mother's program participation is over and above any income effect induced by the scheme and is robust to concerns about endogeneity of labour force participation and differences in economic trends between districts. We provide evidence which suggests that the mechanism through which children's educational outcomes improve is empowerment of mothers resulting from better labour market opportunities for females. |
| Keywords: | labour, education, gender, bargaining |
| JEL: | I21 I38 J16 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6593&r=edu |
| By: | de Hoop, Jacobus (Understanding Children's Work); Rosati, Furio C. (University of Rome Tor Vergata) |
| Abstract: | Using data from BRIGHT, an integrated program that aims to improve school participation in rural communities in Burkina Faso, we investigate the impact of school subsidies and increased access to education on child work. Regression discontinuity estimates demonstrate that, while BRIGHT substantially improved school participation, it increased children's participation in economic activities and chores. This combination of increased school participation and work can be explained by the introduction of a simple non convexity in the standard model of altruistic utility maximizing households. If education programs are implemented to achieve a combination of increased school participation and a reduction in child work, they may either have to be combined with different interventions that effectively reduce child work or they may have to be tuned more carefully to the incentives and constraints the child laborer faces. |
| Keywords: | Burkina Faso, child labour, regression discontinuity, school participation |
| JEL: | I25 J22 J24 O12 O55 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6601&r=edu |
| By: | Paul Beaudry; Ethan Lewis |
| Abstract: | Over the 1980s and 1990s the wage differentials between men and women (with similar observable characteristics) declined significantly. At the same time, the returns to education increased. It has been suggested that these two trends may reflect a common change in the relative price of a skill which is more abundant in both women and more educated workers. In this paper we explore the relevance of this hypothesis by examining the cross-city co-movement in both male-female wage differentials and returns to education over the 1980-2000 period. In parallel to the aggregate pattern, we find that male-female wage differentials at the city levels moved in opposite direction to the changes in the return to education. We also find this relationship to be particularly strong when we isolate data variation which most likely reflects the effect of technological change on relative prices. We take considerable care of controlling for potential selection issues which could bias our interpretation. Overall, our cross-city estimates suggest that most of the aggregate reduction in the male-female wage differential observed over the 1980-2000 period was likely due to a change in the relative price of skill that both females and educated workers have in greater abundance. |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J31 O33 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18159&r=edu |
| By: | Fiona E. Murray |
| Abstract: | Philanthropy plays a major role in university-based scientific, engineering and medical research in the United States contributing over $4Billion annually to operations, endowment and buildings devoted to research. When combined with endowment income, university research funding from science philanthropy is $7Billion a year. This major contribution to U.S. scientific competitiveness comes from private foundations as well as gifts from wealthy individuals. From the researcher’s perspective, analysis in this paper demonstrates that science philanthropy provides almost 30% of the annual research funds of those in leading universities. And yet science philanthropy has been largely overshadowed by the massive rise of Federal research funding and, to a lesser extent, industry funding. Government and industry funding have drawn intensive analysis, partly because their objectives are measureable: governments generally support broad national goals and basic research, while industry finances projects likely to contribute directly to useful products. In contrast, philanthropy’s contribution to overall levels of scientific funding, and, more importantly, the distribution of philanthropy across different types of research is poorly understood. To fill this gap, we provide the first empirical evaluation of the role of science philanthropy in American research universities. The documented extent of science philanthropy and its strong emphasis on translational medical research raises important questions for Federal policymakers. In determining their own funding strategies, they must no longer assume that their funding is the only source in shaping some fields of research, while recognizing that philanthropy may ignore other important fields. |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O43 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18146&r=edu |
| By: | Bhupal, Ganita; Sam, Abdoul G. |
| Abstract: | The current study analyzes the health and education outcomes of fifteen year old children in India and investigates the question of inequality of such outcomes for socio-religious categories. To study the effect of health on education, SUR estimation has been undertaken. The comparison of SUR and OLS results shows that SUR estimates have smaller standard errors than the OLS estimates. Of the three categories analyzed in the data, STs have worst outcomes for both education and health and SCs lag behind in the health field. The results have important implications for policy regarding education and health of the socio-religious minorities. |
| Keywords: | Health Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124840&r=edu |
| By: | Bashir, Saima; Herath, Janaranjana; Gebremedhin, Tesfa |
| Abstract: | Investment in education to increase economic growth, as one form of human development, has gained economists‟ and policy makers‟ interest. It establishes human capital that makes a substantial contribution to economic and income growth and preserves returns in the form of skilled labor which leads to increased development and improved quality of life. Different theories and models have used to examine the relationship between education and economic growth. Most of them paid attention to human capital accumulation as source of acceleration in economic growth. Some of them used human capital as an engine of economic growth to technological change. But for human accumulation, a country should invest more on education. Thus, the main objective of the study is to analyze higher education growth and economic growth in West Virginia. A set of simultaneous equations with three endogenous variables of per capita income change, education change and population change was used for the analysis. Results indicate that income growth and education growth are positively related while education growth reduces population growth in West Virginia. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, Income, Growth, West Virginia, Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea12:124829&r=edu |