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on Education |
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Issue of 2005‒02‒13
thirteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Alessie, Rob; Portela, Miguel; Teulings, Coen N |
| Abstract: | The perpetual inventory method used for the construction of education data per country leads to systematic measurement error. This paper analyses the effect of this measurement error on GDP regressions. There is a systematic difference in the education level between census data and observations constructed from enrolment data. We discuss a methodology for correcting the measurement error. The standard attenuation bias suggests that using these corrected data would lead to a higher coefficient. Our regressions reveal the opposite. We discuss why the measurement error yields an overestimation. Our analysis contributes to an explanation of the difference between regressions based on 5 and on 10-year first-differences. |
| Keywords: | education; growth; measurement error |
| JEL: | I20 O40 |
| Date: | 2004–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4637&r=edu |
| By: | Neuman, Shoshana; Ziderman, Adrian |
| Abstract: | This study examines the extent, duration and timing of employment breaks amongst a large representative sample of Jewish workers in Israel over the 13-year time period, 1983-95. Work histories are constructed from a new joint database, unique in Israel, which was derived from a linkage of 1995 Population Census data with monthly employment records of the National Insurance Institute. The Paper focuses on gender differences in work history patterns and, within each gender, breakdowns are provided by ethnic origin, marital status, age and education level. While most of the results are both expected and compatible with current economic theories of household behaviour, some of the findings of the study are less expected, particularly those relating to the considerable amount of intermittent employment found amongst Israeli male workers. Also, women’s labour market attachment is stronger than is generally presumed. Gender differences in employment interruptions are greater for younger than older workers. |
| Keywords: | age; education; employment; ethnicity; gender; marital status; non-employment; spells |
| JEL: | J12 J15 J16 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2004–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4708&r=edu |
| By: | Neuman, Shoshana; Oaxaca, Ronald L |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this Paper is to investigate wage structures of professional workers in the Israeli labour market, using data from the most recent 1995 Census and correcting for selectivity at the stage of entrance into the occupation. The sample of professionals is decomposed into several subsamples: men and women, and within each gender a distinction is made between Easterners (originating from Asian/African countries) and Westerners (from European/American countries of origin). Comparisons by gender and ethnicity can then be made. Characteristics (endowments) and wage structures of the four groups are presented.Wage equations include the Inverse of Mill's Ratio as a regressor to correct for selection into the professional occupations. Wage differences are then examined and decomposed into three components: endowments (human capital), discrimination and selectivity. Following the methodology presented in Neuman and Oaxaca (2004), four alternative decompositions are suggested and discussed. |
| Keywords: | age; education; employment spells; ethnicity; gender; marital status; non-employment |
| JEL: | J12 J15 J16 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2004–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4709&r=edu |
| By: | Campos, Nauro F; Jolliffe, Dean |
| Abstract: | How does the relationship between earnings and schooling change with the introduction of comprehensive economic reform? This Paper uses a unique dataset (covering about 3 million Hungarian wage earners, from 1986 to 1998) and a novel procedure to correct sample selection bias (based on DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux’s) to shed light on this question. We find that reform was successful in general, increasing returns to skill by 70.5%, but that there were winners and losers. The winners seem to be the college and university educated, those employed by the smaller firms and those in commerce and services. The losers are those in manufacturing and agriculture and, surprisingly, those who received their formal education after the initiation of reform. |
| Keywords: | economic reform; human capital; transition economics |
| JEL: | I20 J20 J24 J31 O15 O52 P20 |
| Date: | 2004–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4716&r=edu |
| By: | Patacchini, Eleonora; Zenou, Yves |
| Abstract: | We develop a model that gives some microfoundation to the impact of residential neighborhood on children’s educational attainment and then test it using the UK National Child Development Study. We find that, for high-educated parents, the better the quality of the neighborhood in terms of human capital, the higher the parent’s involvement in children’s education, indicating cultural complementarity. For highly educated parents, we also find that both parents’ involvement in education and neighborhood’s quality significantly affect the intergenerational transmission of education, the former being more potent than the latter. Low-educated parents do not spend much time educating their offspring and we show that only the quality of the neighborhood has a significant impact on their children’s educational attainment. |
| Keywords: | cultural substitution; cultural transmission; education; peer effects |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2004–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4744&r=edu |
| By: | Checchi, Daniele; Jappelli, Tullio |
| Abstract: | The 1993 Survey of Household Income and Wealth, a large cross-section of the Italian population covering 24,000 individuals, reports detailed information on children’s attendance of public and private schools and parents’ assessments of the quality of public schools in the city of residence. The survey also provides detailed information on the household’s demographic structure, income and parents’ education. The empirical analysis indicates that the quality of schools is one of the driving factors in the choice between private and public schools. The results are robust with respect to the particular quality indicator used and the presence of fixed provincial effects. |
| Keywords: | school choice |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2004–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4748&r=edu |
| By: | Vincent, VANDENBERGHE (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Olivier, DEBANDE (european Investment bank, Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | There are many arguments supporting greater private contribution to higher education costs, particularly in Europe. But this case largely rests on the capability to offer deferred, income-contingent payments and to pool the cost of income contingency among all graduates. The two first features are critical to efficiency - students and lenders should not be deterred by excessive risk - and justice - contributions should be tailored to ex post ability to pay. While cost pooling is essential to avoid public debt classification of student contracts. Examples of instruments satisfying these criteria are loans with income-forgiveness and human capital contracts. The central aim of this paper is to produce realistic estimates of how graduates’ lifetime earnings are likely to be affected by the generalisation of these instruments. Using data on Belgian wages, we compute estimates of contributions that these instruments could impose on graduates. We also evaluate their effect on population-wide distribution of lifetime net wages, using higher income tax as a benchmark. The paper further considers the risk of adverse selection inherent to cost pooling. It shows that investing less on students opting for less profitable programs is a simple way to mitigate its severity. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education Finance; loans with income-forgiveness; cost of insurance, risk pooling |
| JEL: | I28 H52 |
| Date: | 2005–01–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvec:2005003&r=edu |
| By: | Vincent, VANDENBERGHE (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Olivier, DEBANDE (European Investment Bank, Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | There are many economic and philosophical arguments supporting the introduction of student loans as a way to complement public financing and secure adequate resources for higher education, particularly in Europe. These arguments are briefly reviewed in this paper. But the case in favour of student loans largely rests on the capability to provide loans that are income-contingent. Indeed, income-contingent repayments are critical to both efficiendy (students and lenders should not be deterred due to excessive risk) and equity (contributions should be tailored to ex post ability to pay). But income-contingency comes at a cost that can be expressed as a risk premium that should be supported and shared between graduates and/or taxpayers. The central aim of this paper is to produce realistic estiamtes of such a risk, identifying the conditions for the implementation of an income-contingent loan scheme in order to channel additional private funding to higher education systems. How does low lifetime income and/or unemployment spells among higher education graduates translates into risk premia ? Results, derived from the analysis of Belgian earnings data, suggest that the risk premium ranges from 13% for university (ISCED 6-7) graduates to 26% for non-university (ISCED 5) ones. The paper further investigates the various ways of pooling and shifting this risk, while addressing the danger of public debt classification (ie, student loans classified as public) and adverse selection (ie, unsustainable pooling of high and low risk loans). |
| Keywords: | Higher Education Finance; Income-contingent Loans; Risk premium; Risk poolong |
| JEL: | I28 H52 |
| Date: | 2004–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2004036&r=edu |
| By: | Cascio, Elizabeth (University of California, Davis and IZA Bonn); Lewis, Ethan (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | Is the Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) a measure of achievement or ability? The answer to this question is critical for drawing inferences from studies in which it is employed. In this paper, we test for a relationship between schooling and AFQT performance in the NLSY 79 by comparing test-takers with birthdays near state cutoff dates for school entry. We instrument for schooling at the test date with academic cohort – the year in which an individual should have entered first grade – in a model that allows age at the test date to have a direct effect on AFQT performance. This identification strategy reveals large impacts of schooling on the AFQT performance of racial minorities, providing support for the hypothesis that the AFQT measures school achievement. |
| Keywords: | education, ability, achievement, AFQT, school entry |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J15 |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1481&r=edu |
| By: | Schultz, T. Paul (Yale University and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Various household survey indicators of adult nutrition and health status are analyzed as determinants of individual wages. However, survey indicators of health status may be heterogeneous, or a combination of health human capital formed by investment behavior and variation due to genotype, random shocks, and measurement error, which are uncontrolled by behavior. Although there are no definitive methods for distinguishing between human capital and genetic variation in health outcomes, alternative mappings of health status, such as height, on community health services, parent socioeconomic characteristics, and ethnic categories may be suggestive. Instrumental variable estimates of health human capital and residual sources of variation in measured health status are included in wage functions to assess empirically whether the productivity of both components of health are equal. Evidence from Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Brazil suggest that the health human capital effect on wages is substantially larger than that associated with residual health variation. |
| Keywords: | health human capital, wage productivity, Brazil-Ghana-Cote D’Ivoire |
| JEL: | I12 J24 O12 |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1482&r=edu |
| By: | de la Rica, Sara (Universidad del País Vasco and IZA Bonn); Dolado, Juan J. (Universidad Carlos III, CEPR and IZA Bonn); Llorens, Vanesa (LECG Consulting Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the gender wage gaps by education throughout the wage distribution in Spain using individual data from the ECHP (1999). Quantile regressions are used to estimate the wage returns to the different characteristics at the more relevant percentiles and a suitable version of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition is then implemented to estimate the component of the gender gap not explained by different characteristics. Our main findings are two-fold. First, in contrast with the steep pattern found for other countries, the flatter evolution of the gap in Spain hides a composition effect when the sample is split by education. On the one hand, for the group with college/tertiary education, we find a higher unexplained gap at the top than at the bottom of the distribution, in accordance with the conventional glass ceiling hypothesis. On the other, for the group with lower education, the gap is much higher at the bottom than at the top of the distribution. We label this novel pattern as glass floors and argue that it is due to statistical discrimination exerted by employers in view of the low participation rate of women in this group. Such a hypothesis is confirmed when using the panel structure of the ECHP. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, glass ceilings, glass floors, quantile regressions |
| JEL: | J16 J71 |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1483&r=edu |
| By: | Elizabeth U. Cascio; Ethan G. Lewis |
| Abstract: | Is the Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) a measure of achievement or ability? The answer to this question is critical for drawing inferences from studies in which it is employed. In this paper, we test for a relationship between schooling and AFQT performance in the NLSY 79 by comparing test-takers with birthdays near state cutoff dates for school entry. We instrument for schooling at the test date with academic cohort - the year in which an individual should have entered first grade - in a model that allows age at the test date to have a direct effect on AFQT performance. This identification strategy reveals large impacts of schooling on the AFQT performance of racial minorities, providing support for the hypothesis that the AFQT measures school achievement. |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J15 |
| Date: | 2005–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11113&r=edu |
| By: | Torbjørn Hægeland, Oddbjørn Raaum and Kjell G. Salvanes (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Whether increasing resource use in schools has a positive effect on pupil performance has occupied governments, parents and researchers for decades. A main challenge when trying to answer this question is to separate the effects of school resources from the effects of pupils’ family background, since resources may be allocated in a compensatory manner, and pupils may sort into schools. We address these issues using a comprehensive dataset for two cohorts of pupils graduating from lower secondary school in Norway. The dataset is rich in performance measures, resource use variables and family background variables. As performance measures we use results at age 16 across 11 subjects, and we exploit the fact that we have both information from results from national exams and from continuous assessment in class. Controlling for family background, we find a positive but modest effect of resource quantity such as teacher hours per pupil, on pupil achievement. Observable teacher qualifications, within the variation present in lower secondary school in Norway, do not appear to have significant effects on school results. Resource quality as measured by teacher characteristics does not appear to have a significant impact on pupils’ marks. We find clear evidence of compensating resource allocation and teacher sorting as well as relative setting of marks. |
| Keywords: | Pupil acievement; school resources |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2004–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:397&r=edu |