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on Education |
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Issue of 2016‒04‒30
twenty-one papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Clotfelter, Charles T. (Duke University); Hemelt, Steven W. (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Ladd, Helen F. (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | Launched in 2004, the Carolina Covenant combines grant-heavy financial aid with an array of non-financial supports for low-income students at an elite public university. We find that the program increased four-year graduation rates by about 8 percentage points for eligible students in the cohorts who experienced the fully developed program. For these cohorts, we also find suggestive effects on persistence to the fourth year of college, cumulative earned credits, and academic performance. We conclude that aid programs targeting low-income, high-ability students are most successful when they couple grant aid with strong non-financial supports. |
| Keywords: | postsecondary completion, financial aid |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I23 I24 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9888&r=edu |
| By: | Yekaterina Chzhen; Zlata Bruckauf; UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre |
| Abstract: | Measuring inequality of learning outcomes in a way that provides meaningful benchmarks for national policy while retaining a focus on those students who are ‘hard to reach’ and ‘hard to teach’ is a challenging but vital task in the light of the global post-2015 education agenda. Drawing on PISA 2012 data and its earlier rounds, this paper explores alternative approaches to measuring educational inequality at the ‘bottom-end’ of educational distribution within the cross-national context. Its main aim is to understand how far behind children are allowed to fall in their academic achievement compared to what is considered a standard performance in their country. Under the framework of relative (measured as achievement gap between the median and 10th percentile) and absolute (measured by the percentage of students achieving at a given benchmark) educational disadvantage it examines cross-country rankings as well as national trajectories with reference to overall academic progress. We find that on average across OECD countries around 11% of 15- year-olds lacked skills in solving basic reading, mathematical, as well as science, tasks in 2012, but variation across countries was large. |
| Keywords: | educational indicators; educational levels; educational planning; inequality; low income families; social inequality; |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inwopa:inwopa843&r=edu |
| By: | Parandekar,Suhas D.; Sedmik,Elisabeth |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to find an empirical explanation of Vietnam's outstanding performance on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012. Only a few developing countries participate in the assessment. Those who do, with the unique exception of Vietnam, are typically clustered at the lower end of the range of the Programme for International student Assessment scores. The paper compares Vietnam's performance with that of a set of seven developing countries from the 2012 assessment's data set, using a cut-off per capita GDP (in 2010 purchasing power parity dollars) of $10,000. The seven developing countries'average performance lags Vietnam's by more than 100 points. The"Vietnam effect"is difficult to unscramble, but the paper is able to explain about half of the gap between Vietnam and the seven countries. The analysis reveals that Vietnamese students may be approaching their studies with higher diligence and discipline, their parents may have higher expectations, and the parents may be following up with teachers regarding those expectations. The teachers themselves may be working in a more disciplined environment, with tabs being kept on their own performance as teachers. Vietnam may also be benefiting from investments in pre-school education and in school infrastructure that are disproportionately higher when compared with Vietnam's per capita income level. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Effective Schools and Teachers,Secondary Education,Tertiary Education,Primary Education |
| Date: | 2016–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7630&r=edu |
| By: | Susan Dynarski; Judith Scott-Clayton |
| Abstract: | National efforts to promote college enrollment are increasingly delivered through tax-based assistance, including tax credits and deductions for tuition and fees, tax-advantaged college savings plans, and student loan interest deductions. This paper outlines the main tax-based student aid programs and describes their history and growth over time. We then provide an economic perspective on tax-based student aid, and an assessment of their impact on student behavior. We conclude with a discussion of what the tax system does particularly well and what it does particularly poorly in comparison to traditional Department of Education-based student aid programs, and highlight opportunities for productive reform. At a minimum, a simpler system of education tax benefits would decrease the administrative and time costs of transferring funds to households with postsecondary expenses. At best, simplification would clarify incentives and increase investments in human capital. |
| JEL: | H2 H52 I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22127&r=edu |
| By: | Amaro Da Costa Luz Carneiro,Pedro Manuel; Koussihouede,Oswald; Lahire,Nathalie; Meghir,Costas; Mommaerts,Corina |
| Abstract: | The effect of increasing school resources on educational outcomes is a central issue in the debate on improving school quality. This paper uses a randomized experiment to analyze the impact of a school grants program in Senegal, which allowed schools to apply for funding for improvements of their own choice. The analysis finds positive effects on test scores at lower grades that persist at least two years. These effects are concentrated among schools that focused funds on human resource improvements rather than school materials, suggesting that teachers and principals may be a central determinant of school quality. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Effective Schools and Teachers,Secondary Education,Tertiary Education,Primary Education |
| Date: | 2016–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7624&r=edu |
| By: | Henry C., Alphin Jr; Jennie, Lavine |
| Abstract: | In this chapter we aim to discuss the opportunities for FDI and venture philanthropy in higher education for the Middle East and North Africa. The MENA region has gathered interest due to the large population and increasing governmental influence on improving higher education in general in the region, and creating partnerships with organizations to better match higher educational options and employment. The GCC plays a large role in the impetus of foreign institutes wanting to invest in the economically developing MENA region. There are many challenges to overcome, some of which are great enough to discourage FDI; but overlooking the initial challenges, there are a wealth of opportunities awaiting exploration. |
| Keywords: | Higher education, economic development, development, philanthropy, MENA, GCC, venture philanthropy, FDI |
| JEL: | O1 O10 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70781&r=edu |
| By: | Naomi Duke; Ross Macmillan |
| Abstract: | Education is a key sociological variable in the explanation of health and health disparities. Conventional wisdom emphasizes a life course-human capital perspective with expectations of causal effects that are quasi-linear, large in magnitude for high levels of educational attainment, and reasonably robust in the face of measured and unmeasured explanatory factors. In this paper, we challenge this wisdom by offering an alternative theoretical account and an empirical investigation organized around the role of measured and unmeasured cognitive and non-cognitive skills as confounders in the association between educational attainment and health. Based on longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Ð 1997 spanning mid adolescence through early adulthood, results indicate that a) effects of educational attainment are very vulnerable to issues of omitted variable bias; b) that measured indicators of cognitive and non-cognitive skills account for a significant proportion of the traditionally observed effect of educational attainment; c) that such skills have effects larger than that of even the highest levels of educational attainment when appropriate controls for unmeasured heterogeneity are incorporated; and d) that models that most stringently control for such time-stable abilities show little evidence of a substantive association between educational attainment and health. Implications for theory and research are discussed. Length: 52 pages |
| Keywords: | Education, health, life-course epidemiology, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, causality |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:don:donwpa:087&r=edu |
| By: | Maja Mihaljevic Kosor (Faculty of Economics, University of Split) |
| Abstract: | Hazard functions are a part of survival analysis which is a branch of statistics dealing with failure in mechanical systems and death in biological organisms e.g. lifetime or reliability of machine components, survival times of patients in clinical trials. Here, the interest is focused on a group of individuals, for which there is a defined point event, often referred to as failure, arising after a length of time, referred to as the failure time. To gain more insight into student dropout we examine the application of hazard functions in higher education. In such a model, the probability is investigated that the student will complete/leave a degree in a given year conditional on him/her having ‘survived’ the programme up to that point. This may allow a wider analysis as it captures both students who have and have not completed their studies and examines the impact of selected variables for the duration of student’s higher education course. |
| Keywords: | hazard functions, student droput, duration analysis |
| JEL: | I23 I29 C40 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3506156&r=edu |
| By: | Ohinata, Asako; van Ours, Jan C.; Yao, Yuxin |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the educational consequences of language proficiency by investigating the relationship between dialect-speaking and academic performance of 5-6 year old children in the Netherlands. We find that dialect-speaking has a modestly negative effect on boys' language test scores. In addition, we study whether there are spillover effects of peers' dialect-speaking on test scores. We find no evidence for spillover effect of peers' dialect-speaking. The test scores of neither Dutch-speaking children nor dialect-speaking children are affected by the share of dialect-speaking peers in the classroom. |
| JEL: | I15 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11183&r=edu |
| By: | Parinduri, Rasyad |
| Abstract: | I examine whether education increases voter turnout and makes better voters using an exogenous variation in education induced by an extension of Indonesia's school term length, which fits a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. The longer school year increases education, but I do not find evidence that education makes people more likely to vote in elections or changes whether they consider political candidates' religion, ethnicity, or gender important when they vote. If anything, education seems to make voters more likely to think candidates' development programs are important. |
| Keywords: | education, political participation, regression discontinuity design, Asia, Indonesia |
| JEL: | D72 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:70326&r=edu |
| By: | Zheng, Yannu (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Children of immigrants inherit human capital attainment from their parents that impact on their innovative performance. Some of this stem from their migrant parents’ positive and negative selection traits, part from their physical or cognitive proximity of country of origin to the host society. In this paper, I examine how second-generation immigrants (with at least one foreign-born parent), taking into consideration their parents’ region of origin, perform in inventive activity compared with native Swedes (with two native-born parents) and how this is related to their parents’ background. The study is based on a new Swedish database of inventors, which matched with the entire population between 1985 and 2007. The results show that, in terms of probability of becoming an inventor and number of forward citations to their patents, second-generation immigrants with non-Nordic European backgrounds perform better than native Swedes. Their better performance is related to the positive selection of their foreign-born parents and a certain distance of proximity to Sweden. The study indicates that there is a trade-off effect between the selection and proximity of foreign-born parents on second-generation immigrants’ patenting performance, but that differs between groups. For second-generation immigrants with other Nordic backgrounds, their less well performance is mainly attributed to their lower education level, which is further related to their less positively selected parents. However, for second-generation immigrants with one native-born parent and one parent from another non-European country, their large distance of proximity to Sweden seems to impede their performance. |
| Keywords: | Native Swedes; Foreign-born; Innovation; Human capital; Selection |
| JEL: | J15 J24 N30 O31 |
| Date: | 2016–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2016_011&r=edu |
| By: | Nader Habibi (Brandeis University); GholamReza Keshavarz Haddad (Haddad) |
| Abstract: | In this article we estimate the wage difference between over-educated and adequately educated workers in a sample of semi-skilled and low skill occupations in Iran’s labor market. Our results show that the over-educated workers in these job categories enjoy a wage premium in the range of 10% to 25% for their excess education. While this relative advantage has gradually declined for private sector employees over (2001-2014), it has remained stable for public sector jobs. The result is attributable to the fact that salary and benefits for public sector employees are directly linked to education attainment and their work experience. Our findings offer an explanation for the strong desire of Iranian youth for university education. If a university graduate finds a job that matched her specialization she will enjoy a higher salary than a high school graduate. If she cannot find an adequate job and has to accept a job for which she is over-educated, she still enjoys a wage premium over her co-workers who are not over-educated. We observe that the over-education wage premium is larger for public sector employees. |
| Keywords: | wages, over-education, average treatment effect, propensity score matching, Iran |
| JEL: | J45 J31 I26 I23 C54 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:brd:wpaper:105&r=edu |
| By: | Ohe, Yasuo |
| Abstract: | This paper econometrically evaluated the hypothesis that operators need to expand their identity from a traditional to an enlarged identity that will enable them to successfully embark on a new activity such as educational service that attracts the growing number of visitors by focusing on the Educational Dairy Farms (EDFs). First, the main findings were that the EDF successors tended to have longer and more varied training experience across the country and/or abroad than their counterparts in ordinary dairy farms and to have higher female involvement. This means that EDF successors have both a wider perspective and more extensive human networks from social learning opportunities. These aspects should be promoted further as factors that will enable the next generation of operators to develop an enlarged identity. Support measures will be more effective if expansion of identity is considered in addition to conventional training to improve technical skills. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212594&r=edu |
| By: | Laqua, Kyle A.; Nair, Shyam S.; Mills, Foy D. Jr. |
| Abstract: | US food and agricultural policy can be a sensitive subject among numerous constituencies. Since university agricultural students may eventually become a part of these groups, does the level of agricultural literacy and personal backgrounds influence students’ views of agricultural policy? The Food and Fiber System Literacy instrument and the Consumer Preferences for Farm Policy and the USDA Budget survey were administered to students enrolled in Introduction to Professional Leadership Skills (Intro) and in Agriculture and Government Programs (Policy) at Sam Houston State University (SHSU). A student’s one-tailed t-test variances compared agricultural literacy between students in the two courses. Results indicated students enrolled in Policy were significantly more agriculturally literate than students enrolled in Intro (p<0.001). Subsequently, students’ level of agricultural literacy and demographic background were regressed on a series of seven Likert-type scale questions related to farm policy. Select demographic characteristics were significantly different on three of the seven questions. Based on the findings from the policy questions posed, students’ academic experience, enrolled course, level of agricultural literacy, age, political affiliation and being raised around a family farm influenced their views regarding programs to ensure food supply, programs to preserve rural landscape and government interference in markets. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Literacy, Agricultural Policy, Undergraduate, Education, Agricultural and Food Policy, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, A22, Q10, Q18, |
| Date: | 2016–01–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea16:229954&r=edu |
| By: | Gustafsson, Björn Anders (University of Gothenburg); Katz, Katarina (Karlstad University); Österberg, Torun (University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | In high-income countries, not completing secondary school often entails a high risk of social exclusion. Using data on young adults born in 1985 that grew up in metropolitan Sweden, we study factors associated with not graduating from upper secondary school at age 21. Our hypothesis is that if a young person sees examples of people who are not able to earn a living despite having a long education, such negative examples are influential. Results from estimated logistic models are consistent with the hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | secondary schooling, Sweden, social exclusion, neighbourhoods |
| JEL: | D64 I24 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9886&r=edu |
| By: | Eduardo Olaberria |
| Abstract: | Improving education and skills is the linchpin to reduce income inequality and boost productivity growth. This paper argues that to improve, and make better use of, the skills of the labour force, Chile could gain a lot from a comprehensive and consistent Skills Strategy along three pillars: developing, activating and using skills effectively. Chile has made tremendous progress over the last decades attracting more students to the education system. Yet, educational outcomes remain below OECD standards, and are strongly linked to students’ socio-economic status. Improving the quality and equity of education would help achieve stronger productivity growth and make Chile a more inclusive country. Therefore, Chile should set the goal of attaining universal skills by 2030. Reaching this goal requires investing more in early childhood education, making schools more inclusive and reshaping teacher careers. Chile also needs to improve access to quality tertiary education for students from medium and low socio-economic backgrounds. Finally, in terms of activating and using skills effectively, a key goal should be to reduce skill mismatch, which contributes to low productivity growth. This requires more flexible labour markets, investing more in vocational education and training, and promoting the participation of more women in the fields of engineering and computer science. This working paper relates to the 2015 OECD Economic Survey of Chile (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/ economic-survey-chile.htm). Chili : Meilleures compétences pour une croissance inclusive Améliorer l'éducation et les compétences est la clé de voûte pour réduire les inégalités de revenus et de stimuler la croissance de la productivité. Ce chapitre fait valoir que, pour améliorer et faire un meilleur usage de, les compétences de la main-d'oeuvre, le Chili pourraient gagner beaucoup d'une Stratégie des compétences globales et cohérentes sur trois piliers: le développement, l'activation et l'utilisation efficace des compétences. Le Chili a fait d'énormes progrès au cours des dernières décennies, attirant davantage d'étudiants dans le système d'éducation. Pourtant, les résultats scolaires restent en deçà des normes de l'OCDE, et sont étroitement liées à la situation socio-économique des élèves. Améliorer la qualité et l'équité de l'éducation aiderait à atteindre croissance de la productivité plus forte et faire du Chili un pays plus inclusif. Par conséquent, le Chili devrait fixé l'objectif d'atteindre les compétences universelles d'ici 2030. Atteindre cet objectif nécessite d'investir davantage dans l'éducation de la petite enfance, ce qui rend les écoles plus inclusif et le remodelage des carrières des enseignants. Chili doit aussi améliorer l'accès à l'enseignement supérieur de qualité pour les étudiants issus de milieux socio-économiques moyenne et basse. Enfin, en termes de l'activation et l'utilisation efficace des compétences, un objectif clé devrait être de réduire inadéquation des compétences, ce qui contribue à la faible croissance de la productivité. Cela exige des marchés du travail plus flexibles, d'investir davantage dans l'éducation et la formation professionnelle, et la promotion de la participation de davantage de femmes dans les domaines de l'ingénierie et de l'informatique. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE de Chili 2015 (www.oecd.org/fr/eco/etudes/etude-econom ique-chili.htm) |
| Keywords: | PISA, education, employment, inequality, adult skills, compétences des adultes, éducation, PISA, emploi, inégalité |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J08 J21 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2016–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1290-en&r=edu |
| By: | De Paola, Maria (University of Calabria); Gioia, Francesca (University of Edinburgh); Scoppa, Vincenzo (University of Calabria) |
| Abstract: | We run a field experiment to investigate whether competing in rank-order tournaments with different prize spreads affects individual performance. Our experiment involved students from an Italian University who took an intermediate exam in which one part was awarded on the basis of their relative performance. Students were matched in pairs on the basis of their high school grades and each pair was randomly assigned to one of three different tournaments. Random assignment neutralizes selection effects and allows us to investigate if larger prize spreads increase individual effort. We do not find any positive effect of larger prizes on students' performance and in several specifications we do find a negative effect. Furthermore, we show that the effect of prize spreads on students' performance depends on their degree of risk-aversion: competing in tournaments with large spreads negatively affects the performance of risk-averse students, while it does not produce any effect on students who are more prone to take risks. |
| Keywords: | rank-order tournaments, incentives, prize spread, risk-aversion, randomized experiment |
| JEL: | J33 J31 J24 D81 D82 C93 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9854&r=edu |
| By: | Pamela Giustinelli; Nicola Pavoni |
| Abstract: | In this article, we provide novel survey evidence on mid schoolers’ awareness and ambiguity perceptions and on how such perceptions evolve during the process of high school track choice. Children in our study display partial awareness about the set of available tracks. Additionally, children report substantial belief ambiguity about their likelihood of a regular high school path, especially for lower-ranked tracks. Students start 8th grade with greater information about their favorite alternatives and continue to concentrate their search on the latter during the months before pre-enrollment. Children from less advantaged families display lower initial perceived knowledge and acquire information at a slower pace, particularly about college-preparatory schools. JEL Codes: D83, I24, J24. Keywords: Subjective Beliefs, Learning under Ambiguity and Limited Awareness, School Choice. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:igi:igierp:574&r=edu |
| By: | Curdin Pfister (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Miriam Rinawi (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Dietmar Harhoff (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich); Uschi Backes-Gellner (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Previous research analyzing the importance of knowledge for firms’ innovation activities has focused on knowledge taught at universities, i.e., tertiary level academic education. So far, research has largely neglected a new type of knowledge taught at Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS), i.e., tertiary level vocational education, which is based on more applied research. In this paper, we exploit a unique institutional setting, the foundation of UAS in Switzerland, to estimate the causal effect of this new type of knowledge on firms’ innovation activity. We apply difference-in-differences estimation, comparing the innovation activity of firms in regions where UAS were founded with the innovation activity of firms in regions where no UAS were founded. In line with previous literature, we measure the innovation activity by the number of filed patents. Our results show that firms in regions with newly founded UAS increase their innovation activities by about 10 percent. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Universities of Applied Science, Tertiary Vocational Education, Difference-in-Differences |
| JEL: | I26 O31 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0117&r=edu |
| By: | HAMANAKA Junko |
| Abstract: | Since the 1990s, reformation of university education in Japan has aimed at strengthening educational functions while being conscious of the demands from the labor market. However, there is still criticism by many people of the gap between what they learned in university and the knowledge and skills required in their professional lives. This paper examines the reason for the low evaluation of university education, focusing attention on the characteristics and experiences of company employees. In autumn 2015, we conducted a questionnaire survey with a sampling size of 1,100 company employees who, in the past three years, had conducted white-collar job interviews. Results show that: 1) A sizable number actually found the meaning of working hard at their studies during their academic life; 2) However, those working at influential organizations such as big companies tend to evaluate university education lowly; 3) Experiencing difficult situations such as entering new businesses or bad business performances may lead to appreciating the significance of university time, but not necessarily lead to evaluating education and research at university highly; 4) Job interviewers' own experience at university has a great impact on their recognition of university education. If they were not highly motivated to study while at university, they tend not to evaluate the university education as being useful. In addition, our analysis found that even in the case where the significance of study and research at university is evaluated by job interviewers, they may not ask enough questions about the education undertaken at the university during job interviews due to their lack of understanding of specialized research topics. As such, it suggests that experience of company employees greatly affects the evaluation of university education. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:16022&r=edu |
| By: | Calderone, Margherita (University of Leuven); Fiala, Nathan (University of Connecticut); Mulaj, Florentina (The World Bank); Sadhu, Santadarshan (IFMR Research Foundation); Sarr, Leopold (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Financial literacy programs are popular, despite recent research showing no significant changes to savings behavior. We experimentally test the impact of financial literacy training on clients of a branchless banking program that offers doorstep access to banking to low income households. The intervention had significant impacts: savings in the treatment group increased by 29% ($27) within a period of one year. The increase in savings is due in part to decreases in expenditures on temptation goods. These results suggest that financial education interventions, when paired with banking experience, can be successful in changing savings outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Financial literacy training, branchless banking, financial education intervention |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zwi:wpaper:32&r=edu |