|
on Education |
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Issue of 2005‒05‒23
fourteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Scott Baier; Sean Mulholland; Chad Turner; Robert Tamura |
| Abstract: | This article introduces original annual average years of schooling measures for each state from 1840 to 2000. The paper also combines original data on real state per-worker output with existing data to provide a more comprehensive series of real state output per worker from 1840 to 2000. These data show that the New England, Middle Atlantic, Pacific, East North Central, and West North Central regions have been educational leaders during the entire time period. In contrast, the South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central regions have been educational laggards. The Mountain region behaves differently than either of the aforementioned groups. Using their estimates of average years of schooling and average years of experience in the labor force, the authors estimate aggregate Mincerian earnings regressions. Their estimates indicate that a year of schooling increased output by between 8 percent and 12 percent, with a point estimate close to 10 percent. These estimates are in line with the body of evidence from the labor literature. |
| Date: | 2004 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedawp:2004-31&r=edu |
| By: | Igal Hendel; Joel Shapiro; Paul Willen |
| Abstract: | Affordable higher education is, and has been, a key element of social policy in the United States with broad bipartisan support. Financial aid has substantially increased the number of people who complete university—generally thought to be a good thing. We show, however, that making education more affordable can increase income inequality. The mechanism that drives our results is a combination of credit constraints and the ‘signaling’ role of education first explored by Spence (1973). When borrowing for education is difficult, lack of a college education could mean that one is either of low ability or of high ability but with low financial resources. When government programs make borrowing easier or tuition more affordable, high-ability persons become educated and leave the uneducated pool, driving down the wage for unskilled workers and raising the skill premium. |
| Keywords: | Education - Economic aspects ; Income distribution |
| Date: | 2004 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbpp:04-5&r=edu |
| By: | Patricia M. Anderson; Kristin Butcher |
| Abstract: | The proportion of adolescents in the United States who are obese has nearly tripled over the last two decades. At the same time, schools, often citing financial pressures, have given students greater access to “junk” foods and soda pop, using proceeds from these sales to fund school programs. We examine whether schools under financial pressure are more likely to adopt potentially unhealthful food policies. Next, we examine whether students’ Body Mass Index (BMI) is higher in counties where a greater proportion of schools are predicted to allow these food policies. Because the financial pressure variables that predict school food policies are unlikely to affect BMI directly, this two step estimation strategy addresses the potential endogeneity of school food policies. ; We find that a 10 percentage point increase in the proportion of schools in a county that allow students access to junk food leads to about a one percent increase in students’ BMI, on average. However, this average effect is entirely driven by adolescents who have an overweight parent, for whom the effect of such food policies is much larger (2.2%). This suggests that those adolescents who have a genetic or family susceptibility to obesity are most affected by the school food environment. A rough calculation suggests that the increase in availability of junk foods in schools can account for about one-fifth of the increase in average BMI among adolescents over the last decade. |
| Keywords: | Overweight children ; Education ; Junk food |
| Date: | 2004 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-04-16&r=edu |
| By: | Lisa Barrow; Cecilia Elena Rouse |
| Abstract: | Using data from the U.S. Decennial Census and the National Longitudinal Surveys, we find little evidence of differences in the return to schooling across racial and ethnic groups, even with attempts to control for ability and measurement error biases. While our point estimates are relatively similar across racial and ethnic groups, our conclusion is driven in part by relatively large standard errors. ; That said, we find no evidence that returns to schooling are lower for African Americans or Hispanics than for non-minorities. As a result, policies that increase education among the low-skilled have a good possibility of increasing economic well-being and reducing inequality. More generally, our analysis suggests further research is needed to better understand the nature of measurement error and ability bias across subgroups in order to fully understand potential heterogeneity in the return to schooling across the population. |
| Keywords: | Education ; Employees - Training of |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-05-02&r=edu |
| By: | Nil Demet Güngör (Middle East Technical University); Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | The study estimates an empirical model of return intentions using a dataset compiled from an internet survey of Turkish professionals and Turkish students residing abroad. In the migration literature, wage differentials are often cited as an important factor explaining skilled migration. The findings of the study suggest, however, that other factors are also important in explaining the non-return of Turkish professionals. Economic instability in Turkey is found to be an important push factor, while work experience in Turkey also increases non-return. In the student sample, higher salaries offered in the host country and lifestyle preferences, including a more organized environment in the host country, increase the probability of notreturning. For both groups, the analysis also points to the importance of prior intentions and the role of the family in the decision to return to Turkey or stay overseas. |
| Keywords: | skilled migration, brain drain, return intentions, higher education, Turkey |
| JEL: | F20 F22 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1598&r=edu |
| By: | Maurice Schiff (World Bank and IZA Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Based on static partial equilibrium analysis, the "new brain drain" literature argues that, by raising the return to education, a brain drain generates a brain gain that is, under certain conditions, larger than the brain drain itself, and that such a net brain gain results in an increase in welfare and growth due to education’s positive externalities. This paper, on the other hand, argues that these claims are exaggerated. In the static case, and based on both partial and general equilibrium considerations, the paper shows that i) the size of the brain gain is smaller than suggested in that literature; ii) the impact on welfare and growth is smaller as well (for any brain gain size); iii) a positive brain gain is likely to result in a smaller human capital gain and may even have a negative impact on the stock of human capital; iv) an increase in the stock of human capital may have a negative impact on welfare and growth; and v) in a dynamic framework, the paper shows that the brain drain is unambiguously larger than the brain gain, i.e., that the steady state is characterized by a net brain loss. |
| Keywords: | brain gain size, welfare, growth, exaggerated claims |
| JEL: | D61 D62 F22 H20 H41 I12 J61 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1599&r=edu |
| By: | Benjamin F. Jones |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates, theoretically and empirically, a possibly fundamental aspect of technological progress. If knowledge accumulates as technology progresses, then successive generations of innovators may face an increasing educational burden. Innovators can compensate in their education by seeking narrower expertise, but narrowing expertise will reduce their individual capacities, with implications for the organization of innovative activity - a greater reliance on teamwork - and negative implications for growth. I develop a formal model of this "knowledge burden mechanism" and derive six testable predictions for innovators. Over time, educational attainment will rise while increased specialization and teamwork follow from a sufficiently rapid increase in the burden of knowledge. In cross-section, the model predicts that specialization and teamwork will be greater in deeper areas of knowledge while, surprisingly, educational attainment will not vary across fields. I test these six predictions using a micro-data set of individual inventors and find evidence consistent with each prediction. The model thus provides a parsimonious explanation for a range of empirical patterns of inventive activity. Upward trends in academic collaboration and lengthening doctorates, which have been noted in other research, can also be explained by the model, as can much-debated trends relating productivity growth and patent output to aggregate inventive effort. The knowledge burden mechanism suggests that the nature of innovation is changing, with negative implications for long-run economic growth. |
| JEL: | O3 O4 J2 I2 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11360&r=edu |
| By: | P Nair (ICFAI University); Deepak Kumar (ICFAI University Press) |
| Abstract: | The article talks about the development of higher education in India and addresses possible means of financing it. The current educational system in the country is discussed and the concentration by the State on higher and technical education is looked at. The article further says that the financing of Higher Education in the country by the State, is a drain on its exchequer and that more methods have to be found out to move the financial obligations outside the State coffers. The experience of other countries is looked at briefly, and parameters are looked at, which need to be concentrated on to get results. For money to flow to this sector, it is very important also, to look at providing adequate legislative protection to these self-financed universities, which attract funds from sponsors, financing agencies and corporates. The need for adaptability to the job market and the synchronization between job creation and higher education has been explained in detail. Various development models are hinted at with concentration on specific parameters, but the article stops short of getting into very definitive models itself, due to the still complicated setup, as regards the status of private educational institutions in India. Once the ground rules are clearly laid down, it may become possible to develop several models, which may be accepted by the financial agencies, for funding higher education in India. |
| Keywords: | Higher education ,India |
| JEL: | G |
| Date: | 2005–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpfi:0505015&r=edu |
| By: | Rana Ejaz Ali Khan (Islamia University Bahawalpur. Pakistan); Karamat Ali (Bahauddin Zakarya University Multan. Pakistan) |
| Abstract: | Pakistan is severely disadvantaged by its failure to achieve higher levels of human development. Low enrolment thirty years ago is reflected in the lower educational level of today’s labor force, lower productivity and lower adaptation of technology. Even today less than half of the school-age children are going to school. Some common but many of them disputed perceptions about lower school-enrolment rate, at the household level are that the younger age children, younger in their brothers and sisters, male children, and the children from educated parents; high-income households; smaller households; wealthy households are more likely to be in school. We have analyzed these determinants for urban Pakistani children and framed some policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Schooling, Education, Gender, Poverty, Children, |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2005–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwphe:0505003&r=edu |
| By: | Jens Hainmueller (Harvard University); Michael J. Hiscox (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Recent studies of public attitudes toward trade have converged upon one central finding: support for trade restrictions is highest among respondents with the lowest levels of education. This has been interpreted as strong support for the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, the classic economic treatment of the income effects of trade which predicts that trade openness benefits those owning factors of production with which their economy is relatively well endowed (those with skills in the advanced economies) while hurting others (low skilled workers). We re- examine the available survey data, showing that the impact of education on attitudes toward trade is almost identical among respondents in the active labor force and those who are not (even those who are retired). We also find that, while individuals with college-level educations are far more likely to favor trade openness than others, other types of education have no significant effects on attitudes, and some actually reduce the support for trade, even though they clearly contribute to skill acquisition. Combined, these results strongly suggest that the effects of education on individual trade preferences are not primarily a product of distributional concerns linked to job skills. We suggest that exposure to economic ideas and information among college-educated individuals plays a key role in shaping attitudes toward trade and globalization. This is not to say that distributional issues are not important in shaping attitudes toward trade – just that they are not clearly manifest in the simple, broad association between education levels and support for free trade. |
| Keywords: | International Trade, Trade Preferences, Stolper-Samuelson, Education Effects |
| JEL: | F1 F2 |
| Date: | 2005–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpit:0505011&r=edu |
| By: | Jens Hainmueller (Harvard University); Michael J. Hiscox (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Recent studies of individual attitudes toward immigration emphasize concerns about labor market competition as a potent source of anti- immigrant sentiment, in particular among less-educated or less-skilled citizens who fear being forced to compete for jobs with low-skilled immigrants willing to work for much lower wages. We examine new data on attitudes toward immigration available from the 2003 European Social Survey. In contrast to predictions based upon conventional arguments about labor market competition, which anticipate that individuals will oppose immigration of workers with similar skills to their own, but support immigration of workers with different skill levels, we find that people with higher levels of education and occupational skills are more likely to favor immigration regardless of the skill attributes of the immigrants in question. Across Europe, higher education and higher skills mean more support for all types of immigrants. These relationships are almost identical among individuals in the labor force (i.e., those competing for jobs) and those not in the labor force. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, then, the connection between the education or skill levels of individuals and views about immigration appears to have very little, if anything, to do with fears about labor market competition. This finding is consistent with extensive economic research showing that the income and employment effects of immigration in European economies are actually very small. We find that a large component of the effect of education on attitudes toward immigrants can be accounted for by differences among individuals in cultural values and beliefs. More educated respondents are significantly less racist and place greater value on cultural diversity; they are also more likely to believe that immigration generates benefits for the host economy as a whole. Together, these factors account for around 65% of the estimated effect of education on support for immigration. |
| Keywords: | Immigration Preferences, Immigration Attitudes, Trade Preferences, Factor-Proportion Model, Education Effects, Skill Effects |
| JEL: | F22 J61 P16 |
| Date: | 2005–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpot:0505013&r=edu |
| By: | Ross Rubenstein (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY); Lawrence Miller (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY) |
| Abstract: | In this brief we take a closer look at the mechanisms used to distribute resources across public schools. We first present what we know about the current distribution of educational resources within New York City and other large city districts. Then we discuss current efforts to promote greater equity in the distribution of resources and improve student performance. We conclude with lessons and policy implications for New York State as it implements the CFE decision in New York City. These findings also apply toother large districts in the state, such as Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany. Our focus in this brief is on vertical equity--ensuring that schools serving students with different levels of need receive appropriately different levels of resources--rather than adequacy. But the two concepts are closely related. If we ensure that students with a variety of needs have ample resources to achieve agreed upon educational goals, we will achieve both school-level adequacy and vertical equity. |
| Keywords: | intradistrict resource allocation; interdistrict resource allocation; vertical equity; across-school disparities; school-based funding; weighted student funding. |
| JEL: | I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:max:cprpbr:31&r=edu |
| By: | Orley Ashenfelter (Department of Economics, Princeton University); William J. Collins (Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University); Albert Yoon (School of Law, Northwestern University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the long-term labor market implications of school resource equalization before Brown and school desegregation after Brown. For cohorts born in the South in the 1920s and 1930s, we find that racial disparities in measurable school characteristics had a substantial influence on black males¹ earnings and educational attainment measured in 1970, albeit one that was smaller in the later cohorts. When we examine the income of male workers in 1990, we find that southern-born blacks who finished their schooling just before effective desegregation occurred in the South fared poorly compared to southern-born blacks who followed behind them in school by just a few years. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination, schooling, South, NAACP |
| JEL: | J7 I28 N32 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:van:wpaper:0515&r=edu |
| By: | Amy Y.C. Liu |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the changes in relative earnings of workers with different education levels during Vietnam’s transition. It is found that females enjoy a higher return to education than males do in 1998, reversing the situation observed five years ago. A large fall in the returns to vocational training for males, amid the rapid growth in the representation of better-educated females in the private sector where education is valued higher could be responsible for what have occurred. A direct assessment of the role of demand using a simple demand and supply framework developed by Katz-Murphy (1992) is undertaken. The result suggests an increase in the relative demand for better-educated workers appears to play an important role in explaining the earnings differentials between workers of different education groups. Education reform to better suit the needs of the post-reform emerging market, on-the-job training for workers, as well as equal access to education are some policy options that hold thekey to reduce wage inequality between different education groups. |
| JEL: | I21 J31 P2 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idc:wpaper:idec05-4&r=edu |