nep-edu New Economics Papers
on Education
Issue of 2014‒12‒19
twenty-six papers chosen by
João Carlos Correia Leitão
Universidade da Beira Interior

  1. The Impact of a One Laptop per Child Program on Learning: Evidence from Uruguay By De Melo, Gioia; Machado, Alina; Miranda, Alfonso
  2. The Demand for Effective Charter Schools By Christopher R. Walters
  3. Determinants of students' success at university By Danilowicz-Gösele, Kamila; Meya, Johannes; Schwager, Robert; Suntheim, Katharina
  4. Student Awareness of Costs and Benefits of Educational Decisions: Effects of an Information Campaign and Media Exposure By McGuigan, Martin; McNally, Sandra; Wyness, Gill
  5. The return to college: Selection and dropout risk By Hendricks, Lutz; Leukhina, Oksana
  6. Constitutional Rights and Education: An International Comparative Study By Sebastian Edwards; Alvaro Garcia Marin
  7. Does malaria control impact education? A study of the Global Fund in Africa By Maria Kuecken; Josselin Thuilliez; Marie-Anne Valfort
  8. Pathways to Education: An Integrated Approach to Helping At-Risk High School Students By Philip Oreopoulos; Robert S. Brown; Adam M. Lavecchia
  9. School participation in rural Pakistan: A situation analysis By Jamal, Haroon
  10. Too Busy for School? The Effect of Athletic Participation on Absenteeism By Cuffe, Harold E.; Waddell, Glen R.; Bignell, Wesley
  11. Allergy Test: Seasonal Allergens and Performance in School By Marcotte, Dave E.
  12. Does Management Matter In Schools? By Nicholas Bloom; Renata Lemos; Raffaella Sadun; John Van Reenen
  13. In a Small Moment: Class Size and Moral Hazard in the Mezzogiorno By Joshua D. Angrist; Erich Battistin; Daniela Vuri
  14. Educational Attainment in the OECD, 1960-2010 By Angel De la Fuente; Rafael Domenech Vilarino
  15. School attendance and poverty in an oil boom context in Chad By Aristide MABALI; Bobdingam BONKERI
  16. College admissions with entrance exams: Centralized versus decentralized By Hafalir, Isa E.; Hakimov, Rustamdjan; Kübler, Dorothea; Kurino, Morimitsu
  17. Behavioral Economics of Education: Progress and Possibilities By Adam M. Lavecchia; Heidi Liu; Philip Oreopoulos
  18. The Impact of Short Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution on Cognitive Performance and Human Capital Formation By Victor Lavy; Avraham Ebenstein; Sefi Roth
  19. Finishing Degrees and Finding Jobs: U.S. Higher Education and the Flow of Foreign IT Workers By John Bound; Murat Demirci; Gaurav Khanna; Sarah Turner
  20. Measuring the Impact of Educational Insurance Games on Index Insurance Take-up By Vasilaky, Kathryn; Diro, Rahel; Norton, Michael; McCarney, Geoff; Osgood, Daniel
  21. Does education loan debt influence household financial distress? An assessment using the 2007-09 SCF Panel By Thompson, Jeffrey P.; Bricker, Jesse
  22. “Are we wasting our talent?Overqualification and overskilling among PhD graduates” By Antonio di Paolo; Ferran Mañé
  23. School Size Policies: A Literature Review By Macarena Ares Abalde
  24. Determinants of Bilingualism among Children By Chiswick, Barry R.; Gindelsky, Marina
  25. Effect of the School Lunch Program on Children's Food Preferences and Family Grocery Shopping By Jiang, Yuan; House, Lisa A.; Gao, Zhifeng
  26. Entrepreneurship Education By Jonathan Bainée

  1. By: De Melo, Gioia (Banco de México); Machado, Alina (IECON, Universidad de la República); Miranda, Alfonso (CIDE, Mexico City)
    Abstract: We present evidence on the impact on students' math and reading scores of one of the largest deployments of an OLPC program and the only one implemented at a national scale: Plan Ceibal in Uruguay. Unlike previous work in the field, we have unique data that allow us to know the exact date of laptop delivery for every student in the sample. This gives us the ability to use a continuous treatment, where days of exposure are used as a treatment intensity measure. We use a panel data framework including fixed effects at the individual level. Given that there is some variation in the date of laptop delivery across individuals within the same school, we can identify the effect of the program net of potential heterogeneity in the rate schools gain improvements on student's achievement over time in the absence of the OLPC program across the country (i.e. we allow each school to follow a different learning growth curve over time due to unobservable time-varying heterogeneity). We also run an alternative specification where we allow for different learning growth curves over time between schools located in Montevideo and the rest of Uruguay. Our results suggest that in the first two years of its implementation the program had no effects on math and reading scores. The zero effect could be explained by the fact that laptops in class are mainly used to search for information on the internet.
    Keywords: impact evaluation, education, technology
    JEL: I21 I28
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8489&r=edu
  2. By: Christopher R. Walters
    Abstract: This paper uses a structural model of school choice and academic achievement to study the demand for charter schools in Boston, Massachusetts, with an emphasis on comparative advantage in school choice. I combine an optimal portfolio choice model of charter school application and attendance decisions with a selection correction approach that links students' school choices to the achievement gains generated by charter attendance. To estimate the model, I use instrumental variables derived from randomized entrance lotteries, together with a second set of instruments based on distance to charter schools. The estimates show that charter schools reduce achievement gaps between high- and low-achieving groups, so disadvantaged students and low-achievers have a comparative advantage in the charter sector. Higher-income students and students with high prior achievement have the strongest demand for charter schools, however, which implies that preferences for charters are inversely related to potential achievement gains. The structural estimates show a similar pattern of selection on unobservables. These findings imply that students do not sort into charter schools on the basis of comparative advantage in academic achievement; instead, disadvantaged students are less likely to apply to charter schools despite larger potential achievement gains. I use simulations of an equilibrium school choice model to quantify the consequences of this demand-side pattern for the effects of charter school expansion. The results suggest that in the absence of significant behavioral or institutional changes, the effects of charter expansion may be limited as much by demand as by supply.
    JEL: C25 I21 J2 J24
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20640&r=edu
  3. By: Danilowicz-Gösele, Kamila; Meya, Johannes; Schwager, Robert; Suntheim, Katharina
    Abstract: This paper studies the determinants of academic success using a unique administrative data set of a German university. We show that high school grades are strongly associated with both graduation probabilities and final grades, whereas variables measuring social origin or income have only a smaller impact. Moreover, the link between high school performance and university success is shown to vary substantially across faculties. In some fields of study, the probability of graduating is rather low, while grades are quite good conditional on high school performance. In others, weaker students have a greater chance of graduating, but grades are more differentiated.
    Keywords: university,high school,grade point average,faculties,education
    JEL: I23 I21
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:214&r=edu
  4. By: McGuigan, Martin (CEP, London School of Economics); McNally, Sandra (London School of Economics); Wyness, Gill (CEP, London School of Economics)
    Abstract: University fees have recently trebled in England, prompting fears that young people may be put off from participating in higher education. We investigate students' knowledge and their receptiveness to information campaigns about the costs and benefits of staying on in education. We compare the effects of a specially designed information campaign to the effects of media exposure about the increase in tuition fees. The latter has a stronger effect on relevant outcomes. However, we find that an inexpensive information campaign can be effective in improving information and reducing perceived financial barriers to university participation, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
    Keywords: tuition fees, information campaign, educational decisions
    JEL: I2
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8596&r=edu
  5. By: Hendricks, Lutz; Leukhina, Oksana
    Abstract: This paper studies the effect of graduating from college on lifetime earnings. We develop a quantitative model of college choice with uncertain graduation. Departing from much of the literature, we model in detail how students progress through college. This allows us to parameterize the model using transcript data. College transcripts reveal substantial and persistent heterogeneity in students' credit accumulation rates that are strongly related to graduation outcomes. From this data, the model infers a large ability gap between college graduates and high school graduates that accounts for 54% of the college lifetime earnings premium.
    Keywords: Education,College premium,College dropout risk
    JEL: E24 J24 I21
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cfswop:487&r=edu
  6. By: Sebastian Edwards; Alvaro Garcia Marin
    Abstract: We investigate whether the inclusion of social rights in political constitutions affects social performance. More specifically, we analyze whether including the right to education in the constitution has been related to better "educational outcomes." We rely on data for 61 countries that participated in the 2012 PISA tests. Our results are strong and robust to the estimation technique: we find that there is no evidence that including the right to education in the constitution has been associated with higher test scores. The quality of education depends on socioeconomic, structural, and policy variables, such as expenditure per student, the teacher-pupil ratio, and families' background. When these covariates are excluded, the relation between the strength of constitutional educational rights and the quality of education is negative and statistically significant. These results are important for emerging countries that are discussing the adoption of new constitutions, such as Thailand and Chile.
    JEL: I24 I28 K4 K49 O1 O38
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20475&r=edu
  7. By: Maria Kuecken (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne); Josselin Thuilliez (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne); Marie-Anne Valfort (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris)
    Abstract: We examine the middle-run effects of the Global Fund's malaria control programs on the educational attainment of primary schoolchildren in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using a quasi-experimental approach, we exploit geographic variation in pre-campaign malaria prevalence (malaria ecology) and variation in exogenous exposure to the timing and expenditure of malaria control campaigns, based on individuals' years of birth and year surveyed. In a large majority of countries (14 of 22), we find that the program led to substantial increases in years of schooling and grade level as well as reductions in schooling delay. Moreover, although by and large positive, we find that the marginal returns of the Global Fund disbursements in terms of educational outcomes are decreasing. Our findings, which are robust to both the instrumentation of ecology and use of alternative ecology measures, have important policy implications on the value for money of malaria control efforts.
    Keywords: Malaria; Sub-Saharan Africa; education; quasi-experimental; Global Fund
    Date: 2013–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00881371&r=edu
  8. By: Philip Oreopoulos; Robert S. Brown; Adam M. Lavecchia
    Abstract: Pathways to Education is a comprehensive youth support program developed to improve academic outcomes among those entering high school from very poor social-economic backgrounds. The program includes proactive mentoring to each student, daily tutoring, group activities, career counseling, and college transition assistance, combined with immediate and long-term incentives to reinforce a minimum degree of mandatory participation. The program began in 2001 for entering Grade 9 students living in Regent Park, the largest public housing project in Toronto, and expanded in 2007 to include two additional Toronto projects. In all three locations, participation rates quickly rose, to more than 85 percent, even though parents and students were required to commit in writing to conditions and high expectations of the program. Comparing students from other housing projects before and after the introduction of the program, high school graduation and post secondary enrollment rates rose dramatically for Pathways eligible students, in some cases by more than 50 percent.
    JEL: I2 I3 J24
    Date: 2014–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20430&r=edu
  9. By: Jamal, Haroon
    Abstract: The study highlights the major characteristics of schooling in rural Pakistan by providing a situation analysis in terms of access, equality and quality of education. A cohort-wise analysis for primary (5-9 age cohort) and secondary (10-14 age cohort) levels is carried out to look at the prevailing situation across provinces in terms of enrolment status, trends in participation and gender disparities. The relationship between poverty and education is also ascertained and factors obstructing entry to schooling in rural Pakistan are explored
    Keywords: Rural Pakistan, Education Access, Education Inequality, Determinants of School Participation
    JEL: I21 I31
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59898&r=edu
  10. By: Cuffe, Harold E. (Victoria University of Wellington); Waddell, Glen R. (University of Oregon); Bignell, Wesley (University of Washington)
    Abstract: While existing research supports that participation in high-school athletics is associated with better education and labour-market outcomes, the mechanisms through which these benefits accrue are not well established. We use data from a large public-school district to retrieve an estimate of the causal effect of high-school athletic participation on absenteeism. We show that active competition decreases absences, with most of the effect driven by reductions in unexcused absences – truancy among active male athletes declines significantly, with the effects larger in earlier grades and for black and Hispanic boys. Strong game-day effects are also evident, in both boys and girls, as truancy declines on game days are offset with higher rates of absenteeism the following day. Addressing the effects on academic performance, we find significant heterogeneity in the response to active athletic participation by race, gender and family structure, with boys not in dual-parent households exhibiting small academic improvements in semesters in which they experienced greater athletic participation.
    Keywords: education, truancy, attendance, athletes, sport
    JEL: I21 L83
    Date: 2014–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8426&r=edu
  11. By: Marcotte, Dave E. (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
    Abstract: Seasonal pollen allergies affect approximately 1 in 5 school age children. Clinical research has established that these allergies result in large and consistent decrements in cognitive functioning, problem solving ability and speed, focus and energy. However, the impact of seasonal allergies on achievement in schools has received no attention at all from economists. Here, I use data on daily pollen counts merged with school district data to assess whether variation in the airborne pollen that induces seasonal allergies is associated with performance on state reading and math assessments. I find substantial and robust effects: A one standard deviation in ambient pollen levels reduces the percent of 3rd graders passing ELA assessments by between 0.2 and 0.3 standard deviations, and math assessments by between about 0.3 and 0.4 standard deviations. I discuss the empirical limitations as well as policy implications of this reduced-form estimate of pollen levels in a community setting.
    Keywords: education, health, air quality
    JEL: I10 I20 I21
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8544&r=edu
  12. By: Nicholas Bloom; Renata Lemos; Raffaella Sadun; John Van Reenen
    Abstract: We collect data on operations, targets and human resources management practices in over 1,800 schools educating 15-year-olds in eight countries. Overall, we show that higher management quality is strongly associated with better educational outcomes. The UK, Sweden, Canada and the US obtain the highest management scores closely followed by Germany, with a gap to Italy, Brazil and then finally India. We also show that autonomous government schools (i.e. government funded but with substantial independence like UK academies and US charters) have significantly higher management scores than regular government schools and private schools. Almost half of the difference between the management scores of autonomous government schools and regular government schools is accounted for by differences in leadership of the principal and better governance.
    Keywords: Management, pupil achievement, autonomy, principals
    JEL: L2 M2 I2
    Date: 2014–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1312&r=edu
  13. By: Joshua D. Angrist (MIT Economics); Erich Battistin (Queen Mary University of London and FBK-IRVAPP); Daniela Vuri (University of Rome "Tor Vergata")
    Abstract: An Instrumental Variables (IV) identication strategy that exploits statutory class size caps shows signficant achievement gains in smaller classes in Italian primary schools. Gains from small classes are driven mainly by schools in Southern Italy, suggesting a substantial return to class size reductions for residents of the Mezzogiorno. In addition to high unemployment and other social problems, however, the Mezzogiorno is distinguished by pervasive manipulation of standardized test scores, a finding revealed in a natural experiment that randomly assigned school monitors. IV estimates also show that small classes increase score manipulation. Estimates of a causal model for achievement with two endogenous variables, class size and score manipulation, suggest that the effects of class size on measured achievement are driven entirely by the relationship between class size and manipulation. Dishonest scoring appears to be a consequence of teacher shirking more than teacher cheating. These findings show how consequential score manipulation can arise even in assessment systems with few NCLB-style accountability concerns.
    Keywords: Class Size Effects, Score Manipulation, Quasi-experimental methods, Test scores
    JEL: C26 C31 I21 I28 J24
    Date: 2014–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fbk:wpaper:2014-04&r=edu
  14. By: Angel De la Fuente; Rafael Domenech Vilarino
    Abstract: This paper describes the construction of series on the educational attainment of the adult population for a sample of 22 OECD countries covering the period 1960-2010. These series are then compared with (the OECD subsample of) the latest available version of other cross-country data sets on average years of schooling that are commonly used in the literature. Finally, statistical measures of the information content of the different series are constructed using the procedure developed by Krueger and Lindhal (K&L, 2001) and de la Fuente and Domenech (D&D, 2006). The exercise implies that there are important differences in quality across data sets and suggests that successive revisions have succeeded in increasing their signal to noise ratios.
    Keywords: Developed Economies, Research, Working Paper
    JEL: O40 I20 O30 C19
    Date: 2014–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbv:wpaper:1430&r=edu
  15. By: Aristide MABALI (Conseil des Investisseurs Privés au Bénin (CIPB)); Bobdingam BONKERI
    Abstract: Oil resources have enabled Chad to increase public financing for education and to achieve high economic growth rates. Regarding these policies to supporting the education sector, we assume that the standard of living of households does not explain the school attendance. We test empirically this hypothesis using data from the MICS conducted in 2010 and Education Statistical Yearbooks. Using a bivariate probit model, the results show that school attendance and child labor depend of households’ standard of living after controlling for other relevant characteristics. In particular, a child from a non-poor household has a lower (higher) probability to be involved in the child labor (enrolled in school) compared to a child from a poor household. Although these results are classical in the economic literature, they are rather surprising in the case of Chad regarding the priority given to education by authorities. We identify four possible explanations, (i) the low level of these investments compared to international standards; (ii) the loss of public expenditures, caused by institutional factors; (iii) the misallocation of educational infrastructures and human resources by region and (iv) an inequity sharing of spin-offs of economic growth induced by oil resources. These results raise the issue of the sustainability of the Chadian economy after oil.
    Keywords: labor, Poverty, oil resources, Chad
    JEL: Q33 J82 I28
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1621&r=edu
  16. By: Hafalir, Isa E.; Hakimov, Rustamdjan; Kübler, Dorothea; Kurino, Morimitsu
    Abstract: We theoretically and experimentally study a college admissions problem in which colleges accept students by ranking students' efforts in entrance exams. Students hold private information regarding their ability level that affects the cost of their efforts. We assume that student preferences are homogeneous over colleges. By modeling college admissions as contests, we solve and compare the equilibria of "centralized college admissions" (CCA) in which students apply to all colleges, and "decentralized college admissions" (DCA) in which students can only apply to one college. We show that lower ability students prefer DCA whereas higher ability students prefer CCA. The main qualitative predictions of the theory are supported by the experimental data, yet we find a number of behavioral differences between the mechanisms that render DCA less attractive than CCA compared to the equilibrium benchmark.
    Keywords: college admissions,incomplete information,student welfare,contests,all-pay auctions,experiment
    JEL: C78 D78 I21
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbmbh:spii2014208&r=edu
  17. By: Adam M. Lavecchia; Heidi Liu; Philip Oreopoulos
    Abstract: Behavioral economics attempts to integrate insights from psychology, neuroscience, and sociology in order to better predict individual outcomes and develop more effective policy. While the field has been successfully applied to many areas, education has, so far, received less attention - a surprising oversight, given the field's key interest in long-run decision-making and the propensity of youth to make poor long-run decisions. In this chapter, we review the emerging literature on the behavioral economics of education. We first develop a general framework for thinking about why youth and their parents might not always take full advantage of education opportunities. We then discuss how these behavioral barriers may be preventing some students from improving their long-run welfare. We evaluate the recent but rapidly growing efforts to develop policies that mitigate these barriers, many of which have been examined in experimental settings. Finally, we discuss future prospects for research in this emerging field.
    JEL: D03 D87 I2 J24
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20609&r=edu
  18. By: Victor Lavy; Avraham Ebenstein; Sefi Roth
    Abstract: Cognitive performance is critical to productivity in many occupations and potentially linked to pollution exposure. We evaluate this potentially important relationship by estimating the effect of pollution exposure on standardized test scores among Israeli high school high-stakes tests (2000-2002). Since students take multiple exams on multiple days in the same location after each grade, we can adopt a fixed effects strategy estimating models with city, school, and student fixed effects. We focus on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are considered to be two of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. We find that while PM2.5 and CO levels are only weakly correlated with each other, both exhibit a robust negative relationship with test scores. We also find that PM2.5, which is thought to be particularly damaging for asthmatics, has a larger negative impact on groups with higher rates of asthma. For CO, which affects neurological functioning, the effect is more homogenous across demographic groups. Furthermore, we find that exposure to either pollutant is associated with a significant decline in the probability of not receiving a Bagrut certificate, which is required for college entrance in Israel. The results suggest that the gain from improving air quality may be underestimated by a narrow focus on health impacts. Insofar as air pollution may lead to reduced cognitive performance, the consequences of pollution may be relevant for a variety of everyday activities that require mental acuity. Moreover, by temporarily lowering the productivity of human capital, high pollution levels lead to allocative inefficiency as students with lower human capital are assigned a higher rank than their more qualified peers. This may lead to inefficient allocation of workers across occupations, and possibly a less productive workforce.
    JEL: I21 J24
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20648&r=edu
  19. By: John Bound; Murat Demirci; Gaurav Khanna; Sarah Turner
    Abstract: The rising importance of Information Technology (IT) occupations in the U.S. economy has been accompanied by an expansion in the representation of high-skill foreign-born IT workers. To illustrate, the share of foreign born in IT occupations increased from about 15.5% to about 31.5% between 1993 and 2010, with this increased representation particularly marked among those younger than 45. This analysis focuses on understanding the role that U.S. higher education and immigration policy play in this transformation. A degree from a U.S. college/university is an important pathway to participation in the U.S. IT labor market, and the foreign-born who obtain U.S. degree credentials are particularly likely to remain in the U.S. Many workers from abroad, including countries like India and China where wages in IT fields lag those in the U.S., receive a substantial return to finding employment in the U.S., even as temporary work visa policies may limit their entry. Limits on temporary work visas, which are particularly binding for those educated abroad, likely increase the attractiveness of degree attainment from U.S. colleges and universities as a pathway to explore opportunities in the U.S labor market in IT.
    JEL: I23 J24 J61
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20505&r=edu
  20. By: Vasilaky, Kathryn; Diro, Rahel; Norton, Michael; McCarney, Geoff; Osgood, Daniel
    Abstract: Paper removed/under major revisions Sept. 25, 2014.
    Keywords: Index Insurance, Agriculture, Financial Education, Credit Constraints, Marketing,
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170256&r=edu
  21. By: Thompson, Jeffrey P. (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)); Bricker, Jesse (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.))
    Abstract: This paper uses the recent 2007-09 SCF panel to examine the influence of student loans on financial distress. Families with student loans in 2007 have higher levels of financial distress than families without such loans, and these families were more susceptible to transitions to financial distress during the early stages of the Great Recession. This correlation persists once we control for a host of other demographic, work-status, and household balance sheet measures. Families with an average level of student loans were 3.1 percentage points more likely to be 60 days late paying bills and 3 percentage points more likely to be denied credit. During this same time period, families with other types of consumer debt were no more or less likely to be financially distressed. Education loans enable students to go to college and improve their employment and earnings prospects. On average, families with education loans in the 2007-09 SCF saw higher income growth between surveys. Further, the value of completing a degree is evident in the data: families without a degree but with education debt drive much of the correlations between financial distress and education loans.
    Keywords: Student loans; financial distress
    Date: 2014–10–16
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2014-90&r=edu
  22. By: Antonio di Paolo (Department of Econometrics. University of Barcelona); Ferran Mañé (Universitat Rovira i Virgili & CREIP)
    Abstract: Drawing on a very rich data set from a recent cohort of PhD graduates, we examine the correlates and consequences of qualification and skills mismatch. We show that job characteristics such as the economic sector and the main activity at work play a fundamental direct role in explaining the probability of being well matched. However, the effect of academic attributes seems to be mainly indirect, since it disappears once we control for the full set of work characteristics. We detected a significant earnings penalty for those who are both overqualified and overskilled and also showed that being mismatched reduces job satisfaction, especially for those whose skills are underutilized. Overall, the problem of mismatch among PhD graduates is closely related to demand-side constraints of the labor market. Increasing the supply of adequate jobs and broadening the skills PhD students acquire during training should be explored as possible responses.
    Keywords: Overskilling, overqualification, doctors, earnings, job satisfaction JEL classification: I20, J24, J28, J31
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201414&r=edu
  23. By: Macarena Ares Abalde
    Abstract: Recent demographic, economic and political trends have placed the issue of school size at the heart of school effectiveness and efficiency discussions. The subject of school size is particularly salient in remote and rural areas where the viability of small schools has been questioned. In spite of the relevance of school size policies, the literature on this issue is quite fragmented with few studies taking a comprehensive view on the implications of school size policies. This literature review attempts to bridge different strands of relevant research and describes existing country practices in order to provide a broader picture of the benefits and costs associated with different school sizes. The paper describes the different trends that have affected school enrolment and how different countries have managed school size policies, with a particular focus on school consolidation. It discusses the consequences of school consolidation and the alternatives to consolidation when schools are facing declining enrolment. It also reviews the different mechanisms through which school size affects the quality and efficiency of schools, and the existing empirical evidence on these effects.<BR>Les récentes évolutions démographiques, économiques et politiques ont placé la question de la taille des écoles au centre du débat sur l’efficacité et l’efficience du système éducatif. Le sujet de la taille des écoles est particulièrement important dans les régions isolées et rurales où la viabilité des petites écoles est mise en cause. Malgré l’importance des mesures visant à réguler la taille des écoles, la littérature sur ce sujet reste divisée et peu d’études présentent une vue d’ensemble de ces politiques et de leurs implications. Cette revue de littérature vise à rapprocher les différents courants de la recherche sur ce sujet et à examiner les pratiques existantes afin de présenter une vue exhaustive des coûts et bénéfices qu’impliquent différentes tailles d’écoles. Ce papier décrit les facteurs sous-tendant l’évolution des inscriptions ainsi que les politiques visant à réguler la taille des écoles menées dans différents pays. Il analyse les conséquences des politiques de consolidation d’écoles et des options alternatives à la consolidation lorsque les inscriptions sont en baisse. Il examine également les résultats empiriques relatifs à l’impact de la taille sur la qualité et l’efficience des écoles.
    Date: 2014–11–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:106-en&r=edu
  24. By: Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University); Gindelsky, Marina (George Washington University)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the determinants of bilingualism (i.e., speaks a language other than English at home) among children age 5 to 18 years in the American Community Survey, 2005-2011. Two groups of children are considered: those born in the US (native born) and foreign-born children who immigrated prior to age 14 (the 1.5 generation). The analyses are conducted overall, within genders, and within racial and ethnic groups. Bilingualism is more prevalent if the parents are foreign born, less proficient in English, of the same ancestry (linguistic) group, and if the child lives in an ethnic (linguistic) concentration area. Although the effects are relatively smaller, a foreign-born grandparent living in the household increases child bilingualism, while a higher level of parental education tends to decrease it. Children of Asian and especially of Hispanic origin are more likely to be bilingual than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts. Native-born Indigenous children are more likely to be bilingual.
    Keywords: bilingualism, native born children, immigrant children, family
    JEL: J15 J24 I21 Z13
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8488&r=edu
  25. By: Jiang, Yuan; House, Lisa A.; Gao, Zhifeng
    Keywords: Agribusiness,
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170680&r=edu
  26. By: Jonathan Bainée (UEA - Unité d'Économie Appliquée - ENSTA ParisTech, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne)
    Abstract: Entrepreneurship and, thus, small- and middlesized firms (SMEs) have had a growing interest for the past two decades, from the academic world as well as from public authorities. This interest is part of many economic changes. In particular, technological change and the increasing incidence of innovation in most developed countries have reduced the importance of the size of the companies in the industry and favored the development of entrepreneurial activities. In addition, globalization would have dragged the comparative advantages of North American and European countries toward knowledge-based activities, while the "knowledge-based economy" would be relatively more conducive to entrepreneurship and to SMEs. The issues in terms of ability to manage the creation, transition, and business development are primordial, both in their qualitative and quantitative dimension. It is in this context, conducive to new needs of knowledge, that emerge entrepreneurship teachings designed to inspire and enable individuals to start and to grow entrepreneurial ventures. They can be addressed in two steps. First, a historical approach will show how teachings in entrepreneurship have evolved in their implementation based on a double dynamic of empowerment and "complication" of training programs in entrepreneurship, which seems structured around the controversy over the ability to learn to undertake business or initiate the risk culture. Second, practical teaching methods of entrepreneurship will be analyzed, making sure to highlight the multifaceted reality of innovative approaches and actions through an international benchmark conducted by the PIMREP (ParisTech Innovation Management Research and Education Program) network (PIMREP 2010, 2011)
    Keywords: Entrepreneuriat ; management de l'innovation ; enseignements ; Eco-système
    Date: 2013–04–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00980385&r=edu

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