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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
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Issue of 2006‒01‒29
thirteen papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini Universitá degli Studi di Roma, La Sapienza |
| By: | Panu Poutvaara |
| Abstract: | Katz and Rapoport (2005) conclude that with linear production technology and the possibility of unilateral migration, region-specific shocks may increase the average level of education. Previously, Poutvaara (2000) derived a corresponding result with Cobb-Douglas technology and migration which may go in both directions. This paper shows that the exit option may reduce human capital formation with a quadratic production technology. |
| Keywords: | human capital formation, migration, economic volatility |
| JEL: | F22 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1648&r=hrm |
| By: | De Fraja, Gianni |
| Abstract: | This paper suggests that human capital externalities are important in determining whether goods and services should be privately or publicly provided. We study situations where that the cost incurred by an individual provider for providing quality is affected by the human capital of her colleagues. This is the case for goods such as health, education, legal services, police protection, and so on. The mode of provision (private or public) affects a supplier’s incentive to acquire human capital and therefore her colleagues’ cost of provision. The paper shows that either mode of provision may be preferable, depending on the nature of the human capital externality: private provision of the final goods and services provides stronger incentives to human capital acquisition (and may therefore be socially preferable) if own human capital and one’s colleagues’ human capital are substitutes, and suppliers with high human capital benefit more benefit more than suppliers with low human capital from their colleagues’ human capital, but not excessively so. |
| Keywords: | education; health; human capital externality; public provision of private goods; public-private partnership; training |
| JEL: | H23 H42 J24 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5471&r=hrm |
| By: | Gould, Eric D; Lavy, Victor; Paserman, Marco Daniele |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the mass migration wave to Israel in the 1990s to examine the impact of immigrant concentration during elementary school on the long-term academic outcomes of native students in high school. To identify the causal effect of immigrant children on their native peers, the empirical strategy must address two sources of bias: the endogenous sorting of immigrants across schools, and the endogenous grade placement of immigrants within schools. We control for the endogeneity of immigrant placement across schools by conditioning on the total number of immigrants in a school and exploit random variation in the number of immigrants across grades within the same school. To address the endogenous grade placement of immigrants within schools, we use the immigrants' dates of birth as an instrument for their actual grade placement. The results suggest that the overall presence of immigrants in a grade had a significant and large adverse effect on two important outcomes for Israeli natives: the dropout rate and the chances of passing the high school matriculation exam which is necessary to attend college. |
| Keywords: | dropout rates; immigrant absorption; natural experiment; peer effects; school quality |
| JEL: | I20 J24 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5439&r=hrm |
| By: | Liisa Leijola |
| JEL: | I20 I21 |
| Date: | 2004–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:909&r=hrm |
| By: | Hartmut Egger; Peter Egger; Josef Falkinger; Volker Grossmann |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of capital market integration (CMI) on higher education and economic growth. We take into account that participation in higher education is non-compulsory and depends on individual choice. Integration increases (decreases) the incentives to participate in higher education in capital-importing (-exporting) economies, all other things equal. Increased participation in higher education enhances productivity progress and is accompanied by rising wage inequality. From a national policy point of view, education expenditure should increase after integration of similar economies. Using foreign direct investment (FDI) as a measure for capital flows, we present empirical evidence which largely confirms our main hypothesis: An increase in net capital inflows in response to CMI raises participation in higher education and thereby fosters economic growth. We apply a structural estimation approach to fully track the endogenous mechanisms of the model. |
| Keywords: | capital mobility, capital-skill complementarity educational choice, education policy, economic growth, wage income inequality |
| JEL: | F20 H52 J24 O10 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1630&r=hrm |
| By: | Ana I Moro-Egido; Santiago Budría |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use the European Community Household Panel to explore the connection between education, over-education, and wage inequality in Spain for the period 1994-2001. Our central approach is based on quantile regression. We find that higher education is associated with higher wage dispersion. This indicates that an educational expansion towards higher education is expected, ceteris paribus, to increase overall wage inequality. We find that over-education contributes to enlarge wage differentials within university graduates. Still, over-education itself can not account for the positive association between higher education and wage dispersion. Finally, we show that over the last years the wage distribution of over-educated workers with university education became more dispersed. This process, together with an increasing proportion of over-educated workers, contributed to rise overall wage inequality through the within dimension. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaeee:211&r=hrm |
| By: | Stolowy, Hervé |
| Abstract: | This article reviews the reactions of the French accounting profession and academia following the collapse of both Enron and Andersen. It considers the general impact on University accounting education programmes and the value of using corporate scandals in the teaching process. |
| Keywords: | Enron; accounting eductation; ethics; France |
| JEL: | K41 K42 M41 |
| Date: | 2005–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:0815&r=hrm |
| By: | Banerjee, Abhijit; Cole, Shawn; Duflo, Esther; Linden, Leigh |
| Abstract: | Many efforts to improve school quality by adding school resources have proven to be ineffective. This paper presents the results of two experiments conducted in Mumbai and Vadodara, India, designed to evaluate ways to improve the quality of education in urban slums. A remedial education program hired young women from the community to teach basic literacy and numeracy skills to children lagging behind in government schools. We find the program to be very effective: it increased average test scores of all children in treatment schools by 0.14 standard deviations in the first year, and 0.28 in the second year, relative to comparison schools. A computer-assisted learning program provided each child in the fourth grade with two hours of shared computer time per week, in which students played educational games that reinforced mathematics skills. The program was also very effective, increasing math scores by 0.35 standard deviations the first year, and 0.47 the second year. These results were not limited to the period in which students received assistance, but persisted for at least one year after leaving the program. Two instrumental variable strategies suggest that while remedial education benefited the children who attended the remedial classes, their classmates, who did not attend the remedial courses but did experience smaller classes, did not post gains, confirming that resources alone may not be sufficient to improve outcomes. |
| Keywords: | computer aided education; India; program evaluation; remedial education |
| JEL: | I21 O11 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5446&r=hrm |
| By: | Duflo, Esther; Hanna, Rema |
| Abstract: | In the rural areas of developing countries, teacher absence is a widespread problem. This paper tests whether a simple incentive program based on teacher presence can reduce teacher absence, and whether it has the potential to lead to more teaching activities and better learning. In 60 informal one-teacher schools in rural India, randomly chosen out of 120 (the treatment schools), a financial incentive program was initiated to reduce absenteeism. Teachers were given a camera with a tamper-proof date and time function, along with instructions to have one of the children photograph the teacher and other students at the beginning and end of the school day. The time and date stamps on the photographs were used to track teacher attendance. A teacher’s salary was a direct function of his attendance. The remaining 60 schools served as comparison schools. The introduction of the program resulted in an immediate decline in teacher absence. The absence rate (measured using unannounced visits both in treatment and comparison schools) changed from an average of 42% in the comparison schools to 22% in the treatment schools. When the schools were open, teachers were as likely to be teaching in both types of schools, and the number of students present was roughly the same. The program positively affected child achievement levels: a year after the start of the program, test scores in program schools were 0.17 standard deviations higher than in the comparison schools and children were 40% more likely to be admitted into regular schools. |
| Keywords: | education; financial incentives; India |
| JEL: | I20 I21 J13 J30 O10 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5426&r=hrm |
| By: | Gielen, Anne; Kerkhofs, Marcel J M; van Ours, Jan C |
| Abstract: | This paper uses information from a panel of Dutch firms to investigate the labour productivity effects of performance related pay (PRP). We find that PRP increases labour productivity at the firm level with about 9%. |
| Keywords: | labour productivity; performance related pay |
| JEL: | C41 H55 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5455&r=hrm |
| By: | McGuckin, Robert; Ark, Bart van (Groningen University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this project is to increase our knowledge about trade-offs between productivity and labour market participation across the OECD, and more specifically in the European Union. The inquiry is focused around the question whether there is a trade-off between labour participation and productivity and, if so, how big it is and how long does it last. In particular, through a series of panel regressions we isolate the structural or long-term relationships, as well as identify how long the ?longterm? is. We also investigate the extent to which the trade-offs can be associated with particular types of workers (in terms of age or gender). Our main findings are, firstly, that the negative productivity response elasticity to a 1% rise in participation (measured as the employment rate) is less than 0.3 and peters out in less than 5 years. Secondly, increased participation is the key factor related to this productivity growth tradeoff. We find little effect of hours per worker on productivity. Thirdly, female participation has the strongest negative impact on productivity growth, but it is associated with specific age and/or cohort effects that are likely to diminish in the longer run. Finally, we investigate simple scenarios to look at the effect of increases in participation on productivity and per capita income, showing the large potential for income gains without much loss in productivity. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:rugggd:200578&r=hrm |
| By: | Tomi Hussi |
| Date: | 2004–02–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:896&r=hrm |
| By: | Booth, Alison L; van Ours, Jan C |
| Abstract: | Taking into account inter-dependence within the family, we investigate the relationship between part-time work and happiness. We use panel data from the new Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey. Our analysis indicates that part-time women are more satisfied with working hours than full-time women. Partnered women's life satisfaction is increased if their partners work full-time. Male partners' life satisfaction is unaffected by their partners' market hours but is increased if they themselves are working full-time. This finding is consistent with the gender identity hypothesis of Akerlof and Kranton (2000). |
| Keywords: | gender identity; happiness; part-time work |
| JEL: | I31 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5438&r=hrm |