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on Sociology of Economics |
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Issue of 2006‒08‒12
four papers chosen by Jonas Holmstrom Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration |
| By: | Jordi Pons Novell; Daniel A. Tirado Fabregat |
| Abstract: | This comparative study looks at the international impact of leading economics journals published in Spain, Italy, France and Germany. It also aims to establish whether they play a similar role in any of these 4 countries. For this purpose data were collected on the number of times that articles published in these journals are cited in international journals on the ISI Journals lists. The study focused on the number and characteristics of the citations received during the period 1996-2004 by articles published between 1995 and 1999 in a limited number of Spanish, Italian, French and German journals. The international impact of the Spanish journals was found to be similar in size and characteristics to that of the Italian publications. However, it differed sharply from the impact of the highest-ranking French and German journals. These last received a higher volume of citations, some of which also showed very different qualitative characteristics. |
| Date: | 2005–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:whrepe:dilf0508&r=sog |
| By: | Javier Ruiz-Castillo |
| Abstract: | This paper is a review of the literature on the ranking of centers of excellence in economics according to the papers published in specialized journals that have an anonymous evaluation procedure. There are two objectives: (1) to examine the evolution during the 1990’s of certain features of economic research, such as the gap that exists between the United States and the rest of the world, the dominant position of the United Kingdom within Europe, and the low productivity of economic scholars everywhere; and (2) to document the tremendous progress that Spanish research centers underwent during this period. |
| Date: | 2006–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we063609&r=sog |
| By: | Alfredo M. Pereira (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary); Rui Manuel Pereira (Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa) |
| Abstract: | Public sector wages are a large and growing share of the public budget in Portugal. This means that current efforts to achieve budgetary consolidation have necessarily to include controlling the public wage bill, which has been typically attempted through hiring freezes. The evolution of the wage bill, however, is conditioned by a system of career progressions and promotions, which are expected to lead to an increasing wage bill even in the presence of constant public employment. This is what we refer to as the wage drift. In this paper we estimate the wage drift in the case of university professors. We use a logit analysis using 1999 census data to find that individuals who have been in their career for a relatively long time are statistically more likely to progress as opposed to being promoted while those who are promoted tend to do so at an earlier stage of their career and to spend less time in each position. With this information we infer the employment distribution in 1996 and 1993 under the assumption of a fixed employment population and determine the corresponding wage bill. We estimate that without entries into or exits out of the system, public spending on university professor wages would grow at an average yearly rate of 2.6%, well above the GDP growth rate. The overall message of the paper is to sound the alarm that simply freezing recruiting and discretionary wage increases may be insufficient to stem the tide of growth in the public wage bill. |
| Keywords: | Wage drift, public sector wages, employment promotion, budgetary restraint |
| JEL: | H60 J30 J45 J62 |
| Date: | 2006–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:36&r=sog |
| By: | Laura Thissen; Sjef Ederveen |
| Abstract: | Education has always been regarded as a national matter. According to the subsidiarity principle power may only be shifted to a higher level of coordination when solid arguments exist that this will improve welfare. This paper aims at answering the question if these arguments exist. We find no support for economies of scale, i.e. larger countries do not necessarily provide higher quality education; nor do larger schools. Empirical evidence for human capital externalities through student mobility is scarce. Concluding, we find little support for European coordination of higher education. However, there is evidence that student mobility is a precursor for labour migration. Uniformizing the structure of higher education in the EU, and making educational programs more transparent, may therefore be defended from this perspective. Quality does matter for students, and student mobility is increasing. This may be beneficial to labour mobility. |
| Keywords: | Subsidiarity; European coordination; Higher education; Student migration |
| JEL: | F22 H87 I2 J61 |
| Date: | 2006–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:68&r=sog |