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on Education |
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Issue of 2012‒07‒29
ten papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Petri Böckerman; Mika Haapanen |
| Abstract: | In the 1990s polytechnic education reform took place in Finland, which gradually expanded higher education to all Finnish regions; the polytechnics constituted a new non-university sector in higher education. This reform is used to study the causal effect of education on the inter-regional migration. First we consider the impact of the reform on the migration of graduating high school students, followed by an investigation of school-to-work migration. Instrumental variables estimators are implemented that exploit the exogenous variation in the local supply of polytechnic education. Large panel micro-data are used. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p994&r=edu |
| By: | Heike Delfmann; Sierdjan Koster |
| Abstract: | Knowledge transfer has been widely recognized as a key element of innovation that drives competitive advantage and regional development in knowledge-driven economies. In this respect the role of institutes of higher education is essential, as they generate knowledge. The vast majority of research on the topic of transferring knowledge focuses on universities. In the case of the Netherlands however, because of their binary system, colleges of higher education make up a great deal of the complete higher education system. We argue that these colleges of higher education are better suited to address the needs of small businesses than universities. Colleges have a more practical educational approach, they are closer related to the industry, which enhances their accessibility and approachability for small firms. This paper explains the difference in knowledge transfer between the two types of higher education institutes. The main goal of this research is to provide a classification of SMEs who take part in the knowledge transfer process of specifically colleges of higher education compared to universities. This paper presents the results of a recent study using a survey among small organisations in the area of Groningen, the Netherlands. Using Groningen as a case study we were able to collect data from a region with one university and one college of higher education of similar size. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p553&r=edu |
| By: | Nicholas Spaull (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | Although racial segregation has been abolished for 18 years now, schools which served predominantly White students under apartheid remain functional, while those which served Black students remain dysfunctional and unable to impart the necessary numeracy and literacy skills students should be acquiring by this level. The present study provides an overview of this dualistic nature of the primary education system in South Africa, with special attention paid to the bimodality of student performance. It argues that there are in fact two different education systems in South Africa and thus two different data-generating processes. These two sub-systems can be seen when splitting student performance by former-department, language, or socioeconomic status. The implications of such a dualistic schooling system are also elucidated, with special emphasis on government reporting and econometric modeling. The recently released SACMEQ III dataset is used for the econometric modeling. The study finds that when modeling student performance separately for the wealthiest 25% of schools on the one hand, and the poorest 75% of schools on the other, there are stark differences in the factors influencing student performance which are large and statistically significant. Only 5 of the 27 factors are shared between the two models for mathematics, and 11 of the 29 factors for reading. This suggests a bifurcated system where the process which converts inputs into outputs is fundamentally different for each sub-system. Ultimately the paper has two logical conclusions: 1) Observing averages in South African education is uniquely misleading and overestimates the educational achievement of the majority of students, and 2) Modeling a single schooling system when there are in fact two school systems can lead to spurious results and misleading policy conclusions. |
| Keywords: | Primary schooling; South Africa; SACMEQ; educational inequality, student performance |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers165&r=edu |
| By: | Diaz-Serrano, Luis (Universitat Rovira i Virgili); Meix-Llop, Enric (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) |
| Abstract: | The low quality of education is a persistent problem in many developed countries. Parallel to in the last decades exists a tendency towards decentralization in many developed and developing countries. Using micro data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) referred to 22 countries, we test whether there exists an impact of fiscal and political decentralization on student performance in the areas of mathematics, reading skills and science. We observe that fiscal decentralization exerts an unequivocal positive effect on students' outcomes in all areas, while the effect of political decentralization is more ambiguous. On the one hand, the capacity of the subnational governments to rule on its region has a positive effect on students' performance in mathematics. On the other hand, the capacity to influence the country as a whole has a negative impact on mathematics achievement. As a general result, we observe that students' performance in Mathematics is more sensible to these exogenous variations than in Sciences and reading skills. |
| Keywords: | school outcomes, PISA, fiscal decentralization, political decentralization |
| JEL: | H11 H77 I21 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6722&r=edu |
| By: | Javier Garcia; Marti Parellada; Néstor Duch |
| Abstract: | The challenges posed by globalization have led to a rapid increase in the demand for higher education and, at the same time, many countries are earmarking more resources and efforts to foster their population’s skills level and knowledge. Nowadays higher education is playing a crucial role in countries’ economic development. In fact, higher education is perceived as being sufficient to allow countries to compete in a globalised economy and enhance leadership in knowledge sectors. In the last decades many countries have increased the incentives for and pressures on universities to become more involved in their regions. In response, the universities have developed the so-called Third Mission whereby they collaborate with its milieu in the more direct way. The objective of this paper is to know whether the university presence contributes to encourage the regional economic outcomes. Exploiting the geographic and temporal variation in the foundation of Spanish regional universities after to 1980, we use difference-in-difference approach to estimate its effect on regional economy. The data base includes information for the total Spanish public university system. Our paper contributes to the literature on universities and economic growth, adding more specific data related with university activity. We find little evidence that university presence increases the regional economic growth. We also estimate the effect of the university activity on the creation of knowledge spillover. However, the results vary widely across different regions. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p911&r=edu |
| By: | Nicoletti, Cheti; Rabe, Birgitta |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of school expenditure on childrens test scores at age 16 by means of an education production model. By using unique register data of English pupils, we exploit the availability of test scores across time, subjects and siblings to control for various sources of input omission and measurement error bias. We overcome one of the main criticisms against the value-added model by proposing a novel method to control for the endogeneity of the lagged test. We find evidence of a positive but small effect of per pupil expenditure on test scores. |
| Date: | 2012–07–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2012-13&r=edu |
| By: | Cheti Nicoletti and Birgitta Rabe |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of school expenditure on children's test scores at age 16 by means of an education production model. By using unique register data of English pupils, we exploit the availability of test scores across time, subjects and siblings to control for various sources of input omission and measurement error bias. We overcome one of the main criticisms against the value-added model by proposing a novel method to control for the endogeneity of the lagged test. We find evidence of a positive but small effect of per pupil expenditure on test scores. |
| Keywords: | Education production function, cognitive achievements, child development |
| JEL: | I22 I24 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:yorken:12/19&r=edu |
| By: | Winters, John V. (University of Cincinnati) |
| Abstract: | Areas surrounding colleges and universities are often able to build their local stock of human capital by retaining recent graduates in the area after they finish their education. This paper classifies 41 U.S. metropolitan areas as "college towns" and investigates differences in employment outcomes between college graduates who stay in the college town where they obtained their degree and college graduates who leave after completing their degree. We find that college town stayers experience less favorable employment outcomes along multiple dimensions. On average, stayers earn lower annual and hourly wages and work in less educated occupations. |
| Keywords: | migration, human capital, education, college towns, wages |
| JEL: | I20 J24 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6723&r=edu |
| By: | Gicheva, Dora (University of North Carolina, Greensboro); Ionescu, Felicia (Colgate University); Simpson, Nicole B. (Colgate University) |
| Abstract: | College students now use various forms of unsecured credit such as private student loans and credit cards to finance college. Access to these credit lines and the interest rates charged on these loans can vary significantly across credit scores. In this paper, we analyze if credit status, as measured by self-reported characteristics of an individual's credit standing, affects college investment. Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, we study a sample of young high school graduates to estimate how three different measures of credit status affect college attainment and completion rates. After correcting for selection and endogeneity issues, we find that credit status is more important the longer the student stays in college. For example, having bad credit significantly lowers the probability of completing a four-year college degree, but has a smaller (but significant) impact on attaining some college. We find robust evidence that credit status affects the intensive margin of college investment, but is less important for the extensive margin. Our results suggest that bad credit status, which lowers the availability of unsecured credit to finance college and thereby makes college investment more expensive, significantly reduces college completion rates. |
| Keywords: | college investment, credit scores, financial markets |
| JEL: | I20 G10 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6719&r=edu |
| By: | Antonio Della Malva; Martin Carree; Enrico Santarelli |
| Abstract: | The anecdotal evidence provided by the literature on high tech clusters has paved the way to systematic explorations of the localized effects of academic research on technological success and economic development. Prime drivers of such development are new entrants. New entrants are more likely to embark in the risky activity of developing new products and/or new processes, they often open up new markets, restructure existing ones, replace declining industries and reshape local markets. Studies on the relation between academic R&D and business entry have found modest effects of the former on the latter. Recent empirical findings in the field of technology transfer, however, suggest that quality of academic research and the entrepreneurial attitude by faculty be the main factors explaining economic relevance of academic R&D. In this study we test the hypothesis that knowledge spilling over departments conducting cutting-edge research generates higher entry in related technology-intensive sectors than lower standing departments. We thus explore the extent to which the quantity, quality and orientation of research carried on at universities stimulates differently market entry in high-tech and low-tech sectors and the consequences of entry (high and low tech) on economic growth. We use data on business entry in 103 Italian provinces (NUTS3) between 2001 and 2006; we relate entry to a battery of measures of university presence in the province: the number of students graduated in scientific disciplines in 2001, the scientific productivity of academics between 1985 and 1999 and the number of patents invented by academics between 1978 and 2000. We apply a three-equation recursive model where in the first place we estimate the contribution of universities to entry, both in high-tech and low tech sectors and secondly the effects of entry and universities on economic growth. Additionally, we include patents and trademarks to control for the existence of innovative activities from the private sector, the presence and relevance of industrial districts to account for industrial specialization, the quality of road infrastructures and the existence of business service providers to support the creation of new ventures. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p554&r=edu |