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on Sociology of Economics |
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Issue of 2007‒02‒17
ten papers chosen by Jonas Holmstrom Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration |
| By: | Felice Martinello (Department of Economics, Brock University) |
| Abstract: | The effects of different forms of collective representation (unions and special plans with and without binding arbitration) on faculty salaries are estimated for Ontario universities, 1970-2004. Compared to status-less faculty associations, unions had virtually no effect while special plans without binding arbitration led to lower salaries. Special plans with binding arbitration yielded higher salaries. The data also show severe compression and inversion in the age-salary profiles in the 2000s and large decreases in the salary differentials between full and associate professors. Average salaries were lower the higher the proportions of women faculty in the 1970s, but the effect dissipated and even reversed itself by the end of the sample. Finally, faculty salaries responded to the cost of living in the university’s city and faculty salaries were higher, on average, in universities with higher average research productivity. |
| Keywords: | faculty salaries, unions, salary compression and inversion |
| JEL: | J31 J44 J51 |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:brk:wpaper:0701&r=sog |
| By: | Andrew Worthington; Boon L. Lee (School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | In this study, productivity growth in thirty-five Australian universities is investigated using nonparametric frontier techniques over the period 1998 to 2003. The inputs included in the analysis are full-time equivalent academic and non-academic staff, non-labour expenditure and undergraduate and postgraduate student load and the outputs are undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD completions, national competitive and industry grants and publications. Using Malmquist indices, productivity growth is decomposed into technical efficiency and technological change. The results indicate that annual productivity growth averaged 3.3 percent across all universities, with a range between -1.8 percent and 13.0 percent, and was largely attributable to technological progress. However, separate analyses of research-only and teaching-only productivity indicate that most of this gain was attributable to improvements in research-only productivity associated with pure technical and some scale efficiency improvements. While teaching-only productivity also contributed, the largest source of gain in that instance was technological progress offset by a slight fall in technical efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Productivity; technical and scale efficiency; technological progress; Malmquist indices; universities. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:dpaper:195&r=sog |
| By: | Jill Johnes; Li Yu |
| Abstract: | This study uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to examine the relative efficiency of over 100 selected Chinese regular universities. Various models are developed to measure the research efficiency of these higher education institutions (HEIs) using data for 2003 and 2004. The findings show that the level of efficiency depends on whether or not a subjective measure of research output (based on experts’ opinions of the HEIs) is included as an output in the model. Mean efficiency is higher when the reputation variable is included (around 90%) than when it is not (mean efficiency is around 55% in this case). However, the rankings of the universities are remarkably insensitive to whether or not this variable is included. Bootstrapping procedures are used to find the 95% confidence intervals for the efficiencies, and indicate that the best and worst performing institutions are significantly different from each other; only the middle-performing 30% of HEIs cannot be distinguished from each other in terms of their performance. Further investigation suggests that regional location, source of funding and whether the university is comprehensive or specialist may all contribute to the observed differences in performance. The regional differences are consistent but not significant at conventional levels of significance; the efficiencies differ significantly by administrative type when the subjective measure of research output is excluded from the analysis; comprehensive universities consistently and significantly outperform specialist institutions. The possibility of regional differences in performance is particularly worrying since the already economically disadvantaged Western region may suffer a continued lag in development if its HEIs are less efficient than those in the better developed Central and coastal regions. |
| Keywords: | data envelopment analysis; efficiency measurement; Chinese higher education |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:004216&r=sog |
| By: | Laudeline Auriol |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first results of a project initiated in 2004 by the OECD in collaboration with Eurostat and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, and aimed at developing a regular and internationally comparable production system of indicators on the careers and mobility of doctorate holders. A first data collection was launched in September 2005, from which the results for seven countries are presented here. These data shed light on the main demographic, educational, labour market and mobility patterns of doctoral graduates. They also mark some progress in the understanding of both... |
| Date: | 2007–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2007/2-en&r=sog |
| By: | Toro González, Daniel; Espinosa Espinosa, Aarón; Quintero Otero, Jorge |
| Abstract: | In this article it is realized an inventory of the production of academic and scientific articles about economics in Colombian Caribbean Coast in the last 10 years. The document analyses the scientific production in economics realized in the Caribbean Coast and about the Caribbean Coast, in order to establish a map of the regional economic research and realize an approximation to the accumulated production and the general tendencies of the publications. To accomplish this goal, it was used the JEL (Journal of Economic Literature) Classification System as a platform for completing the puzzle by topics. Among other aspects, the study shows that three non-university institutions are responsible for the 67% of the regional academic production about economics. 40% of total considered production was realized by the 10% of the Caribbean Coast researches. 51% of the JEL Classifications have not being approached by region researches. Finally, there are few institutions with a systemic and deep job in a specific topic, which is why there are many possibilities of specialization for institution that have not defined its research lines and want to be pioneers in some economic analysis topic. |
| Keywords: | Regional Economy; Colombia; Caribbean coast; scientific article |
| JEL: | B00 A10 R10 |
| Date: | 2005–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:1772&r=sog |
| By: | Jill Johnes |
| Abstract: | This study uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) and a distance function approach to derive Malmquist productivity indexes for 113 English higher education institutions (HEIs) over the period 1996/97 to 2002/03. The analysis finds that over the period of the study HEIs have experienced an annual average increase in Malmquist productivity of 1.5%. On investigating the components of this productivity change, however, it becomes apparent that HEIs have enjoyed an annual average of 2.3% increase in technology combined with a decrease in technical efficiency of -0.8%. The finding of the importance of technology change (relative to technical efficiency change) in the Malmquist productivity indexes for HEIs is in line with previous studies (Flegg et al 2004; Worthington & Lee 2005), but the finding of negative technical efficiency change is new. Further examination of the indexes reveals differences between the subgroups of HEIs in England. Pre-1992 HEIs have experienced much lower Malmquist productivity (and technology change) than post-1992 and colleges which belong to the Standing Conference of Principals Ltd (SCOP). Further examination reveals that, for pre- and post-1992 institutions, technology change may be related positively to change in the ratio of students to staff, while technical efficiency change may be negatively related to change in the student staff ratio. Thus rapid changes in the higher education sector may have a positive effect on the technology of production but this may be achieved at the cost of lower technical efficiency. |
| Keywords: | higher education; efficiency measurement; data envelopment analysis; distance functions; productivity change; Malmquist index |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:004051&r=sog |
| By: | Brahim Boudarbat (Université de Montréal,CIRANO and IZA); Claude Montmarquette (Université de Montréal and CIRANO) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of the choice of field of study by university students using data from the Canadian National Graduate Survey. The sample of 18,708 graduates holding a Bachelor degree is interesting in itself knowing that these students completed their study and thus represent a pool of high quality individuals. What impact expected postgraduation lifetime earnings have in choosing their field of study respectively to their non pecuniary preferences? Are these individuals less or more influenced by monetary incentives on their decision than was found in previous literature with samples of university students not all completing their studies successfully? Unlike existing studies, we account for the probability that students will be able to find employment related to their field of study when evaluating lifetime earnings after graduation. The parameters that drive students’ choices of fields of study are estimated using a mixed multinomial logit model applied to seven broadly defined fields. Results indicate that the weight put by a student on initial earnings and earnings’ rate of growth earnings depends upon the education level of the parent of the same gender. Surprisingly, lifetime earnings have no statistically significant impact when the parent of the same gender as the student has a university education. Results show that men are, in general, more sensitive than women to initial income variations, whilst women are more sensitive than men to the earnings’ rate of growth variations. Marital status, enrolment status and the vocation identified with each field of study are influential factors in students’ choices. From a policy perspective, a substantial increase in lifetime earnings, while all other factors remain constant, would be necessary to draw students into fields of study they are not inclined to choose initially. |
| Keywords: | Canada, university fields of study, expected lifetime earnings, mixed multinomial logit model, parents’ education |
| JEL: | J24 C35 |
| Date: | 2007–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2552&r=sog |
| By: | František Turnovec (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | Reform of universities in the Czech Republic (and in Europe as well) has the dual objective: increase of accessibility of higher education and increase of competitiveness of educational institutions on world academic market. While the first objective (accessibility) requires existence of “teaching oriented” educational institutions, focused on mass undergraduate programs, the second objective presumes “research oriented” educational institutions, focused on postgraduate programs and research. The paper demonstrates (on a sample of empirical data about publication performance of economic educational institutions) that it is possible to observe the process of differentiation of Czech educational institutions on “teaching oriented” and “research oriented”. |
| Keywords: | citation; impact factor; egalitarian ordering; elitist ordering; publication and citation databases; ranking |
| JEL: | A11 P2 |
| Date: | 2007–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2007_04&r=sog |
| By: | Laudeline Auriol |
| Abstract: | Le présent document expose les premiers résultats d'un projet lancé en 2004 par l'OCDE en collaboration avec Eurostat et l'Institut de statistique de l'UNESCO, dont l'objectif était de mettre en place un système régulier et comparable à l'échelle internationale de production d'indicateurs de la carrière et de la mobilité des titulaires de doctorat. Un premier recueil de données a eu lieu en septembre 2005, dont les résultats concernant sept pays sont présentés ici. Ces données lèvent le voile sur les principales caractéristiques en termes de démographie, d'éducation, de marché du travail et de mobilité des titulaires de doctorat. Elles permettent en outre de mieux comprendre les questions liées.. |
| Date: | 2007–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2007/2-fr&r=sog |
| By: | Britta Leusing |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fln:wpaper:015&r=sog |