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on Education |
| By: | HIGUCHI Yuki; NAKAMURO Makiko; Carsten ROEVER; SASAKI Miyuki; YASHIMA Tomoko |
| Abstract: | The importance of English communication skills has been increasing with globalization, and the governments in various countries have encouraged students to go abroad. However, the causal impact of overseas stays has been little investigated, particularly in non-European countries. This study adopts a regression discontinuity design to the Japanese government’s flagship scholarship program for studying abroad. We found that the scholarships significantly increased the probability of the scholarship recipients living overseas for a period by 40 points. By comparing the students placed close to the cutoff, we found that the scholarship increased English proficiency by 12% (or 0.42 standard deviation), measured by a multiple-choice test we originally developed. We also found that the scholarship significantly improved the participants’ international posture scores and the perceived communication competence in a foreign language, which are the two traits found as important determinants of future development in language ability in applied linguistics literature. |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:22085&r= |
| By: | Juliana Londoño-Vélez |
| Abstract: | Does diversity affect people’s perceptions of income distribution and their preferences for redistribution? I leverage variation from a Colombian financial aid reform boosting the share of low-income students at an elite university. Combining college records and original survey data, I study how diversity affects high-income students’ social networks, perceptions, and preferences by exploiting treatment variation across cohorts and majors using difference-in-differences. Exposure to low-income peers caused high-income students to diversify their social networks, have more accurate perceptions of the income distribution, and support progressive redistribution. My preferred interpretation is that diversity raised students’ concerns about (the lack of) equal opportunity. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 I22 I24 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30386&r= |
| By: | Salvatore Capasso; Rajeev K. Goel; James W. Saunoris |
| Abstract: | Studying a relatively under-researched aspect in economics, this paper examines the nexus between corruption and academic freedom. Our main hypothesis is that greater corruption undermines academic freedom and we test this hypothesis using cross-national data for 104 nations over the years 2012 to 2018. Our results support the main hypothesis, and this finding also generally holds across alternative aspects of academic freedom. Another contribution of this work lies in dissecting the direct and indirect (through corruption) effects of various drivers of academic freedom. Finally, additional insights are gained via considering different dimensions of academic freedom and how they are (qualitatively and quantitatively) impacted by corruption. |
| Keywords: | academic freedom, corruption, government, education, democracy, mediation analysis |
| JEL: | K42 H52 I21 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9890&r= |
| By: | John A. List; Rohen Shah |
| Abstract: | In organizations, teams are ubiquitous. “Weakest Link” and “Best Shot” are incentive schemes that tie a group member’s compensation to the output of their group’s least and most productive member, respectively. In this paper, we test the impact of these incentive schemes by conducting two pilot RCTs (one in-person, one online), which included more than 250 graduate students in a graduate math class. Students were placed in study groups of three or four students, and then groups were randomized to either control, Weakest Link, or Best Shot incentives. We find evidence that such incentive approaches can affect test scores, both in-person and online. |
| JEL: | C9 C93 D79 I2 J3 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30374&r= |
| By: | Juliana Bernhofer (Department of Economics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy); Alessandro Fedele (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy); Mirco Tonin (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Health systems around the world face an increasing shortage of workers. It is thus important to understand what motivates people to enter the sector. We study how financial incentives affect the performance on the entry test into medical and healthcare schools, a crucial step for aspiring healthcare professionals. To this end, we conduct a randomized information experiment with Italian applicants. We first elicit applicants' expectations about the starting wage of the healthcare job they want to study for. We then inform the treatment group about the true starting wages, while we provide no information to the control group. We finally collect the test scores obtained by applicants. Correcting wage expectations enhances the test scores when expectations are lower than the true wage level, while no significant effects occur when expectations are higher. The treatment does not induce negative selection in terms of ability and altruism. Our findings provide novel experimental evidence that wages matter for prospective students in the health sector and suggest an impact of prospective financial rewards also at a very early stage of careers. |
| Keywords: | Information Experiment; Applicants to Medical and Healthcare Schools; Wage Expectations; Admission Test Scores. |
| JEL: | I1 I23 J3 C9 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bzn:wpaper:bemps95&r= |
| By: | Bernal, Noelia (Universidad de Piura); Costa-Font, Joan (London School of Economics); Ritter, Patricia (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of health insurance expansion on nutrition-related children's health outcomes. We exploit quasi-random variation from an insurance expansion targeted at poor households in Peru. We find that access to insurance reduces childhood obesity and exerts positive and economically significant effects on some preventive health care utilization and behaviours, such as children's regular growth checks-ups and deworming treatments, the duration of breastfeeding, and a substitution of foods rich in carbohydrates for other foods rich in proteins. In contrast, we do not find any effect on other outcomes typically related to other interventions. |
| Keywords: | children’s health, obesity, overweight, public health insurance, health behaviors, nutrition, breast-feeding |
| JEL: | J13 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15490&r= |
| By: | Òscar Jordà; Fernanda Nechio |
| Abstract: | Following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation has surged to 1980s levels in advanced economies. Motivated by vast differences in pandemic support across countries, we investigate the subsequent response of inflation and the feedback to wages. We exploit these differences to identify the effect these programs had on inflation and to examine the link between wages and inflation. Our empirical approach is based on a novel dynamic difference-in differences method based on local projections. Our estimates suggest that an increase of 5% in direct transfers (relative to trend) peaked at about an average 3 percentage points boost to the rate of inflation and wage growth after one year the support measures are introduced, with their effect waning by the second year. Moreover, since the pandemic and under a high-inflation environment, the role of inflation expectations on wage-setting dynamics have increased and become longer lasting. |
| Keywords: | inflation; wages; fiscal transfers; covid19 |
| JEL: | E01 E30 E32 E44 E47 E51 F33 F42 F44 |
| Date: | 2022–09–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:94747&r= |
| By: | Arendt, Jacob Nielsen (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Dustmann, Christian (University College London); Ku, Hyejin (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Denmark has accepted refugees from a large variety of countries and for more than four decades. Denmark has also frequently changed policies and regulations concerning integration programs, transfer payments, and conditions for permanent residency. Such policy variation in conjunction with excellent administrative data provides an ideal laboratory to evaluate the effects of different immigration and integration policies on the outcomes of refugee immigrants. In this article, we first describe the Danish experience with refugee immigration over the past four decades. We then review different post-arrival refugee policies and summarize studies that evaluate their effects on the labor market performance of refugees. Lastly, we discuss and contrast these findings in the context of international studies of similar policies and draw conclusions for policy. |
| Keywords: | refugee integration, immigration policies, labor supply, employment, language |
| JEL: | J22 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15497&r= |
| By: | Albanesi, Stefania (Federal Reserve Bank of New York); Gihleb, Rania (University of Pittsburgh); Zhang, Ning (University of Pittsburgh) |
| Abstract: | Labor market outcomes for young college graduates have deteriorated substantially in the last twenty five years, and more of them are residing with their parents. The unemployment rate at 23-27 years old for the 1996 college graduation cohort was 9%, whereas it rose to 12% for the 2013 graduation cohort. While only 25% of the 1996 cohort lived with their parents, 31% for the 2013 cohort chose this option. Our hypothesis is that the declining availability of 'matched jobs' that require a college degree is a key factor behind these developments. Using a structurally estimated model of child-parent decisions, in which coresidence improves college graduates' quality of job matches, we find that lower matched job arrival rates explain two thirds of the rise in unemployment and coresidence between the 2013 and 1996 graduation cohorts. Rising wage dispersion is also important for the increase in unemployment, while declining parental income, rising student loan balances and higher rental costs only play a marginal role. |
| Keywords: | coresidence, job mismatch, unemployment, student loans |
| JEL: | E24 J24 J12 E21 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15507&r= |
| By: | Jesper Akesson; Robert W. Hahn; Robert D. Metcalfe; Itzhak Rasooly |
| Abstract: | Scholars have suggested that White American support for welfare is related to beliefs about the racial composition of welfare recipients. While a host of observational studies lend credence to this view, it has not yet been tested using the tools of randomized inference. In this study, we do this by conducting two incentive-compatible experiments (n = 9,775) in which different participants are randomly given different signals about the share of welfare recipients who identify as Black and White. Our analysis yields four main findings. First, 86% of respondents greatly overestimate the share of welfare recipients who are Black, with the average respondent overestimating this by almost a factor of two. Second, White support for welfare is inversely related to the proportion of welfare recipients who are Black—a causal claim that we establish using treatment assignment as an instrument for beliefs about the racial composition of welfare recipients. Third, just making White participants think about the racial composition of welfare recipients reduces their support for welfare. Fourth, providing White respondents with accurate information about the racial composition of welfare recipients (relative to not receiving any information) does not significantly influence their support for welfare. |
| JEL: | C93 D90 H0 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30426&r= |
| By: | Diris, Ron (University of Leiden); Van Vliet, Olaf (Leiden University) |
| Abstract: | The last decades have shown that the traditional steady job with a permanent contract is on the decline. While permanent contracts and the insider position that they bring are highly valued by workers, research on the returns to human capital have predominantly focused on wages as subject of that return. This study uses PIAAC data from 29 countries to estimate how skills relate to the odds of obtaining a permanent contract, versus alternative contractual arrangements for employees. Our pooled analysis shows that skills substantially relate to having a permanent contract across the full sample. Numeracy skills contribute more than literacy skills; a difference that is largely driven by sorting to occupations and industries. We further identify substantial heterogeneities across countries, in which either no skills, only numeracy skills or only literacy skills significantly predict permanent employment at the country level, but never both. Moreover, this "contractual return to skills" differs substantially from the traditional wage return to skills across countries. We find suggestive evidence that these differences relate to demand factors and labour market institutions. |
| Keywords: | skills, human capital, labour markets, temporary employment |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15513&r= |