|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2014‒11‒07
eleven papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Sterrenberg, Margret K. |
| Abstract: | I analyze the long-term labor market returns after completing a higher education entrance (HEE) qualification as a qualified worker older than age 20 (Zweiter Bildungsweg), using data of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). I use a Mincer-type equation, where the school-leaving and vocational qualification is modeled in detail together with the age of completing a subject-linked or general HEE qualification. There is evidence that HEE graduation up to the age 25 opens good chances to obtain the same long-term labor market returns as regular high school graduation. If HEE graduating occurs after the age 25, wage advantages - compared to a middle-level school graduation - are not reached on average any more. The results show a positive relation to employment at best for men, who complete their general HEE qualification from the age 26 to 30. Besides, 'second pathway' graduates use indirect labor market advantages of higher education less than regular high school graduates. These results are important for educational counselling, because the pathways to a HEE qualification as well as the age at graduation count for the chances in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Bildungserträge, Bildungsverläufe, Zweiter Bildungsweg, Hochschulreife, Returns to education, course of education, second-chance education, higher education entrance qualification |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 J64 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-540&r=edu |
| By: | Joshua Goodman; Michael Hurwitz; Jonathan Smith |
| Abstract: | Estimating the impact of initial college choice on student outcomes is confounded by the non-random nature of college selection. Using the universe of SAT takers in the high school classes of 2004-07, we identify two new contexts where admission test score thresholds provide exogenous variation in access to four-year colleges. We study Georgia’s state university system, whose thresholds are public, and other colleges whose threshold use is not public but can be detected in our data. A regression discontinuity design comparing the relatively low-skilled students just above and below these thresholds yields two main findings. First, in both settings, missing these thresholds diverts students into two-year colleges or less selective four-year colleges, suggesting that college choices are narrowed by failure to take low cost steps like retesting or applying more widely. Second, missing these thresholds reduces bachelor’s degree completion rates, particularly for low income students. We argue this is clear evidence of a college quality effect, as some students are diverted from four-year colleges from which they are capable of graduating. |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qsh:wpaper:175226&r=edu |
| By: | Graziella Bertocchi; Monica Bozzano |
| Abstract: | We investigate the determinants of the education gender gap in Italy in historical perspective with a focus on the influence of family structure. We capture the latter with two indicators: residential habits (nuclear vs. complex families) and inheritance rules (partition vs. primogeniture). After controlling for economic, institutional, religious, and cultural factors, we find that over the 1861-1901 period family structure is a driver of the education gender gap, with a higher female to male enrollment rate ratio in upper primary schools being associated with nuclear residential habits and equal partition of inheritance. We also find that only the effect of inheritance rules persists over the 1971-2001 period |
| Keywords: | Education gender gap, Italian Unification, family types, inheritance, institutions, religion, convergence. |
| JEL: | E02 H75 I25 J16 N33 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:103&r=edu |
| By: | Agar Brugiavini (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Carlo Carraro (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Matija Kovacic (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of academic achievements of post-reform undergraduate students of Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Academic achievements are measured with the students' grade point averages and time to graduation. The set of independent variables contains information on students' personal characteristics, prior academic achievements, family background, academic track at university, and several "peer-group" effects. The novelty of this paper is threefold: i) we use a rich data set obtained by matching the University's administrative data records with the data drawn from the AlmaLaurea questionnaires, ii) we pay particular attention to the effects of academic track regularity on students' performance, and iii) we propose a theoretical model of a trade-off between grades and time to graduation, and test empirically its validity by taking into account the problem of reciprocal causation between grades and time to graduation. The model suggests that grades and time to graduation are inversely related. While there is an unambiguous effect of students' ability and financial condition on grades, these effects are less straightforward in the case of time to graduation. The sign and the magnitude of the effects of ability and financial condition on time to graduation depends on students' academic track regularity. Moreover, the relative importance of grades and time to graduation depends, in addition to ability and financial situation, also on the external economic conditions in the labor market. Our empirical exercise confirms the predictions of the model. |
| Keywords: | Academic Achievements, Academic Track Regularity, Trade-off between Grades and Time to Degree, Endogeneity, Simultaneous Equations. |
| JEL: | I21 I23 D91 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2014:13&r=edu |
| By: | Gautam Rao |
| Abstract: | I exploit a natural experiment in India to identify how mixing rich and poor students in schools affects social preferences and behaviors. A policy change in 2007 forced many private schools in Delhi to meet a quota of poor children in admissions. This led to a sharp increase in the presence of poor children in new cohorts in those schools, but not in older cohorts or in other schools. Exploiting this variation, and using a combination of field and lab experiments, administrative data and test scores, I study impacts on three classes of outcomes: (i) prosocial behavior, (ii) social interactions and discrimination, and (iii) academic outcomes. First, I find that having poor classmates makes wealthy students more prosocial and generous. They become more likely to volunteer for a charity at school, more generous towards both rich and poor students in dictator games, and choose more equitable distributions of payoffs in the lab. Second, having poor classmates makes wealthy students discriminate less against poor children, measured by their teammate choice in an incentivized sports contest. Consistent with this, they become more willing to socialize with poor children outside school. Third, I find marginally significant negative effects on test scores in English, but no effect on Hindi or Math. Overall, I conclude that mixing in schools had substantial positive effects on the social behaviors of wealthy students, at the cost of negative but arguably modest impacts on academic achievement. To shed light on mechanisms, I exploit idiosyncratic assignment of students to study groups and find that the effects on social behaviors are largely driven by personal interactions between wealthy and poor students, rather than by changes in teacher behavior or curriculum. |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qsh:wpaper:183756&r=edu |
| By: | Randall Q. Akee (UCLA, Luskin School of Public Affairs); Timothy J. Halliday (UHERO, University of Hawaii at Manoa); Sally Kwak (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation) |
| Abstract: | Due to the large social costs of juvenile crime, policymakers have long been concerned about its causes. In the 2009-10 school year, the State of Hawaii responded to fiscal strains by furloughing all school teachers employed by the Department of Education and canceling class for seventeen instructional days. We examine the effects of this unusually short school year to draw conclusions about the relationship between time in school and juvenile arrests on Oahu. We calculate marginal effects from a negative binomial model and find that time off from school is associated with significantly fewer juvenile assault and drug-related arrests, although there are no changes in other types of crimes, such as burglaries. During the shortened school year, we calculate that there were twenty fewer assault arrests and fourteen fewer drug-related arrests of juveniles on Oahu. The declines in arrests for assaults were the most pronounced in poorer regions of the island whereas the declines in drug-related arrests were higher in relatively more prosperous regions. |
| Keywords: | Education, Crime, Inequality |
| JEL: | J08 I24 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2013-7r2&r=edu |
| By: | John Jerrim (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education) |
| Abstract: | A small group of high-performing East Asian economies dominate the top of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings. This has caught the attention of Western policymakers, who want to know why East Asian children obtain such high PISA scores, and what can be done to replicate their success. In this paper I investigate whether children of East Asian descent, who were born and raised in a Western country (Australia), also score highly on the PISA test. I then explore whether their superior performance (relative to children of Australian heritage) can be explained by reasons often given for East Asian students’ extraordinary educational achievements. My results suggest that second-generation East Asian immigrants outperform their native Australian peers in mathematics by more than 100 PISA test points – the equivalent of two and a half years of schooling. Moreover, the magnitude of this achievement gap has increased substantially over the last ten years. Yet there is no ‘silver bullet’ that can explain why East Asian children excel academically. Rather a combination of factors, each making their own independent contribution, seem to be at play. Western policymakers should therefore appreciate that it may only be possible to catch the leading East Asian economies in the PISA rankings with widespread cultural change. |
| Keywords: | PISA, East Asia, second-generation immigrant |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2014–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1416&r=edu |
| By: | Oussama BEN ABDELKARIM; Adel BEN YOUSSEF; Hatem M'HENNI; Christophe RAULT |
| Abstract: | We investigate the existence of causal relationships between energy consumption and education (enrollment in primary secondary and higher education) for a sample of 16 African countries over the period 1971-2010 (according to availability of countries' data). We use the panel-data approach of Kónya (2006), which is based on SUR systems and Wald tests with country specific bootstrap critical values. Our results show that education and energy use are strongly linked in Africa. There is bidirectional causality between primary, secondary and higher education and energy use for several countries. Moreover, electricity consumption plays a crucial role in the energy-education links in Africa. |
| Keywords: | Education, Energy use, Electricity consumption, Education for All, VAR. |
| JEL: | Q43 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2014–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wdi:papers:2014-1084&r=edu |
| By: | Rossi, Federica; Fassio,Claudio; Geuna, Aldo (University of Turin) |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201410&r=edu |
| By: | Ángel de la Fuente; Rafael Doménech |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the construction of series of educational attainment of the adult population in a sample of 22 OECD countries covering the period 1960-2010. These series are a revised and extended version of the data set described in de la Fuente and Doménech (2002). |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2014-14&r=edu |
| By: | Karl Gunnar Persson (Department of Economics, Copenhagen University) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses two issues. It documents the changes in the publication strategy of the members of the Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen over the last 50 years, away from a broad domestic audience to the international community of peers and scholars. From having been only occasionally present in the world of science the Department has increased its impact from the end of the 1980s.Exploiting data on the impact of journal articles the paper makes a tentative estimate of a spectacular increase in research labour productivity. |
| JEL: | A B |
| Date: | 2014–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kuiedp:1414&r=edu |