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on Education |
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Issue of 2016‒08‒07
nineteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Budría, Santiago (Universidad Pontificia Comillas); Swedberg, Pablo (St. Louis University); Fonseca, Marlene |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the impact of educational attainment on immigrant earnings in Spain using a Quantile Regression approach. Most of the previous research on the impact schooling on earnings has focused on the mean effect neglecting the discrepancies that arise from unobserved heterogeneity. This paper uses the Spanish National Immigrant Survey (NIS), a large-scale immigration survey published by the Spanish National Statistics Institute in 2008. We find that the return to higher education is on average roughly 17%. Interestingly, the impact is twice as strong (20.7%) for immigrants at the top two quintile(s) of the conditional earnings distribution than for those at the bottom of the distribution (10%). This result suggests that the benefits derived from higher education are particularly relevant for individuals with stronger unobserved abilities and marketable skills. By contrast, individuals in the middle and particularly lower quintiles fail to reap a significant return. The large degree of heterogeneity for the returns to schooling found in our research suggests that higher education may be less effective among specific population groups. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, quantile regression, wage inequality |
| JEL: | C29 D31 I21 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10064&r=edu |
| By: | Rajeev Darolia (University of Missouri); Cory Koedel (University of Missouri) |
| Abstract: | We use statewide administrative data from Missouri to examine the role of high schools in explaining students’ initial college and major placements at 4-year public universities. Conditional on a student’s own academic preparation, the high school attended predicts the rigor of the initial university, and within the university, the rigor of the initial major. We identify a relatively sparse set of school characteristics – and characteristics of schools’ local communities – that account for much of the explanatory power of high schools. Complementing previous studies, we show that students from low-SES high schools enroll in less rigorous universities than their similarly-qualified peers from high-SES high schools. Students from low-SES schools also enroll in less rigorous majors within universities. Black-white gaps in the rigor of the initial college and major can be explained entirely by students’ own pre-entry academic preparation and a small number of high school and neighborhood characteristics. |
| Keywords: | college sorting, major sorting, university sorting, college major choice, STEM degrees |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:1609&r=edu |
| By: | Ost, Ben (University of Illinois at Chicago); Pan, Weixiang (University of Illinois at Chicago); Webber, Douglas A. (Temple University) |
| Abstract: | Analyzing how working students weather personal economic shocks is increasingly important as the fraction of college students working substantial hours has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Using administrative data on Ohio college students linked to matched firm-worker data on earnings, we examine how layoff affects the educational outcomes of working college students. Theoretically, layoff decreases the opportunity cost of college enrollment, but it could also make financing one's education more difficult, so the net effect is ambiguous. We find that layoff leads to a considerable reduction in the probability of employment while in school, but it has little impact on enrollment decisions at the extensive margin. On the intensive margin, we find that layoff leads to an increase in enrolled credits, consistent with the fact that the opportunity cost of college has decreased. |
| Keywords: | layoff, educational investment, working students |
| JEL: | I21 I23 J63 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10078&r=edu |
| By: | Mohamed Arouri (Centre Clermontois de Recherche en Gestion et Management (CRCGM)); Adel Ben Youssef (Université Côte d'Azur, France; GREDEG CNRS); Cuong Nguyen (National Economic University, Hanoi, Vietnam) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether there are racial and ethnic disparities in children's education in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. We find that in all four countries, and especially Vietnam, 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 Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we find that the main contribution to the gap in education between children from small ethnic groups and children from large ethnic groups in India, Peru and Vietnam is the difference in endowments (i.e., characteristics of children and their families) rather than a 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 |
| JEL: | J13 J15 I21 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2016-25&r=edu |
| By: | Gianni De Fraja; Giovanni Facchini; John Gathergood |
| Abstract: | Using individual level data on the salary of all UK university professors, matched to results on the performance of academic departments from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, we study the relationship between academic salaries and research performance. The UK higher education sector is particularly interesting because professorial salaries are unregulated and the outcome of the official research evaluation is a key financial concern of universities. To frame our analysis, we present a simple model of university pay determination, which shows that pay level and pay inequality in a department are positively related to performance. Our empirical results confirm these theoretical predictions; we also find that the pay-performance relationship is weaker for the more established and better paying universities. Our findings are also consistent with the idea that higher salaries have been used by departments to recruit academics more likely to improve their performance. |
| Keywords: | Higher education competition, research funding, university sector, salary in-equality |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notgep:16/13&r=edu |
| By: | Ilya Prakhov (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Maria Bocharova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the determinants of student mobility under the unified system of admission in Russia and evaluates the barriers which still limit educational mobility. It is argued that even under the Unified State Examination (USE) and the decreased transaction costs of applying to universities, student mobility is directed towards more developed regional educational markets and richer regions, but is still limited due to the financial constraints in the absence of the additional student support. Russia is a unique case, because it consists of regions with a high variation in socio-economic development and has local higher education markets with different levels of competition between universities. This study shows the importance of the institutional characteristics of regions in student mobility |
| Keywords: | educational mobility, student mobility, university choice, the Unified State Exam |
| JEL: | I21 I23 I24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:34edu2016&r=edu |
| By: | Chakraborty, Tanika (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur); Jayaraman, Rajshri (European School of Management and Technology (ESMT)) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of the world's largest school feeding program on children's learning outcomes. Staggered implementation across different states of a 2001 Indian Supreme Court Directive mandating the introduction of free school lunches in public primary schools generates plausibly exogenous variation in program exposure across different birth cohorts. We exploit this to estimate the effect of program exposure on math and reading test scores of primary school-aged children. We find that midday meals have a dramatic positive effect on learning achievement: children with up to 5 years of primary school exposure improve their test scores by approximately 10-20%. We further investigate various channels that may account for this improvement including enrollment and nutrition-learning effects, heterogeneous responses by socio-economic status, complementary schooling inputs, and intra-household redistribution. |
| Keywords: | school feeding, learning, midday meal, primary school education |
| JEL: | I21 I25 O12 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10086&r=edu |
| By: | Seah, Kelvin (National University of Singapore) |
| Abstract: | This study examines how exposure to immigrant students affects the academic achievement of native students in the three largest immigrant-receiving countries – United States, Australia, and Canada. Using a large cross-country dataset, variation in the share of immigrant children between different grade levels within schools is exploited to identify the impact of immigrant peers. I find that exposure to immigrant children has dissimilar effects on native students' achievements across the three countries. While exposure has a positive impact on Australian natives, it has a negative impact on Canadian natives. Exposure has no effect on U.S. natives. More importantly, I find that institutional factors, such as the way in which countries organise their educational systems, have a crucial bearing on how immigrant students affect their peers. |
| Keywords: | academic achievement, immigrant children, peer effects, within-school estimation |
| JEL: | I21 J15 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10065&r=edu |
| By: | Kyle Peyton (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Chris Ryan (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; ARC Centre for Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course); Justin van de Ven (ARC Centre for Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course) |
| Abstract: | This study looks at whether differences in student attitudes towards mathematics and science between Victorian students and those in selected other countries can explain differences in student achievement between them. We find that they cannot. In general, in the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data used here, Victorian school students have more positive attitudes towards mathematics and science than students in high achievement countries. These results also hold where we remove any language effects from the way people respond to attitudinal questions, or any cultural or social-desirability induced elements of the responses. Further, the most reliable estimates of the relationship between attitudes and achievement point to quite small effects, suggesting any increase in achievement associated with improved student attitudes could only be small. |
| Keywords: | International tests, achievement, student attitudes |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2016n22&r=edu |
| By: | Klyachko Tatiana (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | The following public’s common perception of higher education continues to be prevalent in Russia: the quality of higher education keeps deteriorating; higher education fails to meet the requirements of the labor market; higher education graduates do not work in jobs strictly or closely related to their degrees or major; there is an oversupply of students in the country; there is need to train specialists with secondary vocational education and blue collar workers that are in shortage. |
| Keywords: | Russian economy, higher education, vocational education, job skills |
| JEL: | I21 I23 I25 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:ppaper-2016-248&r=edu |
| By: | Del Bello, Carlo; Panebianco, Fabrizio; Verdier, Thierry; Zenou, Yves |
| Abstract: | We propose a model of the intergenerational transmission of education where children belong to either high-educated or low-educated families. Children choose the intensity of their social activities while parents decide how much educational effort to exert. We characterize the equilibrium and show under which condition cultural substitution or complementarity emerges. There is cultural substitution (complementarity) if parents decrease (increase) their education effort when their child socializes more with other children of the same type. By structurally estimating our model to the AddHealth data in the United States, we find that there is cultural complementarity for high-educated parents and cultural substitution for low-educated parents. This means that, for both parents, the more their children interact with kids from high-educated families, the more parents exert educational effort. We also perform some policy simulations. We find that policies aiming at mixing high and low educated children perform well in terms of average educational outcomes. We also show that a policy that gives vouchers to children from high-educated families have a positive and significant impact on the educational outcomes of all children while a policy that gives vouchers to children from low-educated families has a negative effect on the outcomes of both groups. |
| Keywords: | cultural transmission.; education; homophily; Social Networks |
| JEL: | D85 I21 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11419&r=edu |
| By: | Roy, Sutanuka (London School of Economics); Singh, Prakarsh (Amherst College) |
| Abstract: | Using a large-scale novel panel dataset (2005–14) on schools from the Indian state of Assam, we test for the impact of violent conflict on female students' enrollment rates. We find that a doubling of average killings in a district-year leads to a 13 per cent drop in girls' enrollment rate with school fixed effects. Additionally, results remain similar when using an alternative definition of conflict from a different dataset. Gender differential responses are more negative for lower grades, rural schools, poorer districts, and for schools run by local and private unaided bodies. |
| Keywords: | conflict, education, gender discrimination, human capital, India |
| JEL: | I2 J1 O1 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10092&r=edu |
| By: | Barbara Ermini (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali); Luca Papi (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali, MoFiR); Francesca Scaturro (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the determinants of over-education among Italian Ph.D graduates drawn from the four cohorts 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 surveyed by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). We attempt to disentangle the differentiated effects of the economic crisis and the university reform that recently hit the Italian labour market. We examine over-education through the definitions of over-skilling, over-qualification and a combination of the two. The results show that socio-demographic variables do not exert a relevant influence on over-education. Conversely, job attributes such as working in academia or carrying out R&D activities reduce the likelihood of incurring into over-education. Instead, accessing the job via informal channels or working as self-employed increase the risk of over-education, with a stronger effect during the recession. Among Ph.D related features, visiting abroad is always a driver to overcome any kind of job mismatch. Generally, benefiting from financial support is a propelling factor to reduce over-education; it is effective in reducing qualification mismatch especially during the downturn. In the light of the above findings, some policy advices are proposed. |
| Keywords: | over-education, over-skilling, over-qualification, Ph.D graduates, crisis |
| JEL: | C2 I2 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wmofir:126&r=edu |
| By: | Lin, Dajun (University of Virginia); Lutter, Randall (University of Virginia); Ruhm, Christopher J. (University of Virginia) |
| Abstract: | We use information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and supplementary data sources to examine how cognitive performance, measured at approximately the end of secondary schooling, is related to the labor market outcomes of 20 through 50 year olds. Our estimates control for a wide array of individual and family background characteristics, a limited set of non-cognitive attributes, survey year dummy variables and, sometimes, geographic place effects. The analysis reveals five main findings. First, cognitive performance is positively associated with future labor market outcomes at all ages. The relationship is attenuated but not eliminated by the addition of controls for non-cognitive characteristics, while the inclusion of place effects does not change the estimated associations. Second, the returns to cognitive skill increase with age. Third, the effect on total incomes reflects a combination of positive impacts of cognitive performance for both hourly wages and annual work hours. Fourth, the returns to cognitive skill are greater for women than men and for blacks and Hispanics than for non-Hispanic whites, with differential effects on work hours being more important than corresponding changes in hourly wages. Fifth, the average gains in lifetime incomes predicted to result from greater levels of cognitive performance are only slightly above those reported in prior studies but the effects are heterogeneous, with larger relative and absolute increases, in most models, for nonwhites or Hispanics than for non-Hispanic whites, and higher relative but not absolute returns for women than men. |
| Keywords: | cognitive performance, cognitive skill, labor market outcomes, labor income, earnings, work hours |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 J38 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10075&r=edu |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (South Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (South Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This publication is part of a series of six country reports on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Each report presents current arrangements and initiatives in the respective country’s skills development strategies. These are complemented by critical analyses to determine key issues, challenges, and opportunities for innovative strategies toward global competitiveness, increased productivity, and inclusive growth. The emphasis is to make skills training more relevant, efficient, and responsive to emerging domestic and international labor markets. The reports were finalized in 2013 under the Australian AID-supported Phase 1 of Subproject 11 (Innovative Strategies for Accelerated Human Resource Development) of Regional Technical Assistance 6337 (Development Partnership Program for South Asia). |
| Keywords: | Education, South Asia, TVET, higher education, global competitiveness, Human Resource Development, skills training |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146957&r=edu |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (South Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (South Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This publication is part of a series of six country reports on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and higher education in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Each report presents current arrangements and initiatives in the respective country’s skills development strategies. These are complemented by critical analyses to determine key issues, challenges, and opportunities for innovative strategies toward global competitiveness, increased productivity, and inclusive growth. The emphasis is to make skills training more relevant, efficient, and responsive to emerging domestic and international labor markets. The reports were finalized in 2013 under the Australian AID-supported Phase 1 of Subproject 11 (Innovative Strategies for Accelerated Human Resource Development) of Regional Technical Assistance 6337 (Development Partnership Program for South Asia). |
| Keywords: | Education, South Asia, TVET, higher education, global competitiveness, Human Resource Development, skills training |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146955&r=edu |
| By: | Veena Jha; Aneesh Jose |
| Abstract: | The word ‘Children’ seems to be equal to ‘joyful’. We bear in mind so many smiling faces of young beautiful kids. But the term street children give an opposite impression. A street child is a term for children experiencing homelessness who live on the streets of a city, town or village.Other words a street child is someone for whom the street has become his or her habitual abode and or source of livelihood, and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults. Homeless youth are often called street kids and street youth. Some street children, notably in more developed nations are part of a subcategory called thrown away children who are children that have been forced to leave home. Thrown away children are more likely to come from single-parent homes. Street children are often subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or in extreme cases, murder by clean-up squads that have been hired by local businesses or police. In western societies, such children are sometimes treated as homeless children rather than criminals or beggars. It is estimated that more than 400000 street children in India exist. Mainly because of family conflict, they come to live on the streets and take on the full responsibilities of caring for themselves, including working to provide for the protecting themselves. Boys and girls of all ages are found living and working in public spaces, and are visible in the great majority of the world’s urban centres. Though street children do sometimes band together for greater security, they are often exploited by employers and the police. Key words: Children, Education, Reforms |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2016-06-03&r=edu |
| By: | Ruiz-Castillo, Javier; Carrasco, Raquel; Albarrán, Pedro |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the average productivity of migrants (who work in a country different from their country of origin) and stayers (whose entire academic career takes place in their country of origin) in a set of 2,530 highly productive economists that work in 2007 in a selection of the top 81 Economics departments worldwide. The main findings are the following two. Firstly, productivity comparisons between migrants and stayers depend on the cohort and the type of department where individuals work in 2007. For example, in the top U.S. departments, foreigners are more productive than stayers only among older individuals; in the bottom U.S. departments, foreigners are more productive than stayers for both cohorts, while in the other countries with at least one department in the sample the productivity of foreigners and stayers is indistinguishable for both cohorts. Secondly, when we restrict our attention to an elite consisting of economists with above average productivity, all productivity differences between migrants and stayers in the U.S. vanish. These results are very robust. However, our ability to interpret these correlations is severely limited by the absence of information on the decision to migrate. |
| Date: | 2016–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:23424&r=edu |
| By: | James Uguccioni |
| Abstract: | We develop internationally comparable estimates of the Human Development Index (HDI) for the Canadian provinces and territories over the 2000-2014 period. The HDI is a composite index composed of three dimensions (life expectancy, education and income) measured by four indicators (life expectancy at birth, average years of education, expected years of schooling and GNI per capita). We first replicate the Canadian estimates from the most recent Human Development Report (HDR) using data from Statistics Canada. Next, we generate estimates for the provinces and territories following the same methodology and using the same Canadian data sources. We make these estimates internationally comparable by scaling each province or territory’s estimate to Canada’s in the most recent HDR. This allows the provinces and territories to be ranked in the most recent HDR international rankings for all four component variables as well as the overall HDI. The highest HDI score in 2014 among the provinces and territories belongs to Alberta, which would be fourth in the international rankings, while the lowest ranking region is Nunavut, which would be in 46th place. Overall, our report highlights the diverse human development experiences of Canadians that are concealed by Canada’s overall HDI. |
| Keywords: | Human Development Index, Economic Development, Well-Being, HDI, HDR, Canada, Provinces, Education, Income, Life Expectancy |
| JEL: | O18 O15 O51 O57 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sls:resrep:1614&r=edu |