|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2016‒07‒30
forty-two papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Gangadhar Dahal (University of Warsaw) |
| Abstract: | The modern world is more competitive and complex one in terms of getting a quality education and forwarding the countries into the development path. This research contends that system-wide excellence in student learning should be attainable with reasonable cost, using education policies differing from conventional market-oriented reform strategies predominant in many other countries. In this regards, Finland and Singapore are the examples of the best education model that have developed from an out-of-the-way agricultural and industrial state in the 1950s for Finland and 1960s for Singapore to the models knowledge economy, by means of education as the key to economic and social change and development. Believing on data from international student assessments and earlier policy analysis, this article describes how balanced improvement in student learning has been attained through Finnish and Singaporean education policies based on equity, flexibility, creativity, innovative, teacher professionalism, effective policy making from the government side and the most importantly trustworthy. Contrasting to many other education systems, significant accountability conveyed by high-stakes testing and externally determined learning standards has not been part of Finnish and Singaporean education policies. The insight is that Finnish and Singaporean education policies intended to enhance student achievement have been built upon ideas of sustainable leadership that place strong importance on teaching and learning, smart accountability, encouraging schools to craft the best teaching and learning environments and bring into practice educational content that best helps to their students reach the apex goals of education. |
| Keywords: | Educational Policy, Finish education, Singaporean education system |
| JEL: | I21 I28 I25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:itepro:3906631&r=edu |
| By: | Catherine Dilnot (UCL Institute of Education and Oxford Brookes University) |
| Abstract: | While the proportions of young people in England progressing to university have increased considerably over the last fifty years, those from the least privileged backgrounds remain under-represented at highly selective universities. The biggest barrier to participation remains low attainment, but other factors may also be important. One postulated factor is the role of A-level subject choice, with the Russell Group of large, research intensive, highly selective universities seeking to address a lack of information held by students at age 16+ by publishing a list of subjects which it describes as facilitating of university entry. Their list covers a minority of the A-level subjects available to English students in 2014/15, and the extent to which the remaining subjects are facilitating or not of entry is unclear. In this work I develop a taxonomy of all 96 A-level subjects available in 2014/15, based on the published preferences of Russell Group universities, and go on to describe the differences in take-up of these subjects by gender and school type. Using recently linked National Pupil Database and Higher Education Statistics Agency data I then apply the taxonomy to three recent cohorts of university entrants, giving prima facie evidence of variations in proportions of subjects from different categories held by Russell Group and non-Russell Group entrants, and map these categories onto previous work on subject difficulty. The taxonomy provides a useful starting point for the analysis of the role of subject choice in university application, is informative in the context of current A-level reforms and draws attention to subjects taken by significant numbers of Russell Group students that are not available at many state schools and colleges. |
| Keywords: | A-level subject choice, Facilitating subjects, Access to Higher Education |
| JEL: | I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2016–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1512&r=edu |
| By: | Seah, Kelvin (National University of Singapore) |
| Abstract: | Using a dataset which allows students to be linked to their teachers, this paper examines how educators with an immigrant background affect the academic achievements of secondary school students in the United States. To account for the possibility that immigrant and native teachers may be assigned to different types of schools, and even within schools, to different types of students, two estimation strategies are employed. The first estimates the immigrant teacher impact by comparing the achievements of students with immigrant teachers to the achievements of observationally similar students with native teachers, within schools. The second compares the achievement of a student with an immigrant teacher in one subject to the achievement of the same student with a native teacher in another subject. The results suggest that, overall, immigrant teachers do not have a negative impact on the educational achievements of native students. Additional tests suggest that this non-adverse effect is due to the greater effectiveness of White immigrant teachers relative to native teachers. |
| Keywords: | education economics, immigrant teacher, academic achievement |
| JEL: | I21 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10032&r=edu |
| By: | Landaud, Fanny; Ly, Son-Thierry; Maurin, Eric |
| Abstract: | French students have to choose a major field of study at the end of their first year of high school. This is a very important decision as students have little leeway to change their field of study during the two last years of high school. Building on a RD design, this paper reveals that enrollment at a more selective high school, with higher-achieving peers, has no impact on boys' choices, but a very significant impact on girls' ones: they turn away from scientific fields and settle for less competitive and prestigious ones. Estimated effects are very large: an increase of about 10% of a SD in the ability level of high school peers induces a reduction of about 10 percentage points in the proportion of girls who choose to specialize in science. Effects are even larger for girls at the top of the ability distribution. |
| Keywords: | Gender gap in science; selective school |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11411&r=edu |
| By: | Julia Chabrier; Sarah Cohodes; Philip Oreopoulos |
| Abstract: | We take a closer look at what we can learn about charter schools by pooling data from lottery-based impact estimates of the effect of charter school attendance at 113 schools. On average, each year enrolled at one of these schools increases math scores by 0.08 standard deviations and English/language arts scores by 0.04 standard deviations. There is wide variation in impact estimates. To glean what drives this variation, we link these effects to school practices, inputs, and characteristics of fallback schools. In line with the earlier literature, we find that schools that adopt an intensive “No Excuses” attitude towards students are correlated with large gains in academic performance, with traditional inputs like class size playing no role in explaining charter school effects. However, we highlight that “No Excuses” schools are also located among the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in the country. After accounting for performance levels at fallback schools, the relationship between the remaining variation in school performance and the entire “No Excuses” package of practices weakens. “No Excuses” schools are effective at raising performance in neighborhoods with very poor performing schools, but the available data have less to say on whether the “No Excuses” approach could help in nonurban settings or whether other practices would similarly raise achievement in areas with low-performing schools. We find that intensive tutoring is the only “No Excuses” characteristic that remains significant (even for nonurban schools) once the performance levels of fallback schools are taken into account. |
| JEL: | I20 I24 I28 J18 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22390&r=edu |
| By: | Bilal Nasim (Institute of Education, University College London) |
| Abstract: | Between 1997 and 2008, approximately one million social housing dwellings in England were voluntarily transferred from local authority to housing association ownership. In exchange, housing associations were committed to managing, renewing and regenerating the stock of housing under their control. This paper is the first to investigate the impact of these large scale voluntary transfers (LSVTs) of social housing stock on the educational attainment of pupils. To address issues of endogeneity, I employ both a Difference-in-differences and a Difference-in-difference-in-differences approach. In London local authorities, LSVTs improved the average educational outcomes of pupils aged between 14 and 16 by approximately 1% and the outcomes of free school meal pupils aged between 14 and 16 by between 1% and 3.5%. The positive impact of LSVTs was smaller and less robust across Metropolitan local authorities, and there was no impact of LSVTs in Unitary local authorities. I find little or no improvement in the age 7 and 11 educational outcomes of pupils in local authorities which had conducted LSVTs. Overall, the results suggest that the LSVTs, and subsequent regeneration, of social housing stock improved the educational outcomes of pupils in London but not elsewhere. |
| Keywords: | Educational attainment; Social housing; Large Scale Voluntary Transfers |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1609&r=edu |
| By: | Enriqueta Camps; Stanley L. Engerman |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present results for educational achievement in the different economic regions of Latin America (Big countries: Mexico and Brazil; Southern Cone; Andean countries; Central America; and others) during the twentieth century. The variables we use to measure education are average years of education, literacy, average years in primary school, average years in secondary school, and average years in university. To attain a broader perspective on the relationship of education with human capital and with welfare and wellbeing we relate the educational measures to life expectancy and other human capital variables and GDP per capita. We then use regressions to examine the impact of race and ethnicity on education, and of education on economic growth and levels of GDP per capita. The most significant results we wish to emphasize are related to the importance of race and racial fractionalization in explaining regional differences in educational achievement. Southern Cone countries, with a higher density of white population, present the highest levels of education in average terms, while countries from Central America and Brazil, with a higher proportion of Indigenous Americans and/or blacks, have the lowest levels. In most countries the major improvements in educational achievement are: the expansion of primary education during the first half of the twentieth century, and the expansion of secondary education after 1950. In all cases, average years in university are low, despite improvements in university quality during the last decades of the century when professors exiled during dictatorships returned to their countries of origin. International comparisons (continental averages for years of education weighted by country population size) place twentieth-century Latin America in an intermediate position between the USA and Europe at the top, and countries from Asia and Africa at the bottom. |
| Keywords: | LA, regional educational achievement, welfare, race and ethnicity, economic growth. |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:914&r=edu |
| By: | Mohamed Arouri; Adel Ben-Youssef; Cuong Nguyen |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether there are racial and ethnic disparities in children.s education in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Viet Nam. We find that in all the four countries, and especially in Viet Nam, children from small ethnic groups have lower education attainment and cognitive ability. The gap in educational attainment and cognitive ability among ethnic children is larger than the gap in school enrolment, and the gap tends to be wider for older children. Using the OaxacaBlinder decomposition, we find that the main contribution to the gap in education between children from small ethnic groups and large ethnic groups in India, Peru, and Viet Nam is the difference in endowments (i.e. characteristics of children and their families) rather than in the coefficients of endowments. However, in Ethiopia, the difference in the coefficients contributes more than the difference in endowments to the gap in education. Child health, parental education, household expenditure, and an urban environment are important variables for explaining the gap in education between children from small and large ethnic groups. |
| Keywords: | children.s education, racial disparities, low-income countries, Ethiopia, India, Peru, Viet Nam |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2016-087&r=edu |
| By: | Deming, David James; Goldin, Claudia D.; Katz, Lawrence F.; Yuchtman, Noam |
| Abstract: | We examine whether online learning technologies have led to lower prices in higher education. Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, we show that online education is concentrated in large for-profit chains and less-selective public institutions. Colleges with a higher share of online students charge lower tuition prices. We present evidence that real and relative prices for full-time undergraduate online education declined from 2006 to 2013. Although the pattern of results suggests some hope that online technology can “bend the cost curve†in higher education, the impact of online learning on education quality remains uncertain. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hrv:faseco:27725247&r=edu |
| By: | Richard Murphy (University of Texas at Austin and Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics); Gill Wyness (UCL Institute of Education and Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Billions of pounds per year is spent on aid for poor students in HE systems around the world, yet there remains limited evidence on the causal effect of these payments, particularly on the intensive margin. This is an empirical challenge since student aid is correlated with characteristics which influence both college enrolment and achievement. We overcome these challenges by studying a unique form of non-linear means tested financial aid which is unadvertised, varies substantially across institutions, and is subject to shifts in generosity across cohorts. Using student-level administrative data collected from 10 English universities, we study the effects of aid receipt on college completion rates, annual course scores, and degree class, using fixed effects and instrumental variables methods. Our findings suggest that each £1,000 of financial aid awarded increases the chances of gaining a good degree by around 3 percentage points, driven by completion of the final year and course scores. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, Financial Aid, Degree Completion |
| JEL: | I22 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2015–12–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1510&r=edu |
| By: | Claire Tyler (Institute of Education, University College London) |
| Abstract: | Enabling fair access to professional careers is an important strand of UK social mobility policy, however many high status employers demand a wide range of 'soft skills' in addition to strong cognitive skills to identify the best talent which can disadvantage individuals from less privileged backgrounds. This paper uses BCS data to estimate and decompose the intergenerational persistence in top job status to assess the contribution of four potential transmission mechanisms for this advantage: non-cognitive skills, cognitive skills, job aspirations and educational attainment. The results reveal that individuals with parents employed in a top job are 22.8 percentage points more likely to access a top job in adulthood than individuals with parents who are employed in a non top job. Childhood cognitive skills and later educational attainment are found to be particularly important contributors to this transmission of advantage, with childhood non cognitive skills also making a substantial contribution. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Occupational Mobility, Non cognitive Skills, Cognitive Skills, Professional Labour Markets |
| JEL: | J62 I24 J44 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1603&r=edu |
| By: | Steven C. BOURASSA (Florida Atlantic University); Donald R. HAURIN (Ohio State University); Martin HOESLI (University of Geneva and Swiss Finance Institute) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of housing conditions on the educational outcomes of young persons in Switzerland. We focus on children ages 15 to 19, who are potentially enrolled in or graduates of high school or vocational training programs, and young adults ages 20 to 24, who are potentially students in or graduates of university or other tertiary institutions. Housing conditions are characterized in three ways: whether the parents rent or own the dwelling, the type of dwelling (house or apartment), and a measure of crowding (occupants per room). We find that the density of residents in the dwelling is the only influential housing characteristic. Crowding directly affects the outcomes of children ages 15 to 19 and presumably indirectly affects the outcomes of young adults given that admission to university study requires completion of high school. None of the other housing characteristics affects children’s outcomes. In particular, homeownership is not statistically significant in any of our estimations. |
| Keywords: | child outcomes, crowding, homeownership, educational attainment |
| JEL: | R31 I31 I24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1542&r=edu |
| By: | Stephen S, Nevil |
| Abstract: | Democratization of higher education with its significant constituents such as productivity, performance and control, impelled in the 1990s in India with its tripartite pillars- expansion, equity and excellence in fact brought forth a paradigmatic shift from thin elite to mass higher education. In terms of quantity India has obviously made appreciable growth; but it is equally if not more fundamental to assess the quality and not quantity of Indian higher education system as it is a potential tool instrumental in building knowledge-based society in the 21st century. Hence this paper succinctly attempts to deliberate on the issue of “quality” in Indian Higher Education system as countries across geopolitical borders vie one another to excel in an age marked by unprecedented pace of change and development. |
| Keywords: | Higher education, quality assurance, quantity |
| JEL: | I0 I2 I20 I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2015–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72658&r=edu |
| By: | Ömer Beyhan (NE Üniversity); Bülent Dilmaç (Ahmet KeleÅŸoğlu Eğitim Fakültesi) |
| Abstract: | Grit overlaps with achievement aspects of conscientiousness but differs in its emphasis on long-term stamina rather than short-term intensity. Grit also differs from need for achievement, described by McClelland(1961) as a drive to complete manageable goals that allow for immediate feedback on performance. The aim of this study is to determine the grit levels of teacher training program students in terms of different variables like candidates sex and their ages. In this study, to determine the grit levels of teacher training program students in terms of different variables are used for descriptive purposes screening model. With In the scope of this study three dimensions are discussed: grit levels of teacher training program students, are there significant differences in the grit mean scores according to gender and ages. This study was conducted with 407 students in teacher training program of Education Faculty at Necmettin Erbakan University in 2015-2016 spring semester. As data collection tool the Grit-S scale developed by Duckworth and Quinn (2009) and adapted to Turkish version by Sarıçam & others (2015) has been used. For the purpose of research, data analysis, statistical techniques; frequency, percentage, average, standard deviation and U-test was used. Datum have been calculatede in the program SPSS 20. As conclusion, teacher training program students grit arithmetic average points at the middle level; girls' and older age group’ averages points relative higher than other groups average points. |
| Keywords: | achievement, success, personality, grit, performance |
| JEL: | I23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:itepro:3906176&r=edu |
| By: | Gangadhar Dahal (University of Warsaw) |
| Abstract: | Among a few crucial factors education is the most influential factor for the economic growth and socioeconomic development of a country. Basically, the short-run policy of education tries to address the short-term social and economic goals of the country through awareness programs on safety, health, environment etc. but in the long run, it is directly related to the Human resource development(HRD) and socio-economic development of a country. This research paper tries to focus on the instrumental role of education in human capital development and economic growth. In fact, most of the in developing countries like Nepal are facing the problems with the educational system, education attainment, and research and innovation. In a meaningful way, it is also pronounced as the human capital development policy. Economist Theodore Schultz invented the term in the 1960s to indicates the value of human capabilities. He believed human capital is like any other type of capital that can be invested in education and training to enhance the benefits for an improvement in the quality life and Socio-economic development. This research tries to dig out development strategies by using time series data of investment in all level of education, general enrolment ratio in various level of education, labor force participation and combined impact in GDP with the help of OLS method. The result shows that investment in education, training, and vocational education have the positive and significant role in economic growth and socio-economic development of Nepal and other developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Education policy, socioeconomic development, OLS method |
| JEL: | I28 I25 C82 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:itepro:3906633&r=edu |
| By: | Sean O'Connell (Nanzan University); Tony Cripps (Nanzan University) |
| Abstract: | This paper elucidates the on-going efforts being made at a Japanese university to develop an intercultural-learning based curriculum through work-experience projects. The main goal of the current project is to provide students with the opportunities to be able to utilize knowledge in a practical sense, such as through work-experience projects at foreign affiliate companies in Japan. Following a brief overview of the current project design and development, this paper discusses the progress achieved thus far second year of its trial implementation. Feedback gained through questionnaires, reflection papers and follow-up interviews of the participating students and companies in the first year (2015) will be discussed in an effort to provide one reference for global-skills focused curriculum development. |
| Keywords: | Intercultural-learning, Curriculum development, Global-skills |
| JEL: | I21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:itepro:3906431&r=edu |
| By: | Maria De Paola; Francesca Gioia; Vincenzo Scoppa (Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | We ran 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 that was partly evaluated on the basis of 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: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201607&r=edu |
| By: | Dave Thomson (Education Datalab, FFT) |
| Abstract: | Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was a £55 billion, 15 year programme to rebuild or renovate all secondary schools in England that was cancelled after 6 years. By comparing pupil attainment at schools whose projects were completed to pupil attainment at schools whose projects were cancelled, the effects of new school buildings on pupil attainment are estimated. A number of different estimation methods are used, including linear regression, conditional difference-in-differences (with and without propensity score matching), and 'within-between' random-effects regression. Results from the various models are broadly similar and show that new school buildings have no effect on pupil attainment, at least in the short-term. Given that the stated aim of BSF was educational transformation, such outcomes represent poor value for money in the short term. |
| Keywords: | School buildings; Pupil attainment; Building schools for the future programme |
| JEL: | I28 |
| Date: | 2016–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1607&r=edu |
| By: | Sharaf N. Rehman (Department of Communication, University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley); Joanna Dzionek-Kozlowska (Institute of Economics, Department of History of Economic Thought and Economic History, University of Lodz) |
| Abstract: | Over the last century, the social function and the role of the universities and other higher education institutions (HEI) changed significantly. What the contemporary students expect to gain due to their university education is neither enlightenment nor insight, but rather skills and practical knowledge needed to successfully find and retain a job. In turn, the modern HEI ceased to be the entities isolated from their surroundings but became the institutions intertwined into community life. Hence, our purpose is to redefine the role of the universities in their communities with the emphasis put on the relationship between the HEI and the communities’ economic performance. The general discussion on the transition in academy’s place in the society is presented in the first section of the article, whereas its second part provides an overview of the potential contributions to the reciprocal development made by the universities and communities. Against such a background two illustrative examples are analyzed, i.e. Lodz, Poland and Brownsville, Texas. Both the theoretical inquiries and these examples’ analysis confirm that the relationship between the development of the universities and economic performance is bi-directional: on the one hand, the investments in HEI trigger stimuli towards economic growth, and on the other, the economic prosperity of the city commonly results in invigorating the scientific research. The article concludes that despite the fact the interrelatedness between universities and local communities’ economic performance is too complex to be boiled down to any simple rule, the communities’ investments in HEI may sow seeds of future economic growth and provide a safety net protecting the economy in times of stagnations or slumps. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, Economic Performance, Lodz, Brownsville, Social Role of the Universities |
| JEL: | I23 I25 N92 N93 N94 O33 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ann:wpaper:3/2016&r=edu |
| By: | Dongwoo Kim (University of Missouri); Cory Koedel (University of Missouri); Shawn Ni (University of Missouri); Michael Podgursky (University of Missouri); Weiwei Wu (University of Missouri) |
| Abstract: | A vast research literature is devoted to analyzing causes of and potential remedies for early-career teacher attrition. However, much less attention has been paid to late-career attrition among experienced teachers, which is driven primarily by retirement plan incentives. Although there is some variation across states, it is generally the case that late-career teachers retire at much younger ages than their professional counterparts. Moreover, given the well-documented returns to teaching experience, late-career exits are on average more costly to students in K-12 schools than early-career exits. This study uses structural estimates from a dynamic retirement model to simulate the effect of targeted retention bonuses for senior teachers rated as effective or teaching in high-need fields. While the cost per incremental year of instruction is expensive in the short run, it declines over time. Moreover, because labor supply decisions are forward-looking, a temporary bonus has much smaller effects than a permanent one. These findings highlight the value of stability in policies aimed at extending teachers’ careers. Overall our results suggest that carefully-targeted retention bonuses can be useful tool in raising the quality of the teaching workforce and closing achievement gaps. |
| Keywords: | public pensions, retirement, worker retention, teacher retention |
| JEL: | H5 J2 J3 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:1608&r=edu |
| By: | Ramaele Moshoeshoe |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of birth order on educational attainment and child labour in Lesotho. Using family fixed effects models, I find robust negative birth order effects on educational attainment and child labour. The birth order effects on educational attainment are in sharp contrast with the evidence from many other developing countries such as Ecuador and Kenya, but are consistent with the evidence from developed countries. I further find that these birth order effects are pronounced in large families, and families with first-born girls, which suggests presence of girls' education bias. Turning to potential pathways of these effects, I find that they are not propagated through family wealth, but mainly through birth-spacing. These results are robust to different sample restrictions. |
| Keywords: | Educational attainment, Child labour, Birth Order |
| JEL: | D13 I21 J1 O12 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:621&r=edu |
| By: | Dana Rotz; Brian Goesling; Molly Crofton; Christopher Trenholm; Jennifer Manlove; Kate Welti |
| Abstract: | Teen PEP, an in-school, peer-to-peer sexual health promotion program that combines peer-led interactive workshops and peer-driven school-wide initiatives in an effort to reduce sexual risk behaviors and associated outcomes among high school students. |
| Keywords: | Sex education, adolescent health, peer-led, school-wide, teen pregnancy, unprotected sex, HIV, STIs, teens, contraceptives, abstinence |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:74b7aa859c364d8c920644a131a769f8&r=edu |
| By: | Lerche, Katharina |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effect of replacing traditional German five-year degrees with three-year bachelor programs on the duration until graduation and dropping out of university. Using an extensive dataset containing detailed administrative data on more than 9000 students, competing risks models are estimated. The results reveal that the Bologna process reduced the duration until graduation in absolute and relative terms, indicating that one of the reform´s main objectives was achieved. In addition, there is a favorable impact of being enrolled in a bachelor program on the probability of dropping out of university for students enrolled at the faculty of humanities. However, the results concerning university drop out are less conclusive for the other faculties. |
| Keywords: | tertiary education,Bologna process,bachelor,survival analysis,competing risks |
| JEL: | I21 I28 H75 J24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:287&r=edu |
| By: | Okan Eren |
| Abstract: | [TR] Bu calisma, universite mezunlari ile lise ve alti egitim duzeyine sahip olanlarin ortalama saatlik ucretleri arasindaki farki ifade eden universite egitim primini, 2004-2014 donemine ait TUIK HIA verilerini kullanarak incelemektedir. Ilgili donemde, egitim primi ozel sektor calisanlari icin ortalama 2,7 olurken kamu calisanlari icin ortalama 1,6 degerini almaktadir. Donem ici hareketi incelendiginde, egitim priminin ozel sektorde kademeli olarak azaldigi kamuda ise yukseldigi gorulmektedir. [EN] This note investigates the college education premium, which reflects the difference between the average hourly wages of university graduates and those with a high school degree or less, by employing 11 waves of the Household Labor Force Survey published by Turkish Statistical Institute between 2004 and 2014. In this period, the average education premium is found to be 2.7 and 1.6 in the private and public sectors, respectively. Throughout the period, the university education premium is observed to fall gradually in the private sector while increasing in the public sector. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:econot:1607&r=edu |
| By: | Andrea Cegolon (UCL Institute of Education) |
| Abstract: | Lifelong learning over the life course is becoming important in order to compete in a knowledge-based global economy. Adult education and Training (AET) are a possible strategy of adjusting the skills of the adult population to the needs of either the changing occupational structure and aging societies. Nevertheless, despite the importance of AET, empirical evidence on the topic is still scarce, particularly as regards the cross-national comparative research. In this sense, this paper aims to contribute to this field of studies by gaining a better understanding of how AET can influence the level of skills in individuals. In view of this, I use data from Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to investigate four different countries - Italy, France, UK and Sweden - the influence of individual characteristics on participation in formal and non-formal AET on one side and, on the other, the effect of both different types of AET on the skills (literacy and numeracy) of adult individuals. The results from the four countries show that participation in both types of AET, on average, increases skills levels. I also found that, for both literacy and numeracy, on average the formal AET has a smaller impact on skills compared to non-formal AET. Another important finding is how the effect of learning activities varies across skills distribution: both of them take different trajectories in each of the countries selected. In conservative and southern countries, such as Italy and France, the effect of AET tend to be a bit unequal, being more efficient for groups of people at the top of the skill distributions, whereas, in Nordic and liberal countries, such as Sweden and the UK, the differences are less marked across all distributions, suggesting a fairer effect of both types of AET. |
| Keywords: | Adult Education and Training, Skills, Economics of Education, Cross-National Comparisons, PIAAC |
| JEL: | I26 |
| Date: | 2016–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1511&r=edu |
| By: | Ayse Eliusuk (Konya Necmettin Erbakan University Education Faculty) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of the present research is determining the relationships between well-being, patience, self - compassion, and five factor personality traits among pre-service teachers, and finding out whether their patience, self - compassion, and five factor personality trait scores predict their well-being scores. Participants of research were university students from Konya Necmettin Erbakan University chosen by random cluster sampling method. Participants were made up of the total of 225 students, 153 of which were female and 72 were male. In order to determine the well-being scores of students, PERMA well-being scale (Kern, 2015), for Self compassion Scale (Deniz Kesici & Sümer, 2008) and for personality scores Five Factor Personality scale (Bacanli, İlhan & Arslan, 2009) were employed. The significance of differentiation between the mean score of the Well-Being and gender, age was tested with t-test. Pearson Moments Multiplier Correlation Coefficient was used to determine of relationship among well-being, patience, self compassion and five factor personality traits significantly predict patience. According to the findings of the present research; there were significant and positive correlations between all dimensions of PERMA well-Being and patience; self- compassion in addition to self compassion, patience and PERMA well-being was seen that self compassion and patience significantly predicts well-being. There were significant and positive correlations between all dimensions of PERMA Well- being and patience, self-compassion. There was a significant negative correlation between the students’ patience scores and neuroticism dimension of five factor personality traits, where as, there were significant positive relations between extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness and conscientiousness dimensions. |
| Keywords: | Well-being, self-compassion, patience, the measurement of well-being, reliability and validity. |
| JEL: | I30 I30 I30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:itepro:3906545&r=edu |
| By: | Huzeyfe Torun |
| Abstract: | The 1997 reform in Turkey which extended compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years provides an opportunity to estimate the returns to schooling in a middle-income country. The availability of a rich set of early labor market variables also provides an opportunity to assess mechanisms through which returns to schooling occur. I find quite small effects of compulsory schooling on earnings of men but large positive effects on earnings of women who work, without raising their overall low rate of labor force participation. In terms of mechanisms, I find that women who worked moved into higher skill and formal sector jobs, which involved more complicated tasks on average. I propose that differential marginal costs of schooling explain the low average schooling level among women before the reform and the very different outcomes of the reform for men and women. |
| Keywords: | Returns to education, Compulsory schooling, Occupational choice |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:wpaper:1534&r=edu |
| By: | Hoffmann, Anna-Lena; Lerche, Katharina |
| Abstract: | Using survey data collected at Göttingen University, Germany, this paper evaluates the effect of attending the lecture and/or tutorial on the grade achieved in two basic courses in business administration and economics. The analysis shows that going to class has no significant impact on student performance in most specifications. Although the identification of a causal effect may not be possible with the data at hand, the results suggest that, in the given framework, attending class and studying on one´s own may be substitutes. |
| Keywords: | class attendance,economic education,tertiary education,university performance |
| JEL: | A22 H00 I21 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:286&r=edu |
| By: | Cristina Giorgiantonio (Bank of Italy); Tommaso Orlando (Bank of Italy); Giuliana Palumbo (Bank of Italy); Lucia Rizzica (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | The effectiveness of the Public administration depends on its ability to attract and select skilled individuals and encourage them to exert effort. Recruitment and career policies affect the composition of the pool of applicants who take part in the selection procedures. The process by which these are managed determines who, among the self-selected candidates, accesses public employment and, consequently, the distribution of individual characteristics across the public workforce. Such distribution, in turn, sets the environment in which incentive schemes are designed. This work provides an overview of the interactions among these dimensions and studies some critical aspects of the Italian context: the decreased selectivity and increased instability in recruitment, pay and career policies that insufficiently compensate education and skills, rigid selection procedures slanted towards generalist knowledge, the uniform application of incentive schemes to the entire Public administration without structural rearrangements. Furthermore, this work provides a critical comparison between these considerations and the direction taken by the recent reforms of public employment. |
| Keywords: | public sector labor markets, incentives, sorting |
| JEL: | J45 K31 M5 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_342_16&r=edu |
| By: | James J. Heckman (The University of Chicago); John Eric Humphries (University of Chicago, Department of Economics); Gregory Veramendi (W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates returns to education using a dynamic model of educational choice that synthesizes approaches in the structural dynamic discrete choice literature with approaches used in the reduced form treatment effect literature. It is an empirically robust middle ground between the two approaches which estimates economically interpretable and policy-relevant dynamic treatment effects that account for heterogeneity in cognitive and non-cognitive skills and the continuation values of educational choices. Graduating college is not a wise choice for all. Ability bias is a major component of observed educational differentials. For some, there are substantial causal effects of education at all stages of schooling. |
| Keywords: | education, Earnings, Health, rates of return, causal effects of education, cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills |
| JEL: | C32 C38 I12 I14 I21 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2016-014&r=edu |
| By: | Philip M. Gleason |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes research on charter school impacts on achievement, and examines which factors and policies are most strongly associated with successful charter schools. |
| Keywords: | charter school policies, charter school impacts, literature review |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:eea6e24d9bf1409f92f60ae29cab5892&r=edu |
| By: | Richard Blundell (Institute for Fiscal Studies and IFS and UCL); David Green (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University of British Colombia); Wenchao (Michelle) Jin (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | Since the early-1990s the UK experienced an unprecedented increase in university graduates. The proportion of people with a university degree by age 30 more than doubled from 16% for born in 1965-69 to 33% for those born ten years later. At the same time the age profile of the graduate premium remained largely unchanged across cohorts. This paper first establishes the facts using a detailed analysis of micro-data on wage and employment patterns over the last two decades, benchmarked against the US economy. We then show that the stability of the age profile in the premium across different birth cohorts is unlikely to be explained by either composition changes or selection on unobservables. We also argue that it is inconsistent with skill-biased technical change affecting all advanced economies in the same way. We further rule out explanations based on factor price equalisation. Our resolution of the puzzle is a model in which increases in level of education induce firms to transit toward a decentralised technology in which decision-making is spread more widely through the workforce. We provide empirical support for this view. |
| Keywords: | Wage premium, education differential, skill biased technical change, general purpose technology. |
| Date: | 2016–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:16/01&r=edu |
| By: | Serneels,Pieter Maria; Beegle,Kathleen G.; Dillon,Andrew S. |
| Abstract: | Returns to education remain an important parameter of interest in economic analysis. A large literature estimates returns to education in the labor market, often carefully addressing issues such as selection, into wage employment and in terms of completed schooling. There has been much less exploration of whether estimated returns are robust to survey design. Specifically, do returns to education differ depending on how information about wage work is collected? Using a survey experiment in Tanzania, this paper investigates whether survey methods matter for estimating mincerian returns to education. The results show that estimated returns vary by questionnaire design, but not by whether the information on employment and wages is self-reported or collected by a proxy respondent (another household member). The differences due to questionnaire type are substantial varying from 6 percentage points higher returns to education for the highest educated men, to 14 percentage points higher for the least educated women, after allowing for non-linearity and endogeneity in the estimation of these parameters. These differences are of similar magnitudes as the bias in OLS estimation, which receives considerable attention in the literature. The findings underline that survey design matters for the estimation of structural parameters, and that care is needed when comparing across contexts and over time, in particular when data is generated by different surveys. |
| Date: | 2016–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7747&r=edu |
| By: | Francesco Cinnirella; Erik Hornung |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between the concentration of large landownership and the expansion of mass education in nineteenth-century Prussia. Cross-sectional estimates show a negative association of landownership concentration with enrollment rates. Panel estimates with county-ï¬ xed effects indicate that regions with an initially stronger concentration of large landownership exhibit increasing enrollment over time. These results are consistent with the erosion of large landowners’ feudal power due to agricultural reforms and the resulting emancipation of the peasantry which occurred throughout the nineteenth century. We present evidence consistent with the hypothesis that emancipation from labor coercion increased the private demand for education. |
| Keywords: | Land concentration, Education, Serfdom, Peasants' emancipation, Prussian economic history |
| JEL: | O43 Q15 I25 N33 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpi:wpaper:tax-mpg-rps-2015-02&r=edu |
| By: | Serife Genc Ileri |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a quantitative general equilibrium model to analyze the impacts of selective immigration policy targeting skilled immigrants on the college attainment rate, earnings inequality and welfare of natives. 1981-2008 period is analyzed in Canada, which is a country with a unique immigration policy explicitly targeting highly educated individuals. The results from the quantitative analysis reveal that the increase in the share of highly skilled immigrants generates a 7 percentage points lower college attainment rate among natives. The size and compositional changes in the immigrant population together lead to a 2.15 percentage points higher growth rate of college premium during this period. This increase is mainly driven by the rise in the relative size of the foreign-born labor force. An analysis of the long-run compensating differentials reveals that immigration generates a loss that corresponds to 3.59 to 4.45 percent permanent reduction in the consumption of natives. The increase in the relative share of immigrants is the main reason for this welfare loss. On the other hand, the compositional change towards college graduates benefits natives at the bottom and middle of the ability distribution. |
| Keywords: | International Migration, Aggregate Factor Income Distribution, Human capital, Wage differentials by Skill |
| JEL: | F22 E25 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:wpaper:1529&r=edu |
| By: | Morissette, Rene; Ci, Wen; Frenette, Marc |
| Abstract: | Every year, thousands of workers lose their job in many industrialized countries (OECD 2013). Faced with job loss, displaced workers may choose to return to school to help them reintegrate into the labour force. Job losses in a given local labour market may also induce workers who have not yet been laid off to pre-emptively enrol in postsecondary (PS) institutions, as a precautionary measure. Combining microdata and grouped data, this study examines these two dimensions of the relationship between layoffs and PS enrolment over the 2001-to-2011 period. |
| Keywords: | Adult education and training, Education, training and learning, Employment and unemployment, Labour, Labour mobility, turnover and work absences |
| Date: | 2016–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2016380e&r=edu |
| By: | Margaret Burchinal; Sandra L. Soliday Hong; Terri J. Sabol; Nina Forestieri; Ellen Peisner-Feinberg; Louisa Tarullo; Martha Zaslow |
| Abstract: | The results of this secondary data analysis simulating a QRIS validation using six large early care and education datasets demonstrate several issues that should be considered when constructing, validating, and making changes to existing quality ratings. |
| Keywords: | QRIS, Quality rating and improvement systems, secondary data analyses, psychometric properties, scale development, early childhood |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:335e1044348943d09ad2b17e2c61fbf2&r=edu |
| By: | Stefanie Fischer (Department of Economics, California Polytechnic State University); Daniel Argyle (FiscalNote) |
| Abstract: | Little is known regarding the extent to which school changes youth criminal behavior in the short-term, if at all, and even less in known on this issue in rural areas. We leverage a unique policy, the adoption of the four-day school week across rural counties and years in Colorado, a school schedule that is becoming more common nationwide especially in rural areas, to examine the causal link between school and youth crime. Those affected by the policy spend the same number of hours in school each week as students on a typical fiveday week, however treated students have Friday off. This policy allows us to learn about two aspects of the school-crime relationship that have previously been unstudied; one, the effects of a more frequent and long lasting schedule change on short-term crime, and two, the impact that school has on youth crime in rural areas. Our difference-in-difference estimates indicate that switching all students in a county from a five-day week to a four-day week increases juvenile arrests for property crimes, in particular larceny, by about 73%. We show that larceny and property crimes increase on all days of the week and are not driven by crime shifting from one day to another, i.e. Wednesday to Friday. |
| Keywords: | Crime, Inequality, Rural Public Policy, Education Policy |
| JEL: | R1 H7 I0 I2 H4 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpl:wpaper:1606&r=edu |
| By: | Irene Mosca (TILDA, Trinity College Dublin); Robert E Wright (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | Previous research suggests that taller individuals have greater cognitive ability. The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate whether the relationship between height and cognition holds in later-life using data from the first wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Seven novel measures of cognition are used. These measures capture important aspects of cognition which are more likely to decline in old age, such as cognitive flexibility, processing speed, concentration and attention. It is found that height is positively and significantly associated with cognition in later-life also when education and early-life indicators are controlled for. The finding that adult height is a marker for nutrition and health environment experienced in early-life is widely accepted in the literature. The findings of this paper suggest that height might have a greater value added, as it appears to be a useful measure of unobserved childhood experiences. |
| Keywords: | cognition, height, ageing, early-life |
| JEL: | I1 J0 J1 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1611&r=edu |
| By: | Yoshimichi Murakami (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan); Tomokazu Nomura (Faculty of Economics, Aichi Gakuin University, Japan) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze the determinants of wage equalization in Chile during the commodity boom from 1996 to 2006. Most Latin American countries, including Chile, reported both high economic growth and lowered wage inequality during the commodity boom. Thus, a detailed analysis regarding the determinants of the wage equalization is necessary. We analyze the dominant factors that contributed to the changes in workers' wages at different points of the wage distribution. For this purpose, we take advantage of a methodology recently developed by Firpo, Fortin, and Lemieux (2009), and apply the standard Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition approach to the quantile regression technique. Our study finds three main channels for the wage equalization witnessed from 1996 to 2006: (1) the decreasing share of workers with primary education as well as the increase in their relative wages across the whole wage distribution, (2) the decreasing returns to higher education, especially the university level, at the top of the wage distribution, and (3) the increasing industry wage premiums of primary commodity sectors such as agriculture and forestry at the bottom of the wage distribution. Therefore, the wage equalization in Chile during the said period can be explained by the Stolper–Samuelson effect and the increasing relative supply of higher educated workers, both of which dominate the possible upward pressure on the wages of higher-educated workers, derived from skill-biased technological changes (SBTCs). The findings are quite different from those of previous studies that analyzed the case of Chile during the period prior to the commodity boom and found that the increase in the wage inequality can be explained by SBTCs. Therefore, using the above-mentioned methodology, our study provides new evidence regarding the distributional impacts of globalization in an emerging country. |
| Keywords: | Chile, Commodity boom, Decomposition approach, Skill-biased technological changes, Stolper–Samuelson effect |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2016-24&r=edu |
| By: | Pasqualino Montanaro (Bank of Italy); Angela Romagnoli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | PISA 2012 is the first large-scale international survey that has ever assessed the financial literacy (FL) of 15-year-olds. For Italy, the picture that emerges is negative, with average FL scores that are about 7 per cent lower than the OECD average. After controlling for a number of factors usually used to explain the students’ performance – such as gender, immigration status, school type and socio-economic status – Italy’s gap remains wide. The FL score is positively correlated with math and reading as well. However, the relationship between FL and basic skills is weaker in Italy than elsewhere, and it declines more markedly moving from low- to high-performers. For Italians, the direct impact on FL of a family’s socio-economic and cultural conditions is also weaker. Indeed, a significant proportion (about 40 per cent) of Italy’s gap is attributable to students who, despite coming from relatively affluent families, are characterized by moderate FL levels. Based on students’ responses, this gap may also be traced back to a lack of involvement of Italian students in money and financial matters. |
| Keywords: | PISA, school, surveys of students’ proficiency, financial literacy JEL Classification: I20, I21, I22 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_335_16&r=edu |
| By: | Lilia Mukhlynina (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance); Kjell G. Nyborg (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Swiss Finance Institute) |
| Abstract: | We use a survey approach to learn about valuation professionals’ choices and implementations of valuation techniques in practice. The survey design allows us to control for a respondent’s professional subgroup (e.g., consulting), education, experience, and valuation purpose characteristics. We find support for the “sociological hypothesis†that profession matters more than education; different professions have different valuation cultures. Other factors are less important. There are also many commonalities across respondents. Most use both multiples and DCF, but implement DCF in a way that almost turns it into a multiples exercise. Confusion reigns with respect to interest tax shields and the WACC. Higher educational levels do not reduce the confusion. Our overall findings matter because valuation professionals function as intermediaries in the capital allocation process. The relative unimportance of education raises questions about the role and benefit of higher level finance education. |
| Keywords: | Valuation, Valuation Cultures, Sociological Hypothesis, Multiples, DCF, Finance Education |
| JEL: | G31 G32 G24 G02 A11 A14 A20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1636&r=edu |