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on Education |
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Issue of 2013‒09‒28
eighteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Raj Chetty; John N. Friedman; Jonah E. Rockoff |
| Abstract: | Are teachers' impacts on students' test scores ("value-added") a good measure of their quality? This question has sparked debate partly because of a lack of evidence on whether high value-added (VA) teachers who raise students' test scores improve students' long-term outcomes. Using school district and tax records for more than one million children, we find that students assigned to high-VA teachers in primary school are more likely to attend college, earn higher salaries, live in higher SES neighborhoods, and have higher savings rates. They are also less likely to have children as teenagers. Teachers have substantial impacts in all grades from 4 to 8. On average, a one standard deviation improvement in teacher VA in a single grade raises earnings by 1.3% at age 28. Replacing a teacher whose VA is in the bottom 5% with an average teacher would increase the present value of students' lifetime income by approximately $250,000 per classroom. |
| JEL: | H0 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19424&r=edu |
| By: | Raquel Fonseca; Yuhui Zheng |
| Abstract: | This paper uses comparable micro-data from over 15 OECD countries to study the causal relationship between education and health outcomes. We combine three surveys (SHARE, HRS and ELSA) that include nationally representative samples of people aged 50 and over in these countries. We use variation in the timing of educational reforms across these countries as an instrument for the effect of education on health. Using instrumental variables Probit models (IV-Probit), we find causal evidence that more years of education lead to better health for a limited number of health markers. We find lower probabilities of reporting poor health, of having limitations in functional status (ADLs and iADLs) and of having been diagnosed with diabetes. These effects are larger than those from a Probit that does not control for the endogeneity of education. We cannot find evidence of a causal effect of education on other health conditions. Interestingly, the relationship between education and cancer is positive in both Probit and IV-Probit models, which we interpret as evidence that education fosters early detection. |
| Keywords: | Education, health, causality, compulsory schooling laws |
| JEL: | I1 I14 I2 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:1325&r=edu |
| By: | Novarese, Marco; Di Giovinazzo, Viviana |
| Abstract: | This article uses university administration data to investigate the relation between student behavior (rapid response in finalizing enrolment procedures) and academic performance. It shows how student promptness in enrolling, or lack of it, can prove a useful forecast of academic success. Several explanations can be given, including simply the greater or lesser tendency to procrastinate. |
| Keywords: | procrastination, academic performance, motivation |
| JEL: | D83 D99 I21 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:49746&r=edu |
| By: | Rulof P. Burger; Francis J. Teal |
| Abstract: | Many recent descriptive studies find convex schooling-earnings profiles in developing countries. In these countries forward-looking students should attach option values to completing lower levels of schooling. Another option value may arise due to the uncertain economic environment in which the sequence of enrolment decisions is made. Most theoretical models that are used to motivate and interpret OLS or IV estimates of the returns to schooling assume away convexity in the schooling-earnings profile, uncertainty and the inherently dynamic nature of schooling investment decisions. This paper develops a decomposition technique that calculates the relative importance of different benefits of completing additional schooling years, including the option values associated with convex schooling returns and uncertainty. These components are then estimated on a sample of workers who has revealed a highly convex schooling-earnings profile, and who face considerable uncertainty regarding future wage offers: young black South African men. We find that rationalising the observed school enrolment decisions requires large option values of early schooling levels (mainly associated with convexity rather than uncertainty), as well as a schooling cost function that increases steeply between schooling phases. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2013/13&r=edu |
| By: | Melvin Stephens, Jr.; Dou-Yan Yang |
| Abstract: | Causal estimates of the benefits of increased schooling using U.S. state schooling laws as instruments typically rely on specifications which assume common trends across states in the factors affecting different birth cohorts. Differential changes across states during this period, such as relative school quality improvements, suggest that this assumption may fail to hold. Across a number of outcomes including wages, unemployment, and divorce, we find that statistically significant causal estimates become insignificant and, in many instances, wrong-signed when allowing year of birth effects to vary across regions. |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19369&r=edu |
| By: | Benjamin L. Castleman; Bridget Terry Long |
| Abstract: | Gaps in average college success among students of differing backgrounds have persisted in the United States for decades. One of the primary ways governments have attempted to ameliorate such gaps is by providing need-based grants, but little evidence exists on the impacts of such aid on longer-term outcomes such as college persistence and degree completion. We examine the effects of the Florida Student Access Grant (FSAG) using a regression-discontinuity strategy and exploiting the cut-off used to determine eligibility. We find grant eligibility had a positive effect on attendance, particularly at public four-year institutions. We also extend the literature by investigating the impact of aid on college success and find that eligibility for FSAG increased early persistence and the cumulative number of college-level credits students earned in their first four years. Most importantly, we find that FSAG increased the likelihood of bachelor’s degree receipt within six years at a public college or university by 4.6 percentage points, which translates into a 22 percent increase among students near the eligibility cut-off. The results are robust to sensitivity analyses. |
| JEL: | I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19306&r=edu |
| By: | Lisa Barrow; Cecilia E. Rouse |
| Abstract: | Using survey data from a field experiment in the U.S., we test whether and how financial incentives change student behavior. We find that providing post-secondary scholarships with incentives to meet performance, enrollment, and/or attendance benchmarks induced students to devote more time to educational activities and to increase the quality of effort toward, and engagement with, their studies; students also allocated less time to other activities such as work and leisure. While the incentives did not generate impacts after eligibility had ended, they also did not decrease students’ inherent interest or enjoyment in learning. Finally, we present evidence suggesting that students were motivated more by the incentives provided than simply the effect of giving additional money, and that students who were arguably less time-constrained were more responsive to the incentives as were those who were plausibly more myopic. Overall these results indicate that well-designed incentives can induce post-secondary students to increase investments in educational attainment. |
| JEL: | D03 I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19351&r=edu |
| By: | Muralidharan, Karthik (University of California, San Diego); Prakash, Nishith (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of an innovative program in the Indian state of Bihar that aimed to reduce the gender gap in secondary school enrollment by providing girls who continued to secondary school with a bicycle that would improve access to school. Using data from a large representative household survey, we employ a triple difference approach (using boys and the neighboring state of Jharkhand as comparison groups) and find that being in a cohort that was exposed to the Cycle program increased girls' age-appropriate enrollment in secondary school by 30% and also reduced the gender gap in age-appropriate secondary school enrollment by 40%. Parametric and non-parametric decompositions of the triple-difference estimate as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school show that the increases in enrollment mostly took place in villages where the nearest secondary school was further away, suggesting that the mechanism for program impact was the reduction in the time and safety cost of school attendance made possible by the bicycle. We find that the Cycle program was much more cost effective at increasing girls' enrolment than comparable conditional cash transfer programs in South Asia, suggesting that the coordinated provision of bicycles to girls may have generated externalities beyond the cash value of the program, including improved safety from girls cycling to school in groups, and changes in patriarchal social norms that proscribed female mobility outside the village, which inhibited female secondary school participation. |
| Keywords: | conditional transfers, school access, gender gaps, bicycle, girls' education, female empowerment, India, Bihar, MDG |
| JEL: | H42 I2 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7585&r=edu |
| By: | Bandyopadhyay, Arindam |
| Abstract: | Rating of research journals enables academic institutions to evaluate research quality of scholars in a more transparent manner. An indicative Journal Quality Ranking List has been compiled in this piece of work to assist researchers to understand the academic standards of various business journals. It is a collation of journal rankings in a master scale from a variety of sources. This list may also be helpful Business schools to encourage faculty publications & conduct academic performance evaluation. |
| Keywords: | Journal Ranking, Business School Research |
| JEL: | A1 G00 M00 |
| Date: | 2013–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:49608&r=edu |
| By: | Gabin Langevin (CREM UMR CNRS 6211, University of Rennes 1, France); David Masclet (CREM UMR CNRS 6211, University of Rennes 1 and CIRANO, France); Fabien Moizeau (CREM UMR CNRS 6211, University of Rennes 1 and IUF, France); Emmanuel Peterle (CREM UMR CNRS 6211, University of Rennes 1, France) |
| Abstract: | We use data from the Trajectoires et Origines survey to analyze the labor-market outcomes of both second-generation immigrants and their French native counterparts. Second-generation immigrants have on average a lower probability of employment and lower wages than French natives. We find however considerable differences between second-generation immigrants depending on their origin: while those originating from Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Turkey are less likely to be employed and receive lower wages than French natives, second-generation immigrants with Asian or Southern- and Eastern-European origins do not differ significantly from their French native counterparts. The employment gap between French natives and second-generation immigrants is mainly explained by differences in their education; education is also an important determinant of the ethnic wage gap. Finally we show that these differences in educational attainment are mainly explained by family background. Although the role of discrimination cannot be denied, our findings do point out the importance of family background in explaining lifelong ethnic inequalities. |
| Keywords: | labor-market discrimination, second-generation immigrants, educational attainment, family background, decomposition methods |
| JEL: | I2 J15 J24 J41 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:201327&r=edu |
| By: | Alessandro Cigno (Università degli Studi di Firenze); Annalisa Luporini (Università degli Studi di Firenze) |
| Abstract: | In an economy where graduate jobs are allocated by tournament, and some of the potential participants cannot borrow against their expected future earnings, the government can increase efficiency and ex ante equity by redistributing wealth or, if that is not possible, by borrowing wholesale and lending to potential participants. Both policies replace some of the less able rich with some of the more able poor and bring education investments closer to their first-best levels. |
| Keywords: | higher education, matching tournaments, credit. |
| JEL: | C78 D82 H42 I22 J24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2013_15.rdf&r=edu |
| By: | van den Berg, Gerard J. (University of Mannheim); Modin, Bitte (Centre for Health Equity Studies - CHESS) |
| Abstract: | We analyze interaction effects of birth weight and the business cycle at birth on individual cardiovascular (CV) mortality later in life. In addition, we examine to what extent these long-run effects run by way of cognitive ability and education and to what extent those mitigate the long-run effects. We use individual records of Swedish birth cohorts from 1915–1929 covering birth weight, family characteristics, school grades, sibling identifiers, and outcomes later in life including the death cause. The birth weight distribution does not vary over the business cycle. The association between birth weight (across the full range) and CV mortality rate later in life is significantly stronger if the individual is born in a recession. This is not explained by differential fertility by social class over the cycle. Ability itself, as measured at age 10, varies with birth weight and the cycle at birth. But the long-run effects of early-life conditions appear to mostly reflect direct biological mechanisms. We do not find evidence of indirect pathways through ability or education, and the long-run effects are not mitigated by education. |
| Keywords: | longevity, genetic determinants, health, business cycle, life expectancy, cardiovascular disease, school grades, siblings, fetal programming, cause of death, life course, developmental origins, nature and nurture, cognitive ability, education, stratified partial likelihood, recession |
| JEL: | I10 I12 I21 I31 J10 J13 N34 C41 E32 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7605&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | On average across OECD countries, around 4% of students are top performers in reading, mathematics and science (all-rounders). Australia, Finland, Hong Kong-China, Japan, New Zealand, Shanghai-China and Singapore have larger proportions of these students than any other country or economy. |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:31-en&r=edu |
| By: | Stefania Aceto (MENON Network); Spiros Borotis (MENON Network); Jim Devine (DEVINE Policy|Projects|Innovation (and former President, IADT)); Thomas Fischer (MENON Network) |
| Abstract: | EU policies call for the strengthening of Europe’s innovative capacity and it is considered that the modernisation of Education and Training systems and technologies for learning will be a key enabler of educational innovation and change. This report brings evidence to the debate about the technologies that are expected to play a decisive role in shaping future learning strategies in the short to medium term (5-10 years from now) in three main learning domains: formal education and training; work-place and work-related learning; re-skilling and up-skilling strategies in a lifelong-learning continuum. This is the final report of the study ‘Mapping and analysing prospective technologies for learning (MATEL)' carried out by the MENON Network EEIG on behalf of the European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. The report synthesises the main messages gathered from the three phases of the study: online consultation, state-of-the-art analysis and a roadmapping workshop. Eight technology clusters and a set of related key technologies that can enable learning innovation and educational change were identified. A number of these technologies were analysed to highlight their current and potential use in education, the relevant market trends and ongoing policy initiatives. Three roadmaps, one for each learning domain, were developed. These identified long-term goals and specific objectives for educational change, which in turn led to recommendations on the immediate strategies and actions to be undertaken by policy and decision makers. |
| Keywords: | Prospective technologies for learning, Formal education and training, work-place and work-related learning, Re-skilling and up-skilling strategies in lifelong-learning continuum, Europe 2020 Strategy, educational change, Innovation & Creativity in Education and Training, ICT-enabled innovation for learning, roadmapping |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 I29 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc81935&r=edu |
| By: | Irina Dezhina (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | The past year was marked by the alteration of former trends and priorities following the change of the President and the Government. State policies for supporting science came to the fore while the encouragement of innovative activities and technological development lost in the frequency of its mentioning in the official documents. The switching of priorities was also reflected in the way consultative bodies were restructured. |
| Keywords: | Russian economy, science, innovations, education institutions |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O38 I21 I22 I23 I24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:161&r=edu |
| By: | Giuseppe Croce; Edoardo Di Porto; Emanuela Ghignoni; Andrea Ricci |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the role of the employer in workplace training, a novelty with respect to the literature on this topic. Taking advantage of a unique dataset on Italy, we study how individual employer profile and the agglomeration of employers influence firms’ propensity to invest in training. Our findings show that highly educated employers have a greater propensity to invest in workplace training. Moreover, we are able to capture the effect of employers’ human capital agglomeration on the training decision. We assert that such agglomeration leads to two different alternative scenarios: 1) a poaching effect may prevail, therefore competition among employers induces less propensity to train workers; 2) a positive knowledge spillover effect may prevail leading to a greater propensity to engage in training. We test these two options discovering that in the Italian case, where small businesses are prominent, the first effect is stronger. Several econometrics issues are considered in our empirical strategy: the skewed and bounded nature of the training decision indicator, the endogeneity issues derived from the agglomeration effect as well as the cross section dependence problems affecting standard errors. |
| Keywords: | workplace training; poaching; knowledge spillovers; entrepreneurship cluster, employer’s education, social capital, proximity. |
| JEL: | J24 O15 O18 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp162&r=edu |
| By: | Rachel Dunifon; Anne Toft Hansen; Sean Nicholson; Lisbeth Palmhøj Nielsen |
| Abstract: | Using a Danish data set that follows 135,000 Danish children from birth through 9th grade, we examine the effect of maternal employment during a child’s first three and first 15 years on that child’s grade point average in 9th grade. We address the endogeneity of employment by including a rich set of household control variables, instrumenting for employment with the gender- and education-specific local unemployment rate, and by including maternal fixed effects. We find that maternal employment has a positive effect on children’s academic performance in all specifications, particularly when women work part-time. This is in contrast with the larger literature on maternal employment, much of which takes place in other contexts, and which finds no or a small negative effect of maternal employment on children’s cognitive development and academic performance. |
| JEL: | J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19364&r=edu |
| By: | Friedrich Dornbusch (Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Competence Center Policy and Regions); Thomas Brenner (Economic Geography and Location Research, Philipps-Universität Marburg) |
| Abstract: | It is often claimed that universities act as local knowledge factories. Although this function is largely analyzed in previous research, there still is a knowledge gap regarding the role of a technological match between the profiles of partners in university-industry interactions. In addition, the effects of different knowledge dynamics in technological regimes remain under-researched. In this paper, we thus draw special attention to the question how geographical distance and the specific role of a technological fit between the knowledge provided by the university and the technological needs of the local industry affects interactions between universities and firms. Thereby, we differentiate between six technological regimes constituted by different knowledge dynamics. Our analyses are based on a unique dataset containing all German universities’ academic patenting and publication activities. As these are further enriched by secondary data, they enable us to show that the technological fit between a university and its surrounding region (in terms of local industry needs) indeed has a significant influence on a university’s innovation-related research interactions, especially with small firms. We further show that this effect additionally depends on the underlying knowledge base in heterogeneous technological regimes. |
| Keywords: | university-industry interaction, technological fit, knowledge base, academic patenting, technology regime, local knowledge hub |
| JEL: | O31 R12 L14 |
| Date: | 2013–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pum:wpaper:2013-10&r=edu |