|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2014‒08‒28
thirteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Deming, David James; Goldin, Claudia D.; Katz, Lawrence F. |
| Abstract: | For-profit, or proprietary, colleges are the fastest-growing postsecondary schools in the nation, enrolling a disproportionately high share of disadvantaged and minority students and those ill-prepared for college. Because these schools, many of them big national chains, derive most of their revenue from taxpayer-funded student financial aid, they are of interest to policy makers not only for the role they play in the higher education spectrum but also for the value they provide their students. In this article, David Deming, Claudia Goldin, and Lawrence Katz look at the students who attend for-profits, the reasons they choose these schools, and student outcomes on a number of broad measures and draw several conclusions. First, the authors write, the evidence shows that public community colleges may provide an equal or better education at lower cost than for-profits. But budget pressures mean that community colleges and other nonselective public institutions may not be able to meet the demand for higher education. Some students unable to get into desired courses and programs at public institutions may face only two alternatives: attendance at a for-profit or no postsecondary education at all. Second, for-profits appear to be at their best with well-defined programs of short duration that prepare students for a specific occupation. But for-profit completion rates, default rates, and labor market outcomes for students seeking associate’s or higher degrees compare unfavorably with those of public postsecondary institutions. In principle, taxpayer investment in student aid should be accompanied by scrutiny concerning whether students complete their course of study and subsequently earn enough to justify the investment and pay back their student loans. Designing appropriate regulations to help students navigate the market for higher education has proven to be a challenge because of the great variation in student goals and types of programs. Ensuring that potential students have complete and objective information about the costs and expected benefits of for-profit programs could improve postsecondary education opportunities for disadvantaged students and counter aggressive and potentially misleading recruitment practices at for-profit colleges, the authors write. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hrv:faseco:12553738&r=edu |
| By: | Ersado, Lire; Gignoux, Jeremie |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the levels and trends in access to education and educational outcomes across generations of Egyptian youth. Examination of three cohorts of individuals aged 21 to 24 (born between 1964 and 1967, 1974 and 1977, and 1982 and 1985) shows that access to education has substantially improved during the last three decades. Completion rates increased by more than 60 percent at the preparatory level and 70 percent at the secondary level and the college completion rate more than doubled. However, significant inequities remain in access to education and educational outcomes. The fraction of never enrolled among the cohorts is still large, affecting more girls than boys, more rural than urban areas, and more children of parents with lower level of education and in elementary occupations, such as subsistence agriculture. The analysis of test-scores from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and national examinations shows that more than a quarter of learning outcome inequality is attributable to circumstances beyond the control of a student, such as parental education, socioeconomic background and place of birth. In Egypt, inequality of opportunity in learning outcomes emerges early and builds up progressively throughout the education levels. Access to higher education continues to remain significantly lower for children from rural areas and for those whose parents have a low level of education or are engaged in elementary occupations. Tracking into vocational and general secondary schools, which depends on a high-stakes national examination, and high and unequal levels of household expenditures in private tutoring substantially contribute to unequal learning outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Primary Education,Teaching and Learning,Secondary Education,Access&Equity in Basic Education |
| Date: | 2014–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6996&r=edu |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Access and Equity in Basic Education Teaching and Learning Education - Educational Sciences Education - Primary Education Tertiary Education |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:16704&r=edu |
| By: | Gibbons, Steve (London School of Economics); Silva, Olmo (London School of Economics); Weinhardt, Felix (Humboldt University Berlin, DIW) |
| Abstract: | Theories about neighbours' influence on children based on social capital, cohesion and disorganisation stress the importance of neighbourhood stability. However, amongst the vast number of studies on the effect of neighbours on a child's education, none has tested whether neighbourhood stability matters. We fill this gap by estimating the causal effect of residential turnover on student test score gains. We show that high neighbourhood turnover reduces value added for students who stay in their neighbourhood, and this effect is more pronounced in more deprived neighbourhoods. Estimation is based on administrative data on four cohorts of secondary school children in England, allowing us to control for unobserved confounding individual effects, neighbourhood fixed effects and trends, plus school-by-cohort shocks. These main results, coupled with auxiliary findings based on survey data, suggest that neighbourhood turnover damages education through the disruption of local ties and social capital, highlighting a so-far undiscovered externality of mobility. |
| Keywords: | education, neighbourhood, turnover, social capital |
| JEL: | C21 I20 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8381&r=edu |
| By: | Daniele Checchi (University of Milan and IZA); Gianni De Fraja (DEF and CEIS, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata" and Nottingham School of Economics); Stefano Verzillo (Department of Economics, University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | We derive a theoretical model of effort in the presence of career concern based on the multi-unit all-pay auction, and closely inspired by the Italian academic market. In this model, the number of applicants, the number of new posts, and the relative importance of the determinants of promotion determine academics' effort. Because of the specific characteristics of Italian universities, where incentives operate only through promotion, and where all appointment panels are drawn from strictly separated and relatively narrow scientific sectors, the model fits well Italian academia, and we test it in a newly constructed dataset which collects the journal publications of all Italian academics working in universities. We find that individual researchers respond to incentives in the manner predicted by the theoretical model: more capable researchers respond to increases in the importance of the measurable determinants of promotion and in the competitiveness of the scientific sector by exerting more effort; less able researchers do the opposite. |
| Keywords: | Career concerns, Applied auction theory, Publications, Academic job market, Nepotism. |
| JEL: | D44 I23 I21 M51 |
| Date: | 2014–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:323&r=edu |
| By: | Borghans, Lex (Maastricht University); Golsteyn, Bart H.H. (Maastricht University); Zölitz, Ulf (Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | Free school choice has often been argued to be a tide that lifts school quality through increased competition. This paper analyzes the underlying assumption that school quality is an important choice criterion for parents. Using a large and representative data set of over 15,000 Dutch primary school starters we estimate models of school demand that incorporate heterogeneity in school preferences. Our results show that traditional measures for school quality matter, but other characteristics, such as school denomination and educational philosophy, are more important predictors of choice. Preferences for these school characteristics are strongly heterogeneous across parents. |
| Keywords: | school choice, school quality, school competition |
| JEL: | I2 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8371&r=edu |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Gender - Gender and Education Education - Education For All Tertiary Education Secondary Education Education - Primary Education |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:17019&r=edu |
| By: | Dragomirescu-Gaina, Catalin; Elia, Leandro; Weber, Anke |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an answer to the question of whether Europe will be able to reach its tertiary education target by 2020. Insights into the dynamics of future education attainment and areas for effective policy interventions in the long-run are highlighted. We model the dynamics behind education decisions as a balance between investment and consumption motivations. We use a panel approach and a wide range of statistical tests to insure that model specifications are stable and robust. We find that while Europe is likely to achieve its target, there is a growing divide between best performing countries and low performers. |
| Keywords: | human capital investment; tertiary education; panel data; forecasting; Europe 2020 strategy |
| JEL: | C23 C52 C53 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57957&r=edu |
| By: | Peter A. Savelyev (Vanderbilt University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Based on the 1922–1991 Terman data of children with high ability, I investigate the effects of childhood psychological skills and post-compulsory education on longevity. I identify causal effects and account for measurement error using factor-analytic methodology (Heckman et al., 2006). Latent class analysis supports the causal interpretation of results. For males, I find strong effects of psychological skills and education on longevity and an interaction between personality and education. Results are in line with the IV literature. For females, who are born around 1910 and live longer than men, I find no effects of education and personality on longevity. |
| Keywords: | longevity, survival function, life expectancy, value of longevity, post-compulsory education, IQ, personality skills, Big Five, average treatment effect, Terman Data of Children with High Ability, gender difference |
| JEL: | I1 C1 |
| Date: | 2014–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:van:wpaper:vuecon-sub-14-00007&r=edu |
| By: | Ritu Nayyar-Stone |
| Keywords: | Access and Equity in Basic Education Teaching and Learning Education - Primary Education Education - Education For All Tertiary Education |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:18416&r=edu |
| By: | Nollenberger, Natalia (Queen Mary, University of London); Rodríguez-Planas, Núria (Queens College, CUNY); Sevilla, Almudena (Queen Mary, University of London) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of cultural attitudes towards women in determining math educational gender gaps using the epidemiological approach. To identify whether culture matters, we estimate whether the math gender gap for each immigrant group living in a particular host country (and exposed to the same host country's laws and institutions) is explained by measures of gender equality in the parents' country of ancestry. We find that the higher the degree of gender equality in the country of ancestry, the higher the performance of second-generation immigrant girls relative to boys. This result is robust to alternative specifications, measures of gender equality and the inclusion of other human development indicators in the country of ancestry. The transmission of culture is higher among those in schools with a higher proportion of immigrants or in co-educational schools. Our results suggest that policies aimed at changing beliefs can prove effective in reducing the gender gap in mathematics. |
| Keywords: | gender gap in math, immigrants, gender identity |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J16 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8379&r=edu |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Secondary Education Teaching and Learning Education - Primary Education Tertiary Education Access and Equity in Basic Education |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:16787&r=edu |
| By: | Blunch, Niels-Hugo (Washington and Lee University); Das, Maitreyi Bordia (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines norms about gender equality of the education of children and adults in Bangladesh using a recent household survey for two cohorts of married women. Education norms are found to differ substantially across cohorts, with women from the younger cohort being far more positive about female vs. male education of both children and adults. The effect of education in determining norms spans own and spousal education, as well as that of older educated females in the household, thus indicating sharing of education norms both within marriage and across generations. Detailed decompositions reveal that more than anything else it is the improvement in education across cohorts that has been driving the narrowing of the generational education norms gap in Bangladesh in recent years. |
| Keywords: | gender education inequality norms, human capital, decomposition analysis, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | D19 I29 J12 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8365&r=edu |