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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Saïd Hanchane (LEST - Laboratoire d'économie et de sociologie du travail - [CNRS : UMR6123] - [Université de Provence - Aix-Marseille I][Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II]); Tarek Mostafa (LEST - Laboratoire d'économie et de sociologie du travail - [CNRS : UMR6123] - [Université de Provence - Aix-Marseille I][Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II]) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we develop a multicommunity model where public mixed finance and private schools coexist. Students are differentiated by income, ability and social capital. Schools maximize their profits under a quality constraint; the pricing function is dependent on the cost of producing education and on the position of an individual relatively to mean ability and mean social capital. Income plays an indirect role since it determines the type of schools and communities that can be afforded by a student given his ability and social capital.<br />Three dimensional stratification results from schools’ profit maximization and individuals’ utility maximization. This stratification is the corner stone of the distribution of students across communities and schools. Finally, we study majority voting over tax rates; property tax is used to finance educational quality not only in pure public schools but also in mixed finance schools. We provide the necessary conditions for the existence of a majority voting equilibrium determined by the median voter. |
| Keywords: | Education market; Majority voting equilibrium; Peer group effects; Social Capital; Students; Formation of communities; School choice |
| Date: | 2007–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00177630_v1&r=hrm |
| By: | Luojia Hu (Northwestern University); Christopher Taber (Northwestern University) |
| Abstract: | In a seminal paper, Gibbons and Katz (1991) develop and empirically test an asymmetric information model of the labor market. The model predicts that wage losses following displacement should be larger for layoffs than for plant closings, which was borne out by data from the Displaced Workers Survey (DWS). In this paper, we take advantage of many more years of DWS data to examine how the difference in wage losses across plant closings and layoffs varies with race and gender. We find that the differences between white males and the other groups are striking and complex. The “lemons effect” of layoffs holds for white males, as in the Gibbons-Katz model, but not for the other three demographic groups (white females, black females, and black males). These three all experience a greater decline in earnings at plant closings than at layoffs. This results from two reinforcing effects. First, plant closings have substantially more negative effects on minorities than on whites. Second, layoffs seem to have more negative consequences for white men than the other groups. These findings suggest that the Gibbons-Katz asymmetric information model is not sufficient to explain all of the data. We augment the model with heterogeneous human capital and show that this model can explain the findings. We also provide some additional evidence suggestive that both asymmetric information and heterogeneous human capital are important. In support of both explanations, we demonstrate that the racial and gender effects are surprisingly robust to region, industry, and occupation controls. To look at the asymmetric information, we make use of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which induced employers to lay off “protected” workers in mass layoffs rather than fire them for cause. As a result, relative to whites, a layoff would be a more negative signal for blacks after 1991 than before. If information is important, this would in turn imply that blacks experience a relatively larger loss in earnings at layoffs after 1991 than prior; and that’s what we find in the data. In addition, as further evidence for heterogeneous human capital, we document for the first time in the literature that the two types of layoffs reported in the DWS data, namely layoffs due to “slack work” and “position abolished,” have very different features when compared to plant closings. Finally, we simulate our model and show that it can match the data. |
| Keywords: | human capital, plant closings, layoffs, sex, gender, race |
| JEL: | J6 J7 |
| Date: | 2007–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:07-136&r=hrm |
| By: | Marta Simões (GEMF and Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra); Adelaide Duarte (GEMF and Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra) |
| Abstract: | Human capital acquired in the formal education sector is essential for knowledge creation and dissemination but the theoretical and empirical growth literature identifies other major determinants of innovation and imitation activities (R&D, international trade and FDI). This paper is an empirical investigation in a panel data framework of the effects of education and its sub-categories on economic growth emphasizing its complementarity with the other major determinants of technological change and growth. For this purpose we focus on a sample of OECD countries during the last decades of the twentieth century and use an extended and augmented version of the Benhabib and Spiegel (1994) growth specification that considers the role of education in innovation and imitation activities and that interacts education with the other major determinants of technological change. The results reveal the importance of education for growth through technology diffusion and domestic innovation activities. To fully exploit the benefits from R&D expenses in terms of growth the average OECD country needs a sufficient level of secondary and tertiary education and to benefit from the technology incorporated in imports of machinery countries need a sufficient level of overall education. |
| Keywords: | education, innovation, technological diffusion, panel data |
| JEL: | O33 O38 O47 C33 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2007-02&r=hrm |
| By: | Marta Simões (GEMF and Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra); Adelaide Duarte (GEMF and Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra) |
| Abstract: | TThis paper investigates the education–growth link at the more disaggregate industry level in the Portuguese manufacturing sector with a focus on different levels of education. The insights from new growth theory and a modified and augmented version of the Benhabib and Spiegel (1994) specification are the basis for the empirical analysis of the role of education in innovation and imitation activities highlighting a role for specific schooling levels across industries according to their technological characteristics and its interaction with international trade. We use data for the period 1986–1997, fourteen Portuguese manufacturing industries and panel data econometric techniques. Our most robust finding concerns the relevance of technology spillovers embodied in imports for productivity growth, as long as manufacturing industries employ workers with skills provided by secondary education. The Portuguese manufacturing industry cannot rely on automatic technological catch up for productivity growth so active trade and education policies are crucial to recover from the present bottom position in the rank of OECD productivity levels. |
| Keywords: | education, innovation, technology diffusion, productivity growth, panel data |
| JEL: | C23 I20 O30 O33 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2007-03&r=hrm |
| By: | Å. Gornitzka, P. Maassen, J. P. Olsen,; B. Stensaker |
| Keywords: | Europeanization; Europeanization; knowledge; institutionalism; institutionalisation; political science; integration theory |
| Date: | 2007–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:arenax:p0233&r=hrm |
| By: | Huang, Can (UNU-MERIT); Soete, Luc (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses some of the challenges confronting the European Union and China as they build their knowledge economies, and their on-going and possible future actions to address such challenges. Fifty years after the creation of what became the European Union, we argue that there is an urgent need to develop a new European Lisbon Agenda, preparing the EU for globalization. A new and "outward-looking" Lisbon strategy would focus on three key areas: international trade in services, internationalization of research networking, and access to brains and talent. The paper shows that the success of the Chinese economy over the past three decades can be partially attributed to its ability to absorb globally advanced technology and huge flows of foreign investment, its large pool of knowledge and talent, and its enactment of a policy framework that provides incentives to domestic and foreign firms to innovate - a strategy very much reminiscent of Europe's own internal Lisbon agenda. To move further, China needs to overcome the obstacles of regional disparities, transform its industry and deepen industry-academy linkages, which are also unavoidable tasks for the sustainable development of Europe. We contend that the scope for comparative studies of the EU and China, for mutual learning from each other's experience - even for joint initiatives - is substantial. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge Economy, Industry-University Partnerships, Globalization, Internationalization, Highly Skilled Migration, European Union, China |
| JEL: | F02 F16 F22 L80 O32 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2007028&r=hrm |
| By: | Mueller, Normann |
| Abstract: | This article critically evaluates the current state of research on education externalities. It occurs that much of the confusion regarding their magnitude results from conceptual misunderstandings pertaining to their nature. The essay distinguishes the concepts education, teaching, and knowledge. Whereas pure teaching yields externalities on the primary and secondary level, only the generation of knowledge may produce the spillovers which are typically linked to the tertiary level. The accumulation of education itself does not have such an effect. Education is argued to be a private good with well defined property rights. Individuals may exploit those and provide the production sector with the efficient amount of human capital. Following this rationale, it is demonstrated that empirical studies, contrasting estimations of private and social returns to education, are unsuitable to substantiate the existence of externalities. As a consequence, subsidies to tertiary programs are called into question. |
| Keywords: | Public education finance; Education expenditures; Human capital externalities; Property rights; Endogenous economic growth; Private return; Social return; Public goods |
| JEL: | I22 H23 D62 |
| Date: | 2007–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:5331&r=hrm |
| By: | Luca Flabbi; Daniele Checchi (Department of Economics, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | Intergenerational mobility in income and education is affected by the influence of parents on children's school choices. Our focus is on the role played by different school systems in reducing or magnifying the impact of parents on children's school choices and therefore on intergenerational mobility in general. We compare two apparently similar educational systems, Italy and Germany, to see how the common feature of separate tracks at Secondary School level may produce different impacts on children choices. Using data from a cross-country survey (PISA 2003), we study the impact of parental education on track choice, showing that the greater flexibility of the Italian system (where parents are free to choose the type of track) translates into greater dependence from parental background. These effects are reinforced when moving to post-secondary education, where the aspiration to go to college is affected not only by the school type but also (in the case of Italy only) by parental education. We then move to country-specific data sets (ISTAT 2001 for Italy and GSOEP 2001 and 2002 for Germany) to study the impact of family background on post-secondary school choices: we find this impact is greatly reduced when we control for secondary school tracks. Overall, we estimate large asymmetries by gender, with women's behavior more independent from family backgrounds than men's behavior. Classification-JEL Codes: I2, J1 |
| Keywords: | gender Secondary School tracks; Education; Intergenerational Mobility |
| Date: | 2007–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~07-07-08&r=hrm |
| By: | Robert G. Myers; Hirokazu Yoshikawa; Kathleen McCartney; Kristen L. Bub; Julieta Lugo-Gil; Maria A. Ramos; Felicia Knaul; UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre |
| Abstract: | An accumulation of research across hundreds of studies shows the benefits of quality early childhood care and education for children’s later learning, school success and social development. In recognition of the value of providing early learning opportunities, many nations have expanded early childhood care and education in recent years. Mexico provides an interesting case in which expansion of early childhood care and education has occurred in the past 5 years, as have initiatives to improve quality and revise the national curriculum for preschoolers. This paper examines three policy initiatives that occurred in Mexico between 2000 and 2006 – preschool expansion, quality improvement and curricular reform. The preschool expansion included a mandate for all parents in Mexico to send their preschool-aged children (3, 4 and 5 years old) to preschool, with target dates of 2004, 2005 and 2008 for 100 per cent coverage of 5-year-olds, 4-yea-olds and 3-year-olds, respectively. The quality improvement initiative was part of a larger programme providing supplemental funds to select preschools and schools in Mexico’s public education system. Finally, the curricular reform instituted a new preschool curriculum to be implemented nationwide for all programmes across the 3- to 5-year-old age range. |
| Keywords: | child care; early childhood development; early childhood education; preschool education; right to care and protection; right to child care services; |
| JEL: | I29 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inwopa:inwopa07/40&r=hrm |
| By: | Abadzi, Helen |
| Abstract: | Studies have shown that learning outcomes are related to the amount of time students engage in learning tasks. However, visits to schools have revealed that students are often taught for only a fraction of the intended time, particularly in lower-income countries. Losses are due to informal school closures, teacher absenteeism, delays, early departures, and sub-optimal use of time in the classroom. A study was undertaken to develop an efficient methodology for measuring instructional time loss. Thus, instructional time use was measured in sampled schools in Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, and the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. The percentage of time that students were engaged in learning vis-à-vis government expectations was approximately 39 percent in Ghana, 63 percent in Pernambuco, 71 percent in Morocco, and 78 percent in Tunisia. Instructional time use is a mediator variable that is challenging to measure, so it often escapes scrutiny. Research suggests that merely financing the ingredients of instruction is not enough to produce learning outcomes; students must also get sufficient time to process the information. The quantity-quality tradeoff that often accompanies large-scale enrollments may be partly due to instructional time restrictions. Time wastage also distorts budgetary outlays and teacher salary rates. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals students must get more of the time that governments, donors, and parents pay for. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary Education,Primary Education,Secondary Education,Education For All,Teaching and Learning |
| Date: | 2007–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4376&r=hrm |
| By: | Åse Gornitzka |
| Keywords: | networks; administrative adaptation; educational policy |
| Date: | 2007–01–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:arenax:p0232&r=hrm |
| By: | Valadkhani,Abbas (University of Wollongong); Ville, Simon (University of Wollongong) |
| Abstract: | This paper identifies the major areas of research strengths and concentration across all Australian universities, as demonstrated by the number of PhDs and academic staff members (S) in ten broad fields of education using the average audited data (2001-2003). The ratio of PhD completions to S is then presented to provide a tentative basis for benchmarking and productivity analysis. Inter alia, we found a very interesting relationship between the number of PhD graduates (as the dependent variable) and S using a fixed-effect model with both disciplinespecific slope and intercept coefficients. The results provide policy implications for individual universities and government. |
| Keywords: | Australian universities, ranking, PhD completions, cross-sectional model |
| JEL: | A19 C23 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uow:depec1:wp07-12&r=hrm |
| By: | Brian Jacob; Lars Lefgren |
| Abstract: | Low-achieving students in many school districts are retained in a grade in order to allow them to gain the academic or social skills that teachers believe are necessary to succeed academically. This practice is highly controversial, with many researchers claiming that it leads to higher dropout rates although selection issues have complicated previous analyses. In this paper, we use a regression discontinuity design to examine the impact of grade retention on high school completion. We find that grade retention leads to a modest increase in the probability of dropping out for older students, but has no significant effect on younger students. |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J01 J24 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13514&r=hrm |
| By: | Anaïs Hamelin (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels and Université Robert Schuman, Strasbourg, France.); Joseph Trojman (Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne) |
| Abstract: | This article aims to analyse the relationship between family ownership and growth in a very large sample representative of French SMEs. Firms are differentiated from each other according to the degree of family ownership, ranging from total control by family members to minority control. The relationship between the degree of control and the firm’s growth takes into account the effect of firm’s size, age, sector, and financial solvency. The objective is to observe if family ownership has an impact on firm growth, and if this impact is not only due to a preference for financial independence. Results show that the more the family controls the firm, the less the firm is prone to sustain a high rate of sales growth, even if the availability of internal financial resources allows sustaining a larger growth rate. |
| Date: | 2007–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:07-024&r=hrm |