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on Education |
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Issue of 2017‒05‒07
seventeen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Slonimczyk, Fabian (Higher School of Economics, Moscow); Francesconi, Marco (University of Essex); Yurko, Anna (Higher School of Economics, Moscow) |
| Abstract: | In 2009, Russia introduced a reform that changed the admissions process in all universities. Before 2009, admission decisions were based on institution-specific entry exams; the reform required universities to determine their decisions on the results of a national high-school test known as Unified State Exam (USE). One of the main goals of the reform was to make education in top colleges accessible to students from peripheral areas who typically did not enroll in university programs. Using panel data from 1994 to 2014, we evaluate the effect of the USE reform on student mobility. We find the reform led to a substantial increase in mobility rates among high school graduates from peripheral areas to start college by about 12 percentage points, a three-fold increase with respect to the pre-reform mobility rate. This was accompanied by a 40–50% increase in the likelihood of financial transfers from parents to children around the time of the move and a 70% increase in the share of educational expenditures in the last year of the child's high school. We find no effect on parental labor supply and divorce. |
| Keywords: | human capital, student migration, Russia, university admission |
| JEL: | J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10679&r=edu |
| By: | Chris Belfield (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies); Teodora Boneva (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Christopher Rauh (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Jonathan Shaw (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | We study students’ motives for educational attainment in a unique survey of 885 secondary school students in the UK. As expected, students who perceive the monetary returns to education to be higher are more likely to intend to continue in full-time education. However, the main driver is the perceived consumption value, which alone explains around half of the variation of the intention to pursue higher education. Moreover, the perceived consumption value can account for a substantial part of both the socio-economic gap and the gender gap in intentions to continue in full-time education. |
| Keywords: | education, perceived returns, consumption value of education, beliefs, higher education, UK, gender gap, income gradient |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J13 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2016–08–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:16/13&r=edu |
| By: | Chris Ryan (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | This study finds that approaching 10% of the variation in high school student achievement is explained by teacher effects in Australia. It uses data from the 2011 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) sample of Australian Year 8 students to estimate achievement in mathematics and science with student fixed effects, calculating teacher effects as part of this estimation. Like results in other studies, these teacher effects do not appear to be strongly related to observed teacher characteristics, despite attempts to account for the composition of the classes teachers face. Nor are the teacher effects related to self-assessments of how well prepared teachers view themselves as being able to teach the content of the TIMSS tests. |
| Keywords: | Teacher effects, teacher characteristics, class composition |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2017n11&r=edu |
| By: | Cellini, Stephanie (George Washington University); Darolia, Rajeev (University of Missouri–Columbia); Turner, Lesley (University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: | Recent federal investigations and new regulations have resulted in restrictions on for-profit institutions’ access to federal student aid. We examine the enrollment effects of similar restrictions imposed on over 1,200 for-profit colleges in the 1990s. Using variation in regulations linked to student loan default rates, we estimate the impact of the loss of federal aid on the enrollment of Pell Grant recipients in sanctioned institutions and their local competitors. Enrollment in a sanctioned for-profit college declines by 53 percent in the five years following a sanction. For-profit sanctions result in negative spillovers on unsanctioned competitor for-profit colleges in the same county, which experience modest enrollment declines. These enrollment losses in the for-profit sector are offset by gains in enrollment in local community colleges, suggesting that the loss of federal student aid for poor-performing for-profit colleges does not reduce overall college-going but instead shifts students across higher education sectors. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence that students induced to enroll in community colleges following a for-profit competitor’s sanction are less likely to default on their federal loans. |
| Keywords: | Financial aid; for-profit colleges; student loans; college choice |
| JEL: | H52 I22 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2017–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:17-12&r=edu |
| By: | Felipe Barrera-Osorio; Leigh L. Linden; Juan Saavedra |
| Abstract: | We show that three Colombian conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs for secondary schools improve educational outcomes eight and 12 years after random assignment relative to a control group. Forcing families to save a portion of the transfers until they make enrollment decisions for the next academic year increases on-time enrollment in secondary school, reduces dropout rates, and promotes tertiary enrollment and completion in the long-term. Traditionally structured bimonthly transfers improve on-time enrollment and high school exit exam completion rates in the medium term, but do not affect long-term tertiary outcomes. A delayed transfer that directly incentivizes tertiary enrollment promotes secondary school on-time enrollment and enrollment—only in lower-quality tertiary institutions—in the medium term but not the long term. |
| JEL: | C93 I21 I38 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23275&r=edu |
| By: | Rachel Baker; Eric Bettinger; Brian Jacob; Ioana Marinescu |
| Abstract: | An important goal of community colleges is to prepare students for the labor market. But are students aware of the labor market outcomes in different majors? And how much do students weigh labor market outcomes when choosing a major? In this study we find that less than 40% of a sample of community college students in California rank broad categories of majors accurately in terms of labor market outcomes. However, students believe that salaries are 13 percent higher than they actually are, on average, and students underestimate the probability of being employed by almost 25 percent. We find that the main determinants of major choice are beliefs about course enjoyment and grades, but expected labor market outcomes also matter. Experimental estimates of the impact of expected labor market outcomes are larger than OLS estimates and show that a 1% increase in salary is associated with a 1.4 to 1.8% increase in the probability of choosing a specific category of majors. |
| JEL: | I0 I21 I23 J01 J18 J30 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23333&r=edu |
| By: | Blunch, Niels-Hugo (Washington and Lee University) |
| Abstract: | I examine teenage pregnancy in Ghana, focusing on the role and interplay of Ghanaian and English reading skills, formal educational attainment, and adult literacy program participation. Pursuing several alternative identification strategies three main results are established. First, I confirm the finding from previous studies that educational attainment is negatively related to teenage pregnancy. Second, however, once Ghanaian and English reading skills are introduced, the association between educational attainment and teenage pregnancy decreases or disappears altogether. Third, for the girls who have not completed primary school, adult literacy program participation is associated with a much lower probability of experiencing a teenage pregnancy. |
| Keywords: | teenage pregnancy, human capital, literacy, adult literacy programs, Ghana |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10663&r=edu |
| By: | Elise S. Brezis (Bar-Ilan University); Joël Hellier |
| Keywords: | Elite, Higher Education, Intergenerational mobility, Social stratification |
| JEL: | I21 J62 O15 Z13 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biu:wpaper:2017-04&r=edu |
| By: | Yuta Kikuchi (Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University); Ryo Nakajima (Faculty of Economics, Keio University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates a professor's value added to a postgraduate student's research achievement growth using unique panel data on matched advisor-advisee pairs in a world-leading physics graduate program. To address an identification problem related to the endogenous selection of advisors and advisees, we use professor turnover and estimate a semi-parametric lower bound of the variance in advisor quality affecting advisee research performance. We find that a one-standard-deviation increase in professor quality results in a 0.54 standard deviation increase in a doctoral student's research achievement growth, increasing the number of first-authored papers that are published in top journals by 0.64 at the doctoral level. |
| Keywords: | knowledge creation, postgraduate education, faculty quality, research apprenticeship |
| JEL: | D83 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:2017-007&r=edu |
| By: | Kühnle, Daniel (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg); Oberfichtner, Michael (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | While recent studies mostly find that attending child care earlier improves the skills of children from low socio-economic and non-native backgrounds in the short-run, it remains unclear whether such positive effects persist. We identify the short- and medium-run effects of early child care attendance in Germany using a fuzzy discontinuity in child care starting age between December and January. This discontinuity arises as children typically start formal child care in the summer of the calendar year in which they turn three. Combining rich survey and administrative data, we follow one cohort from age five to 15 and examine standardised cognitive test scores, non-cognitive skill measures, and school track choice. We find no evidence that starting child care earlier affects children's outcomes in the short- or medium-run. Our precise estimates rule out large effects for children whose parents have a strong preference for sending them to early child care. |
| Keywords: | child care, child development, skill formation, cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, fuzzy regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | J13 I21 I38 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10661&r=edu |
| By: | Neugebauer, Martin; Weiss, Felix |
| Abstract: | Academic education is generally rewarded by employers, but what happens to graduates if they are trained for two years less and have to compete with vocationally trained labor market entrants in a similar field of study? Focusing on Germany, we analyze labor market entries of individuals eligible for higher education, who either opted for newly introduced short bachelor's degrees, or for well-established vocational degrees. Based on Microcensus data, we find that bachelor's degrees from classical universities are associated with higher earnings and more prestigious jobs than initial vocational training degrees, and with higher prestige (but similar earnings) than further vocational degrees. However, bachelor's degrees from universities are also related to higher risks of unemployment or fixed-term employment. Universities of applied sciences, which combine academic and practical training, offer both high earnings and prestigious jobs as well as low risks of unemployment or fixed-term employment at the bachelor's and the master's level. Overall, 'general' academic education provides advantages over vocational education, despite these structural changes. Variations by field of study are reported. |
| Keywords: | labor market outcomes,Bologna Process,vocational education,higher education,Germany |
| JEL: | I26 I23 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:201711&r=edu |
| By: | Hahn, Youjin (Monash University); Islam, Asadul (Monash University); Patacchini, Eleonora (Cornell University); Zenou, Yves (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | We randomly assign more than 6,000 students from 150 primary schools in Bangladesh to work on math assignments in one of three settings: individually, in groups with random schoolmates, or in groups with friends. The groups consist of four people and are balanced by average cognitive ability and ability distribution. While the achievement of male students is not affected by the group assignment, low-ability females assigned to groups outperform low-ability females working individually. The treatment is particularly effective when low-ability females study with friends. To rule out sorting effects, we show that random groups with identical compositions to those of friendship groups do not produce similar effects. Our study thus documents that placing students into study groups with their friends may improve learning, especially for low-ability females. |
| Keywords: | social interactions, education, gender, learning, friendship |
| JEL: | I25 J16 O12 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10674&r=edu |
| By: | Angela M. Gerolamo; Kara Conroy; Grace Roemer; Aline Holmes; Susan Salmond; Jennifer Polakowski |
| Abstract: | Findings suggest that a faculty preparation program that targets doctoral students and includes financial support, socialization to the faculty role, and formal education courses produces graduates who maintain a career in nursing education for up to three years after program completion. |
| Keywords: | Faculty preparation, Nurse faculty shortage, Program design |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:592ee0bc6f504f6ab2d127545995c316&r=edu |
| By: | Winarso, Widodo; Supriady, Deddy |
| Abstract: | Learning in school is a process which is complex and comprehensive. The existence of the learning process may make changes in the student, either intellectually or spiritual. The changes that occur are not only intellectually influenced by intelligence, but may also be with emotional intelligence and the ability to self regulated learning in learning. Associated with the condition, then the purpose of the research was to analyze the influence of the self regulated learning and emotional intelligence against the achievements of learning math students. |
| Keywords: | achievements, self regulated learning, emotional intelligence |
| JEL: | I20 I24 I29 Z00 |
| Date: | 2017–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:78636&r=edu |
| By: | Asghar, Zahid; Umar, Maida |
| Abstract: | Achieving the sustainable development goals is a massive task but not an impossible one. Can we achieve these goals during the next 13 years? To answer this question, we need to benchmark where Pakistan is today and to figure out how far we have to travel? We have discussed challenges regarding SDGs with reference to data in general and have figured out expected distance to achieve universal literacy goal under SDG4 in particular. Our results show that it is not possible to achieve SDGs using business as usual. Pakistan will hardly be able to achieve 100% literacy even after 100 years of its birth. There is lot of hetrogeniety among provinces, urban and rural population, and between male and female. Some districts have literacy rate around 85% while there are other which have female literacy rate even below 20%. To address these challenges such that “No One is Left Behind” is a gigantic task. However, we believe that learning lessons from districts with significant improvement in literacy over past two decades, strong commitment, academia technical assistance and making governments accountable at levels, these goals are achievable. |
| Keywords: | SDGs, Disaggregated Data, Data Revolution, Evidence Based Decision Making, Leave No One Behind |
| JEL: | I2 I21 |
| Date: | 2017–04–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:78327&r=edu |
| By: | Bellani, Luna (University of Konstanz); Bia, Michela (LISER (CEPS/INSTEAD)) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of education as causal channel through which growing up poor affects the economic outcomes in adulthood in the European Union. We apply a potential outcomes approach to quantify those impacts and we provide a sensitivity analysis on possible unobserved confounders, such as child ability. Our estimates indicate that being poor in childhood significantly decreases the level of income in adulthood and increases the average probability of being poor. Moreover, our results reveal a significant role of education in this intergenerational transmission. These results are particularly relevant for Mediterranean and Central and Easter European Countries. |
| Keywords: | poverty, intergenerational transmission, potential outcome, causal mediation analysis, education |
| JEL: | D31 I32 I24 J62 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10677&r=edu |
| By: | Schiff, Maurice |
| Abstract: | Ability drain's (AD) impact seems economically significant, with 30% of US Nobel laureates since 1906 being immigrants, and immigrants or their children founding 40% of Fortune 500 companies. Nonetheless, while brain drain (BD) and gain (BG) have been studied extensively, AD has not. I examine migration's impact on ability (a), education (h), and productive human capital or 'skill' s=s(a,h), for source country residents and migrants under a) the points system (PS) which accounts for h, and b) the 'vetting' system (VS) which accounts for s (e.g., US H-1B program). Findings are: i) Migration reduces (raises) residents' (migrants') average ability, with an ambiguous (positive) impact on average education and skill, and net skill drain, SD, likelier than net BD; ii) these effects increase with ability's inequality or variance, are greater under VS than PS, and hurt source countries; iii) the model and two empirical studies suggest that, for educated US immigrants, average AD ≥ BD, with real income about twice home country income; iv) SD holds for any BD, and also for a very small AD (7.4% of our estimate). Policy implications are provided. |
| Keywords: | Migration,points system,vetting system,ability drain,brain drain,brain gain |
| JEL: | F22 J24 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:62&r=edu |