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on Education |
| By: | Blimpo,Moussa P.; Evans,David; Lahire,Nathalie |
| Abstract: | Education systems in developing countries are often centrally managed in a top-down structure. In environments where schools have different needs and where localized information plays an important role, empowerment of the local community may be attractive, but low levels of human capital at the local level may offset gains from local information. This paper reports the results of a four-year, large-scale experiment that provided a grant and comprehensive school management training to principals, teachers, and community representatives in a set of schools. To separate the effect of the training from the grant, a second set of schools received the grant only with no training. A third set of schools served as a control group and received neither intervention. Each of 273 Gambian primary schools were randomized to one of the three groups. The program was implemented through the government education system. Three to four years into the program, the full intervention led to a 21 percent reduction in student absenteeism and a 23 percent reduction in teacher absenteeism, but produced no impact on student test scores. The effect of the full program on learning outcomes is strongly mediated by baseline local capacity, as measured by adult literacy. This result suggests that, in villages with high literacy, the program may yield gains on students'learning outcomes. Receiving the grant alone had no impact on either test scores or student participation. |
| Keywords: | Primary Education,Education For All,Secondary Education,Tertiary Education,Effective Schools and Teachers |
| Date: | 2015–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7238&r=edu |
| By: | Eszter Czibor (University of Amsterdam); Sander Onderstal (University of Amsterdam); Randolph Sloof (University of Amsterdam); Mirjam van Praag (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | The provision of non-pecuniary incentives in education is a topic that has received much scholarly attention lately. Our paper contributes to this discussion by investigating the effectiveness of grade incentives in increasing student performance. We perform a direct comparison of the two most commonly used grading practices: the absolute (i.e., criterion-referenced) and the relative (i.e., norm-referenced) grading schemes in a large-scale field experiment at a university. We hypothesize that relative grading, by creating a rank-order tournament in the classroom, provides stronger incentives for male students than absolute grading. In the full sample, we find weak support for our hypothesis. Among the more motivated students we find evidence that men indeed score significantly higher on the test when graded on a curve. Female students, irrespective of their motivation, do not increase their scores under relative grading. Since women slightly outperform men under absolute grading, grading on a curve actually narrows the gender gap in performance. |
| Keywords: | Education, Test performance, Grade incentives, Competition, Gender, Field experiment |
| JEL: | I21 I23 A22 D03 C93 |
| Date: | 2014–08–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20140116&r=edu |
| By: | Almeida,Rita Kullberg; Anazawa,Leandro; Menezes Filho,Naercio; Vasconcellos,Ligia Maria De |
| Abstract: | Technical education and training has been dramatically expanding in Brazil recently. However, there remains no evidence on the cost effectiveness of this alternative track to a more general education. This paper quantifies the wage returns of completing technical and vocational education and training compared with the returns of completing the general education track, for individuals with similar observable characteristics. Exploring data from the Brazilian National Household Sample Survey, the paper profiles the students taking up this track and quantifies the impact of different types of technical and vocational education and training courses on individuals? hourly wages. After controlling for selection on observables with propensity score matching, the analysis shows positive and statistically significant wage premiums for students completing technical school at the upper secondary level (on average 9.7 percent ) and for those completing short-term training courses (2.2 percent on average). The paper also documents significant heterogeneity of impacts depending on the courses and the profile of students. For realistic unitary costs of providing technical and vocational education and training, the evidence suggests technical education is a cost-effective modality. The courses offered by the publically financed and privately managed ?Sistema S,? together with courses in the manufacturing area have the highest positive impacts. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Primary Education,Access&Equity in Basic Education,Gender and Education,Effective Schools and Teachers |
| Date: | 2015–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7246&r=edu |
| By: | Reddy, Kotapati Srinivasa |
| Abstract: | Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current state of higher education, high-impact research and university rankings in Asian emerging market-India. Firstly, overview of higher education and government schemes for academic research is presented. Secondly, progress of high-impact research in India and China for citable documents, number of citations, cites per document and H-index in three subject categories is assessed. Lastly, we discuss potential challenges in the university education and recommend policy guidelines for betterment of the existing practices. Methodology: Being a qualitative study we have collected data from archival sources and thereby accomplished our goals based on inductive and deductive logics. Findings: Overall, Chinese universities are found to be outperforming Indian universities, especially in citable documents, number of citations, international collaboration, collaborative research projects, publications and editorship, and university rankings. For citable documents in all subjects category, United States is ranked 1st, followed by China 2nd, United Kingdom 3rd …, and India 9th. We therefore suggest that individual-, university- and country-specific factors have significant impact on high-impact research. Research limitations: The study is restricted to India. Hence, conducting a survey among government and private universities with regard to academics and research assessment measures deserves future research. Practical implications: A set of policy guidelines (research funding, collaborative research projects and research assessment council) is suggested for imparting quality academic practices and standards. Originality: This paper indeed is an original attempt while no earlier study links higher education, high-impact research and university rankings in India. |
| Keywords: | Emerging markets, India, Higher education, High-impact research, Open access, Research funding, Government support, University rankings |
| JEL: | A2 I0 I2 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63658&r=edu |
| By: | James Berry (Cornell University, United States); Dean Karlan (Yale University, United States); Menno Pradhan (VU University Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate, using a randomized trial, two school-based financial literacy education programs in government-run primary and junior high schools in Ghana. One program integrated financial and social education, whereas the second program only offered financial education. Both programs included a voluntary after-school savings club that provided students with a locked money box. After nine months, both programs had significant impacts on savings behavior relative to the control group, mostly because children moved savings from home to school. We observed few other impacts. We do find that financial education, when not accompanied by social education, led children to work more compared to the control group, whereas no such effect is found for the integrated curriculum; however, the difference between the two treatment effects on child labor is not statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | financial literacy, youth finance, savings |
| JEL: | D14 J22 J24 O12 |
| Date: | 2015–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150043&r=edu |
| By: | Matthew Johnson; Julie Bruch; Brian Gill |
| Abstract: | The federal Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) program provides loans to parents of dependent undergraduate students to help pay for education expenses. To bring the standards in line with those used by banks, the U.S. Department of Education tightened the credit standards for PLUS loans in October 2011. In the first full school year that the new standards were in place (2012/13), the total dollar amount of federal loans approved for parents decreased substantially. |
| Keywords: | financial aid and scholarships, postsecondary, grades 13-16, Black or African American students, university/four year college, Black colleges, student loan programs, enrollment |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2015–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:4e4d838a409f43869d693a46126eec10&r=edu |
| By: | Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Owen O'Donnell (Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece); Eddy van Doorslaer (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | This discussion paper led to an article in the <I>Journal of Human Resources</I> (2011). Volume 46(4), pages 695-721.<P> While there is no doubt that health is strongly correlated with education, whether schooling exerts a causal impact on health is not yet firmly established. We exploit Dutch compulsory schooling laws in a Regression Discontinuity Design applied to linked data from health surveys, tax files and the mortality register to estimate the causal effect of education on mortality. The reform provides a powerful instrument, significantly raising years of schooling, which, in turn, has a large and significant effect on mortality even in old age. An extra year of schooling is estimated to reduce the probability of dying between ages of 81 and 88 by 2-3 percentage points relative to a baseline of 50 percent. High school graduation is estimated to reduce the probability of dying between the ages of 81 and 88 by a remarkable 17-26 percentage points but this does not appear to be due to any sheepskin effects of finishing high school on mortality beyond that predicted lin early by additional years of schooling. |
| Keywords: | Health, Mortality, Education, Causality, Regression Discontinuity |
| JEL: | D30 D31 I10 I12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20090037&r=edu |
| By: | Stefan P.T. Groot (Centraal Planbureau, The Hague, the Netherlands); Henri L.F. de Groot (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a unique set of micro-data covering almost one third of the Dutch labor force, to estimate the relationship between agglomeration externalities and the level of education. While the positive relationship between economic density and productivity and wages has long been established in the economic literature, less is known about the effects of density on the productivity of different types of workers. This paper shows that there is substantial heterogeneity in the relationship between density and productivity for workers with different types of education. Apart from estimating the impact of aggregate density, we also estimate whether the composition of the local labor market in terms of education is related to the productivity of different types of workers. Using the presence of universities as an instrument, we estimate the effect of the supply of university graduates on wages, i.e. the social return to education. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, education, knowledge-spillovers, wages, local labor markets |
| Date: | 2014–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20140088&r=edu |
| By: | Davis, Matt; Vedder, Andrea; Stone, Joe |
| Abstract: | Evidence that local tax and expenditure limits (TELs) for public K-12 schools lower student achievement is widely attributed to the effects of reduced funding, but our results cast doubt on reduced funding as the primary explanation for negative effects of TELs in the context of school-finance equalization (SFE) and instead suggest the importance of predictable funding. Students in districts subject to more severe local tax limits in Oregon score less well on eighth-grade tests in mathematics, but reduced funding is not the reason. Our analysis expands prior work by accounting for the extent to which TELs are actually binding, as well as for both pecuniary and non-pecuniary effects of TELs. Distinguishing pecuniary and non-pecuniary effects allows us to document that the negative effect of TELs in Oregon is not due to reduced expenditures. The state’s school-finance equalization (SFE) tends to offset funding differentials, so TELs have no significant effect on funding, but even if TELs did affect funding, the negative effect of TELs on achievement is significant even if district expenditures are held constant. Instead, the negative effect of more restrictive TELs appears to work by disrupting local planning. We isolate this effect by distinguishing the more uncertain first year of each biennial budget from the second year. Our quasi-experimental design accounts for district and year fixed effects, as well as for district-specific variations in expenditures and student attributes. Results are robust to a placebo test to reveal spurious correlation and to several alternative specifications. |
| Keywords: | taxes expenditures, limitations, students,achievement, school finance equalization |
| JEL: | H0 J0 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63704&r=edu |
| By: | Marina Murat |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impact of education networks on the FDI from the United States and United Kingdom to 167 countries during 1999 - 2011. Proxies of networks are i nternational students in the US and UK and alumni associations abroad. Results show that international students boost the British FDI to their home countries, while their inf luence on American FDI is weak , except for students from developing economies and for international students who attended university during the Cold War. Alumni associations have a substantial impact on both American and British FDI , but especially on the latter. The stronger impact of education networks on British FDI is partly related to the different political and economic role s played by the US and UK on the world stage , and to their different use of soft and hard power. Results are robust to different econometric specifications. |
| Keywords: | international students, alumni, bilateral FDI, education networks |
| JEL: | F14 F20 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:recent:107&r=edu |
| By: | Kristjan Liivamägi; Tarvo Vaarmets; Tõnn Talpsepp |
| Abstract: | We analyze how intellectual abilities and education affect investors’ risk-adjusted returns in the stock market. To investigate such effects, we use educational performance measured by standardized exams and the type and specialty of a university degree obtained. The data used covers one complete business cycle and includes detailed transactions and performance on the national stock exchange for all Estonian individual investors along with their past educational records from a national registry. Controlling for trading style, wealth, experience and variety of educational characteristics, we provide empirical evidence that investors with higher mathematical skills combined with overall high intellectual ability, have higher probability to outperform market. We also show that investors holding higher university degrees or specialize in certain fields achieve higher risk-adjusted return in the stock market. |
| Date: | 2014–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ttu:tuteco:16&r=edu |
| By: | Andre Veski (Tallinn University of Technology); Kaire Põder (Tallinn University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Within the first 20 years of the market economy in Estonia, the public school market has been decentralized in Tallinn. Firstly, we describe how students are allocated to primary schools in a narrative, and secondly, in a formal mechanism design language. We indicate the closest equivalent algorithms from the matching markets design theory and conclude that the current system in Tallinn is a hybrid. The decentralized part of the market namely inter-district exam schools apply autonomous school proposing deferred acceptance; and the centralized part of the market intra-district regular schools apply school random serial dictatorship. Finally using data from Tallinn primary school matching, we show by an empirical evaluation of matching mechanisms. Since the currently the collected data does not reveal the students preference ordering we simulate some potential orderings for comparison. |
| Date: | 2015–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ttu:tuteco:20&r=edu |
| By: | Petter Lundborg (Free University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the health returns to education, using data on identical twins. I adopt a twin-differences strategy in order to obtain estimates that are not biased by unobserved family background and genetic traits that may affect both education and health. I further investigate to what extent within-twin-pair differences in schooling correlates with within-twin-pair differences in early life health and parent-child relations. The results suggest a causal effect of education on health. Higher educational levels are found to be positively related to self-reported health but negatively related to the number of chronic conditions. Lifestyle factors, such as smoking and overweight, are found to contribute little to the education/health gradient. I am also able to rule out occupational hazards and health insurance coverage as explanations for the gradient. In addition, I find no evidence of heterogenous effects of education by parental education. Finally, the results suggest that factors that may vary within twin pairs, such as birth weight, early life health, parental treatment and relation with parents, do not predict within-twin pair differences in schooling, lending additional credibility to my estimates and to the general vailidy of using a twin-differences design to study the returns to education. |
| Keywords: | health production; education; schooling; twins; siblings; returns to education; ability bias |
| JEL: | I12 I11 J14 J12 C41 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20080027&r=edu |
| By: | Barron, Manuel; Torero, Maximo |
| Abstract: | We implemented an experimental study to better understand how electrification affects the economic lives of rural households. By randomly allocating incentives to get a grid connection we generate exogenous variation in the probability that households connect to the grid, which we exploit to study the effects of electrification on time allocation. We find that electrification leads to (i) increased investment in education among school-age children, in the form of a 78 percent higher participation in activities related to education (e.g. time studying, time at school); and (ii) higher participation in income generating activities among adult women: electrification led to a 46 percentage point increase in participation in non farm employment and 25 percentage point higher probability of operating a home business. These are mostly home production activities that don't require large monetary investments or the participation of the male head. However, average profits from these activities are around $1,000 per year, suggesting that income increases due to electrification are potentially important. |
| Keywords: | Rural electrification Time Allocation Education Non farm activities |
| JEL: | O13 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63782&r=edu |
| By: | Bjorvatn, Kjetil (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Cappelen, Alexander W. (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Sekei, Linda Helgesson (Development Pioneer Consultants); Sørensen, Erik Ø. (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Tungodden, Bertil (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | Can television be used to teach and foster entrepreneurship among youth in developing countries? We report from a randomized control field experiment of an edutainment show on entrepreneurship broadcasted over almost three months on national television in Tanzania. The field experiment involved more than two thousand secondary school students, where the treatment group was incentivized to watch the edutainment show. We find short-term evidence of the edutainment show inspiring the viewers to become more interested in entrepreneurship and business and shaping non-cognitive traits such as risk- and time preferences, and long-term evidence of more business startups; in general, the treatment effects are more pronounced for the female viewers. However, we also find evidence that the encouragement of entrepreneurship discouraged investment in schooling;administrative data show a negative treatment effect on school performance and long-term survey data show that fewer treated students continue schooling. |
| Keywords: | Field experiment; edutainment; developing countries |
| JEL: | I25 O10 |
| Date: | 2015–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2015_003&r=edu |
| By: | Reijnders, L.S.M. (Groningen University) |
| Abstract: | Why have women surpassed men in terms of educational attainment, even though they appear to have less incentives to go to college? The aim of this paper is to set up a basic theoretical life-cycle model in order to study the potential role of gender differences in the benefit of education in explaining the college gender gap reversal. Its main contribution is to show under which conditions the model can generate a reversal in college graduation rates, and to highlight the importance of the curvature of the utility function and the presence of subsistence constraints in this respect. In particular, I show that the labour market benefit of education for women can be higher than for men even if they have the same college wage premium if the elasticity of the marginal utility of wealth is greater than unity or there are fixed costs. Initially this might be dominated by a lower marriage market return, but a decrease in the probability of marriage can induce women to overtake men in educational attainment. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gro:rugsom:14006-eef&r=edu |
| By: | Hale Koç (Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam); Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | Higher educated individuals are healthier and live longer than their lower educated peers. One reason is that lower educated individuals engage more in unhealthy behaviours including consumption of a poor diet, but it is not clear why they do so. In this paper we develop an economic theory of unhealthy food choice, and use a Discrete Choice Experiment to discriminate between the theoretical parameters. Differences in health knowledge appear to be responsible for the greatest part of the education disparity in diet. However, when faced with the most explicit health information regarding diet, lower educated individuals still state choices that imply a lower concern for negative health consequences. This is consistent with a theoretical prediction that part of the education differences across health behaviours is driven by the "marginal value of health" rising with education. |
| Keywords: | Health, Education, Diet, Discrete Choice Experiment |
| JEL: | C25 I12 I24 |
| Date: | 2015–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150034&r=edu |
| By: | Gabriela Moriconi; Julie Bélanger |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the findings based on case studies of the educational systems of England and of the Canadian province of Ontario, as part of a research project funded by the Thomas J. Alexander Fellowship Programme.1 This research project aims to provide inputs to policymakers and school leaders, especially in Latin America, to support teachers and schools with student behaviour issues and improve classroom and school climate. The purpose of these case studies is to investigate how system-level policies in four main areas (initial teacher education, professional development, professional collaboration and participation among stakeholders) and other types of system-level initiatives (such as student behaviour policies) have been implemented in order to improve disciplinary climate and help teachers to deal with student behaviour issues. It also aims to identify the conditions in which teaching and classroom practices take place, in order to understand the context of student behaviour and disciplinary climate in these educational systems.<BR>Ce document présente les conclusions d’études de cas menées sur les systèmes d’éducation en Angleterre et dans la province canadienne de l’Ontario, dans le cadre d’un projet de recherche financé par le Programme de bourses Thomas J. Alexander2. L’objectif de ce projet est de fournir aux décideurs et aux chefs d’établissement, notamment en Amérique latine, des propositions sur la manière de soutenir les enseignants et les établissements confrontés à des problèmes de comportement de la part de leurs élèves, et d’améliorer le climat des classes et des établissements. Ces études de cas visent à examiner la façon dont des mesures systémiques dans quatre grands domaines (formation initiale des enseignants, développement professionnel, collaboration professionnelle et participation des parties prenantes) et d’autres types d’initiatives systémiques (telles que les mesures relatives au comportement des élèves) ont été mises en oeuvre afin d’améliorer le climat de discipline et d’aider les enseignants à faire face aux problèmes de comportement de leurs élèves. L’un des autres objectifs est d’analyser les conditions dans lesquelles s’inscrivent les pratiques pédagogiques afin de mieux comprendre le contexte du comportement des élèves et du climat de discipline dans ces systèmes d’éducation. |
| Date: | 2015–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:116-en&r=edu |
| By: | Govert Bijwaard (University of Groningen, the Netherlands); Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we hypothesize that education is associated with a higher efficiency of health investment, yet that this efficiency advantage is solely driven by intelligence. We operationalize efficiency of health investment as the probability of dying conditional on a certain hospital diagnosis, and estimate a multistate structural equation model with three states: (i) healthy, (ii) ill (in hospital), and (iii) death. We use data from a Dutch cohort born around 1940 that links intelligence tests at age 12 to later-life hospitalization and mortality records. The results suggest that higher Intelligence induces the higher educated to be more efficient users of health investment - intelligent individuals have a clear survival advantage for most hospital diagnoses - yet for unanticipated health shocks and diseases that require complex treatments such as COPD, education still plays a role. |
| Keywords: | Education, Intelligence, Health, Multistate duration model |
| JEL: | C41 I14 I24 |
| Date: | 2014–01–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150004&r=edu |
| By: | Kaire Põder (Tallinn University of Technology); Triin Lauri (Tallinn University) |
| Abstract: | This article presents empirical analysis of the effects of school choice policy in Estonia. We show that relying on market and giving autonomy to the schools over student selection without any central priority matching or other central guidelines will produce admission tests, even in elementary school level. The latter will bring with it intensive prep-schooling. Our contribution is to show that in the current case choice-policy experiment will produce between schools segregation effects based on residential and background characteristics. However, the interpretation of these effects is complex because, when compared with the pre-market, topped-off voucher-based residential choice model, it diminishes segregation based on income and family socio-economic status. |
| Date: | 2014–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ttu:tuteco:11&r=edu |
| By: | Tarvo Vaarmets; Kristjan Liivamägi; Tõnn Talpsepp |
| Abstract: | Combining two exhaustive datasets from NASDAQ OMX Tallinn and Estonian national educational registry we dig deeper into the behaviour of the individual investor and paint a picture about how mental abilities in very different areas influence stock market participation. We use different tools of statistical analysis including probit regression models to determine what distinguishes investors from other people. The main contribution of the paper is a substantial step forward in determining how education and mental abilities influence stock market participation. We prove that investors achieve significantly higher results in their national final high school exams than non-investors. This is consistent with our main contribution – we offer strong evidences that people with higher mental abilities in very different areas are more likely to participate in the stock market. The most important factors for stock market participation are mathematics and physics. Finally we conclude that investors are not only more educated as found in previous studies, but investors also outsmart other people in every field, including both so called soft and hard sciences. |
| Date: | 2014–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ttu:tuteco:15&r=edu |
| By: | George J. Borjas; Kirk B. Doran; Ying Shen |
| Abstract: | The largest and most important flow of scientific talent in the world is the migration of international students to the doctoral programs offered by universities in industrialized countries. This paper uses the opening of China in 1978 to estimate the causal effect of this flow on the productivity of their professors in mathematics departments across the United States. Our identification strategy relies on both the suddenness of the opening of China and on a key feature of scientific production: intra-ethnic collaboration. The new Chinese students were more likely to be mentored by American professors with Chinese heritage. The increased access that the Chinese-American advisors had to a new pool of considerable talent led to a substantial increase in their productivity. Despite these sizable intra-ethnic knowledge spillovers, the relatively fixed size of doctoral mathematics programs (and the resulting crowdout of American students) implied that comparable non-Chinese advisors experienced a decline in the number of students they mentored and a concurrent decline in their research productivity. In fact, the productivity gains accruing to Chinese-American advisors were almost exactly offset by the losses suffered by the non-Chinese advisors. Finally, it is unlikely that the gains from the supply shock will be more evident in the next generation, as the Chinese students begin to contribute to mathematical knowledge. The rate of publication and the quality of the output of the Chinese students is comparable to that of the American students in their cohort. |
| JEL: | D83 J24 J61 O31 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21096&r=edu |
| By: | Martijn B.W. Kobus (VU University); Jos N. van Ommeren (VU University); Hans R.A. Koster (VU University); Piet Rietveld (VU University) |
| Abstract: | For certain goods, higher levels of congestion imply higher levels of expected future entry costs. This provides current users of the good with an incentive to hoard, that is, to lengthen their duration of good use, in order avoid entry costs later on. We test for hoarding of university computers by students. Endogeneity of congestion is acknowledged by using an instrumental variable approach. Our results indicate that congestion has a strong effect on hoarding behaviour. More specifically, it is shown that the congestion elasticity of computer duration is about 0.57. |
| Keywords: | congestible goods, hoarding, computer use |
| JEL: | D00 |
| Date: | 2013–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20130083&r=edu |
| By: | Jan S. Cramer (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | The initial purpose of this study was to establish the effect of childhood conditions on longevity from the Brabant data set. This data set combines information at ages 12, 43, 53 and mortality between 53 and 71 for a sample of some 3000 individuals born around 1940 in the Dutch province of North Brabant. Proportional hazard analysis confirms the known association of early intelligence or cognitive ability with longevity, with a standardized hazard ratio of .80; this is the only significant childhood influence. Among men, the effect of some elements of adult socio-economic status can also be ascertained: education, income and wealth are each found to contribute about as much to a longer life as intelligence. The joint effect of all four variables is dominated by childhood intelligence and adult wealth at the expense of education and income. |
| Keywords: | Cognitive ability, mortality, socio-economic status, proportional hazards |
| JEL: | C21 I14 |
| Date: | 2012–07–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20120070&r=edu |
| By: | Bruce Austin; Olusola O. Adesope; Brian F. French; Chad Gotch; Julie Bélanger; Katarzyna Kubacka |
| Abstract: | The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has linked data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) of teachers of 15-year-old students with school-level data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a survey of 15-year-old students. The purpose of this study is to present an exploratory analysis of the combined TALIS-PISA data by examining the relationship of school-level student measures to teacher outcomes. In other words, this paper examines how student factors in a school may influence teachers’ work, their attitudes, and their perceived needs for support. Survey responses were collected from teachers and students in eight countries. Data from 26 610 teachers were combined with student measures, aggregated by school, from 103 077 students. Regression, hierarchical linear and multilevel models were used to analyse the data. Teacher outcomes that were modelled included professional development, collaboration, and self-efficacy. Student measures included attitudes about math and school, PISA math achievement, and Economic, Social and Cultural Status (ESCS). Interactions involving teacher measures such as gender and years of experience crossed with student outcomes were examined. Separate models for mathematics teachers were also explored. Findings varied dramatically across countries, and many significant differences were found between male and female teachers as well as between mathematics and all teachers. The paper concludes with practical implications of the research.<BR>L’Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Économiques (OCDE) a rapproché les données de l’Enquête internationale sur l'enseignement et l'apprentissage (TALIS), menée auprès d’enseignants ayant des élèves de 15 ans, de celles recueillies dans les établissements auprès d’élèves âgés de 15 ans dans le cadre du Programme international pour le suivi des acquis des élèves (PISA). Cette étude a pour but de présenter une analyse exploratoire des données combinées de TALIS-PISA en examinant le lien qui existe entre les réponses des élèves au niveau des établissements et celles des enseignants. En d’autres termes, le présent document examine comment les facteurs liés aux élèves dans un établissement peuvent influencer la pratique professionnelle des enseignants, leurs attitudes et l’aide dont ils estiment avoir besoin. Les réponses aux enquêtes ont été recueillies auprès d’enseignants et d’élèves dans huit pays. Les données relatives à 26 610 enseignants ont été associées aux réponses fournies par 103 077 élèves et regroupées par établissement. Des modèles de régression, des modèles linéaires hiérarchiques et des modèles multiniveaux ont été utilisés pour analyser les données. Parmi les indices des enseignants qui ont été modélisés figuraient le développement professionnel, la collaboration et l’efficacité personnelle. Les indices des élèves portaient notamment sur les attitudes vis-à-vis des mathématiques et de l’école, les résultats PISA en mathématiques, et le statut économique, social et culturel (SESC). Ont également été examinées les interactions entre les données relatives aux enseignants, comme le sexe et les années d’expérience, et les résultats des élèves. Des modèles distincts pour les professeurs de mathématiques ont également été étudiés. Les résultats étaient très différents d’un pays à l’autre, et de nombreux écarts importants ont été observés entre les enseignants et les enseignantes mais aussi entre les professeurs de mathématiques et les autres. Pour conclure, le document expose les implications pratiques de ces travaux de recherche. |
| Date: | 2015–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:115-en&r=edu |
| By: | Damian Whittard (University of the West of England, Bristol) |
| Abstract: | This paper captures the perceptions of both a new academic and his students on the use of the one-minute paper (OMP). Much of the originality of this paper derives from the multi-layered qualitative approach which provides a deeper insight into the direct and indirect mechanism through which the OMP is perceived to work. This paper argues, more than the prevailing literature suggests, that in order to increase the benefits of using the OMP then considerable investment in time is required. The findings show that the academic’s cost in terms of time is greatest when asking ‘lecturer effectiveness’ type questions, but the benefits derived are potentially longer term than standard ‘lecture content’ based question. Students value the use of the OMP, principally because it demonstrates respect for them; this helps to create an atmosphere of trust which can encourage engagement and an active approach to student learning. The research informs a discussion on how practical implementation techniques can be used to maximise the benefits and limit the costs. |
| Keywords: | one-minute paper, economics lecture, students’ perceptions, lecturer effectiveness |
| JEL: | A12 A20 A22 |
| Date: | 2015–01–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:20151502&r=edu |
| By: | Sander Hoogendoorn (University of Amsterdam); Mirjam van Praag (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | One of the most salient and relevant dimensions of team heterogeneity is ethnicity. We measure the impact of ethnic diversity on the performance of business teams using a field experiment. We follow 550 students who set up 45 real companies as part of their curriculum in an international business program in the Netherlands. We exploit the fact that companies are set up in realistic though similar circumstances and that we, as outside researchers, had the unique opportunity to exogenously vary the ethnic composition of otherwise randomly composed teams. The student population consists of 55% students with a non-Dutch ethnicity from 53 different countries of origin, enabling us to include extremely diverse teams in our study. We find that a moderate level of ethnic diversity has no effect on team performance in terms of business outcomes (sales, prots and prots per share). However, if at least the majority of team members is ethnically diverse then more ethnic diversity seems to affect the performance of teams positively. Our data suggest that this positive effect might be related to the more diverse pool of relevant knowledge facilitating (mutual) learning within ethnically diverse teams. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic diversity, team performance, field experiment, entrepreneurship, (mutual) learning |
| JEL: | J15 L25 C93 L26 M13 D83 |
| Date: | 2012–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20120068&r=edu |
| By: | Sanna Nivakoski (UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy); Philip O'Connell (UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy); Mark Hargaden (UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy) |
| Abstract: | University staff frequently engage in Public Service Activities (PSAs), over and above their core roles, making a valuable contribution to society and the economy, although little is known about such activity. This study examines the extent of PSA among university staff - both academic and non-academic. The data come from a survey carried out in 2014 of the staff of University College Dublin (UCD), an Irish research university with a wide disciplinary coverage. The survey collected information about whether staff have taken part in PSAs and the amount of time spent engaging in these activities. Overall, 59 per cent of UCD academics and senior administrative staff report having taken part in PSAs over the past 12 months. The most common type of PSA is public engagement which encompasses talks, lectures and involvement in public debate through various media. Academic staff are much more likely than administrative staff to engage in PSA, but there is a significant contribution also from senior administrative staff. PSA engagement varies by discipline (with Arts and Humanities staff having the highest rates of PSA), by seniority and by length of tenure. Among those who have taken part in PSAs, the mean total yearly number of hours engaged in these activities is 167, ranging from 122 hours among researchers to 218 hours among professors. We estimate that all academics and senior administrators at UCD contributed over 150,000 hours in PSA over the course of the 2013-14 academic year, with an estimated value of nearly €11.5 million. |
| Date: | 2015–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201504&r=edu |