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on Education |
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Issue of 2007‒10‒06
fifteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Julie Berry Cullen; Brian A. Jacob |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine whether expanded access to sought-after schools can improve academic achievement. The setting we study is the "open enrollment" system in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). We use lottery data to avoid the critical issue of non-random selection of students into schools. Our analysis sample includes nearly 450 lotteries for kindergarten and first grade slots at 32 popular schools in 2000 and 2001. We track students for up to five years and examine outcomes such as standardized test scores, grade retention and special education placement. Comparing lottery winners and losers, we find that lottery winners attend higher quality schools as measured by both the average achievement level of peers in the school as well as by value-added indicators of the school's contribution to student learning. Yet, we do not find that winning a lottery systematically confers any evident academic benefits. We explore several possible explanations for our findings, including the possibility that the typical student may be choosing schools for non-academic reasons (e.g., safety, proximity) and/or may experience benefits along dimensions we are unable to measure, but find little evidence in favor of such explanations. Moreover, we separately examine effects for a variety of demographic subgroups, and for students whose application behavior suggests a strong preference for academics, but again find no significant effects. |
| JEL: | H52 I2 I21 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13443&r=edu |
| By: | David Carey |
| Abstract: | Improving education outcomes is vital for achieving convergence with GDP per capita levels in Western European countries and for reducing income inequality. While some education outcomes are favourable, such as the low secondary-school drop-out rate, others have room for improvement: education achievement is below the OECD average and strongly influenced by socio-economic background; Roma children, who are mainly from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, have particularly poor achievement; labour-market outcomes are poor for graduates of secondary vocational programmes not leading to tertiary education; and tertiary attainment is low, albeit rising. Reforms have been made in recent years or are planned to address many of these weaknesses, but much remains to be done. In particular, more progress needs to be made in increasing participation in early childhood education and care, reducing stratification in the education system, helping Roma children to integrate into the education mainstream, and in attracting high quality graduates to teaching, especially in socio-economically disadvantaged schools. In addition, secondary vocational education not leading to tertiary education needs to be made more pertinent to labour-market requirements. Tertiary education also needs to be made more attractive for technical secondary school graduates. <P>Améliorer les résultats de l’éducation dans la République slovaque <BR>L’amélioration des résultats de l’éducation est vitale pour converger vers les niveaux du PIB par habitant des pays de l’Europe occidentale et pour réduire les inégalités de revenus. Alors que ces résultats sont favorables à certains égards – le faible taux de décrochage scolaire dans le secondaire par exemple –-, des améliorations sont possibles dans d’autres domaines : les résultats du système éducatif sont inférieurs à la moyenne de la zone OCDE et varient énormément selon le milieu socioéconomique ; les enfants roms qui sont pour l’essentiel issus de milieux défavorisés affichent des résultats particulièrement médiocres ; les diplômés des filières professionnelles du secondaire ne donnant pas accès à l’enseignement supérieur ont un devenir peu brillant sur le marché du travail ; et le taux de diplômés du supérieur est faible, bien qu’en progression. Des réformes ont été opérées ces dernières années ou sont prévues pour remédier à nombre de ces insuffisances mais de grands progrès sont encore nécessaires. Il faut en particulier augmenter la fréquentation des structures d’accueil et d’éducation de la petite enfance, réduire la stratification du système éducatif, aider les enfants roms à intégrer le circuit scolaire ordinaire et attirer les diplômés de très haut niveau vers l’enseignement, en particulier dans les écoles défavorisées du point de vue socioéconomique. En outre, l’enseignement secondaire professionnel, qui ne donne pas accès aux études supérieures, doit être davantage adapté aux exigences du marché du travail. L’enseignement supérieur doit par ailleurs attirer davantage les diplômés des écoles secondaires techniques. |
| Keywords: | education, éducation, tertiary education, enseignement supérieur, formation professionnelle, PISA, achievement, secondary education, attainment, school system, tracking, streaming, teachers' skills, pre-school education, general education, PISA, réussite scolaire, éducation secondaire, système scolaire, compétences des enseignants, éducation préscolaire, éducation générale |
| JEL: | I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2007–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:578-en&r=edu |
| By: | Michael R. Ward (Department of Economics, University of Texas at Arlington) |
| Abstract: | US education policy encourages the use of computers and the Internet at both the college and high school levels. As a consequence, students have had better access to technologies to illicitly share copyrighted music, causing a decline in sales from the traditional music store retail channel. Using a panel of counties over the 1994-2004 period, I find evidence that the number of music stores fell when high schools received subsidies for Internet connections and it fell faster where college enrollment was higher. This intervention in education policy could have contributed greatly to the decline in the music industry. |
| Keywords: | Music, Internet, Education, Illicit Behavior |
| JEL: | L82 O34 H3 |
| Date: | 2007–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:txa:wpaper:0701&r=edu |
| By: | Maite Blázquez (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid); Sílvio Rendon (Stony Brook University and IZA) |
| Abstract: | Catalonia’s economy is characterized by linguistic diversity and provides a unique opportunity to measure the incidence of language proficiency on over-education, particularly, whether individuals with deficient language skills tend to acquire more formal skills or, on the contrary, become discouraged to attend school. Descriptive evidence suggests the latter, that individuals with better language knowledge are more likely to be over-educated. However, estimating a model that controls for individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics reveals the opposite: better language knowledge decreases over-education. This effect, although robust to accounting for endogeneity of language knowledge and significant at the individual level, is mostly non-significant on average. |
| Keywords: | over-education, language, immigration, skill premium |
| JEL: | J24 J41 I20 J61 J70 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3061&r=edu |
| By: | Joaquim Oliveira Martins; Romina Boarini; Hubert Strauss; Christine de la Maisonneuve; Clarice Saadi |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses how policies and institutions affect private returns to invest in tertiary human capital, the ability of individuals to finance this investment and the institutional characteristics of tertiary education systems. Focusing on core tertiary education services, the paper presents new measures of private returns to tertiary education, the institutional setting for supplying tertiary education and the availability of individual financing in OECD countries. Using a panel of 19 countries, the number of new tertiary graduates (a proxy for investment in tertiary education) is regressed on these new proposed measures, as well as other standard determinants of investment in tertiary education. The resulting estimates are used to assess empirically the relative importance of several education, taxation and social policies affecting investment in tertiary education. Several avenues for reform and the trade-offs they present for public policy are discussed. <P>L'impact des politiques économiques sur l'investissement en éducation supérieure <BR>Cette étude examine comment les politiques économiques et les institutions affectent le rendement privé de l’éducation supérieure, la possibilité pour les individus de financer cet investissement et les caractéristiques institutionnelles de l’offre d’enseignement supérieur. Se concentrant sur les services de l’éducation supérieure proprement dite, l’étude présente des nouvelles mesures des rendements privés de l’éducation supérieure, le contexte institutionnel de l’offre d’enseignement supérieur et la disponibilité de financement individuel pour les pays de l’OCDE. Utilisant un panel sur 19 pays, le nombre harmonisé de nouveaux diplômés (une approximation de l’investissement dans l’enseignement supérieur) est régressé sur ces nouvelles mesures ainsi que sur d’autres déterminants standards de l’investissement en éducation supérieure. Les estimations qui en résultent sont utilisées pour évaluer empiriquement l’importance relative des différentes politiques ayant trait à l’éducation, à la fiscalité ou dans le domaine social et ayant un impact sur l’investissement en enseignement supérieur. Plusieurs options de réforme et les arbitrages qu’elles représentent pour la politique économique sont discutées. |
| Keywords: | Investment in tertiary education, Returns to education, Supply of tertiary education, Student individual financing systems and Taxation, Investissement en éducation supérieure, Rendements de l’éducation, Offre d’éducation supérieure, Financement individuel pour les étudiants et fiscalité |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2007–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:576-en&r=edu |
| By: | Carla Sá (Universidade do Minho - NIPE); Raymond Florax (Purdue University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Piet Rietveld (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the nature of university and living-arrangement decisions at the example of Dutch students with a secondary education academic diploma. A random utility maximization nested logit model of living-arrangement and university decisions is estimated, allowing for distance and rent e¤ects to vary according to the decision on whether to stay at parental home. Estimation results show that distance deters both at-homers and out-homers. Dutch youngsters are guided by consumption motives, rather than investment motives. They appear to attend university where their high school mates do. Tight housing markets lower the probability of choosing a given university. Male and low income students stay longer with parents, as do those with non-Dutch parents. |
| Keywords: | living arrangements, university choice, random utility maximization, nested logit |
| JEL: | C25 D85 I2 J24 R00 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:14/2007&r=edu |
| By: | Pedro Carneiro (University College London, IFS and IZA); Costas Meghir (University College London, IFS and IZA); Matthias Parey (University College London, IFS and IZA) |
| Abstract: | We study the intergenerational effects of maternal education on children's cognitive achievement, behavioral problems, grade repetition and obesity. We address endogeneity of maternal schooling by instrumenting with variation in schooling costs when the mother grew up. Using matched data from the female participants of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and their children, we can control for mother's ability and family background factors. Our results show substantial intergenerational returns to education. For children aged 7-8, for example, our IV results indicate that an additional year of mother's schooling increases the child's performance on a standardized math test by almost 0.1 of a standard deviation, and reduces the incidence of behavioral problems. Our data set allows us to study a large array of channels which may transmit the effect of maternal education to the child, including family environment and parental investments at different ages of the child. We find that income effects, delayed childbearing, and assortative mating are likely to be important, and we show that maternal education leads to substantial differences in maternal labor supply. We investigate heterogeneity in returns, and we present results focusing both on very early stages in the child's life as well as adolescent outcomes. We present a falsification exercise to support the validity of our instruments, and our results are found to be robust in a sensitivity analysis. We discuss policy implications and relate our findings to intergenerational mobility. |
| Keywords: | education, child development, intergenerational mobility |
| JEL: | J31 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3072&r=edu |
| By: | Shin-Yi Chou; Jin-Tan Liu; Michael Grossman; Theodore J. Joyce |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits a natural experiment to estimate the causal impact of parental education on child health in Taiwan. In 1968, the Taiwanese government extended compulsory education from six to nine years. From that year through 1973, the government opened 254 new junior high schools, an 80 percent increase, at a differential rate among regions. We form treatment and control groups of women or men who were age 12 or under on the one hand and between the ages of 13 and 20 or 25 on the other hand in 1968. Within each region, we exploit variations across cohorts in new junior high school openings to construct an instrument for schooling. We employ this instrument to estimate the causal effects of mother's or father's schooling on the incidence of low birthweight and mortality of infants born to women in the treatment and control groups or the wives of men in these groups in the period from 1978 through 1999. Parents' schooling, especially mother's schooling, does indeed cause favorable infant health outcomes. The increase in schooling associated with the reform saved almost 1 infant life in 1,000 live births, resulting in a decline in infant mortality of approximately 11 percent. |
| JEL: | I10 I20 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13466&r=edu |
| By: | Justin van der Sluis (Amsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship and University of Amsterdam); Mirjam van Praag (Amsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship, Tinbergen Institute, University of Amsterdam and IZA); Arjen van Witteloostuijn (University of Groningen and University of Durham) |
| Abstract: | We compare the returns to education (RTE) for entrepreneurs and employees, based on 19 waves of the NLSY database. By using instrumental variable techniques (IV) and taking account of selectivity, we find that the RTE are significantly higher for entrepreneurs than for employees (18.3 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively). We perform various analyses in an attempt to explain the difference. We find (indirect) support for the argument that the higher RTE for entrepreneurs is due to fewer (organizational) constraints faced by entrepreneurs when optimizing the profitable employment of their education. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, self-employment, returns to education employment |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 J44 M13 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3058&r=edu |
| By: | Bo Hansson |
| Abstract: | This paper examines crowding-out effects and the labour market match for the tertiary educated in 26 OECD countries, using attainment data and data on labour market outcomes from Education at a Glance 2006. A first-difference approach is applied on a three-period, pooled country-panel to examine the effects of changes in tertiary attainment levels against changes in labour market outcomes over time. The policy questions in this paper focus on the potential negative short-term effects that mismatches between the supply of and demand for higher-educated individuals might bring about. There is no evidence in the current data suggesting any crowding-out effects of lower-educated from higher-educated individuals. On the contrary, there seems to be positive employment effects for individuals with less education in countries expanding their tertiary education. Labour market outcomes for the upper secondary educated appears to be less influenced by the expansion of tertiary education, but there is no indication that tertiary educated individuals, on average, are displacing (crowding out) upper secondary educated individuals from the labour market. Similarly, the job market for the tertiary educated appears to be little influenced by the expansion of tertiary education. There are some indications that relative unemployment (relative to upper secondary) for the tertiary educated has been diluted to some extent, but this appears to be more related to the upper secondary educated, relatively speaking, strengthening their labour market positions vis-à-vis tertiary educated individuals in general. The earnings advantage (premium) for tertiary educated individuals in comparison with upper secondary educated individuals is still on the rise, which suggests that, on the whole, demand outstrips supply in most countries. <BR>Cette étude examine l'adéquation sur le marché du travail des diplômés de l'enseignement tertiaire et les effets de progression du chômage chez les moins qualifiés dans 26 pays de l'OCDE, sur la base de données portant sur le niveau d'enseignement et la situation sur le marché du travail publiées dans l'édition 2006 de Regards sur l'éducation. Afin d'analyser les effets de l'évolution des taux d'obtention d'un diplôme tertiaire par rapport à l'évolution au fil du temps de la situation sur le marché du travail, une approche de différence première a été appliquée à un échantillon de pays mis en commun sur trois périodes différentes. Les questions d'action publique abordées dans cette étude se concentrent notamment sur les effets négatifs à court terme que peut occasionner une inadéquation de l'offre par rapport à la demande d'individus titulaires d'un diplôme de l'enseignement tertiaire. Les données actuellement disponibles ne fournissent aucune preuve confirmant la thèse d'une mainmise des plus qualifiés sur l'emploi. À l'inverse, un effet positif sur l'emploi pour les individus moins éduqués semble s'instaurer dans les pays qui développent leur enseignement tertiaire. La situation sur le marché de l'emploi des titulaires d'un diplôme du deuxième cycle du secondaire paraît moins influencée par l'expansion de l'enseignement tertiaire, bien qu'en moyenne, aucun élément ne semble indiquer que les individus titulaires d'un diplôme tertiaire supplantent les diplômés du deuxième cycle du secondaire dans la course à l'emploi. Dans le même ordre d'idées, le marché de l'emploi des diplômés du tertiaire semble peu influencé par l'expansion de l'enseignement tertiaire. Certains éléments indiquent que le taux de chômage relatif des diplômés du tertiaire (c'est-à-dire par rapport à celui des diplômés du deuxième cycle du secondaire) a connu un certain recul, mais ce phénomène paraît somme toute davantage imputable au renforcement par les diplômés du deuxième cycle du secondaire de leur position sur le marché du travail vis-à-vis des diplômés du tertiaire en général. L'avantage salarial des diplômés du tertiaire par rapport aux diplômés du niveau inférieur continue de progresser, ce qui suggère une distanciation générale de la demande par rapport à l'offre dans la plupart des pays. |
| Date: | 2007–09–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:10-en&r=edu |
| By: | Jason Fletcher; Barbara L. Wolfe |
| Abstract: | Recently, Currie and Stabile (2006) made a significant contribution to our understanding of the influence of ADHD symptoms on a variety of school outcomes including participation in special education, grade repetition and test scores. Their contributions include using a broad sample of children and estimating sibling fixed effects models to control for unobserved family effects. In this paper we look at a sample of older children and confirm and extend many of the JCMS findings in terms of a broader set of measures of human capital and additional specifications. |
| JEL: | I1 I2 |
| Date: | 2007–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13474&r=edu |
| By: | Bianca Brandenburg; Jutta Günther; Lutz Schneider |
| Abstract: | Degree-level science and engineering skills as well as management and leadership skills are often referred to as a source of innovative activities within companies. Broken down by sectoral innovation patterns, this article examines the role of formal education and actual occupation for product innovation performance in manufacturing firms within a probit model. It uses unique micro data for Germany (LIAB) that contain detailed information about innovative activities and the qualification of employees. We find significant differences of the human capital endowment between sectors differentiated according to the Pavitt classification. Sectors with a high share of highly skilled employees engage in product innovation above average (specialized suppliers and science based industries). According to our hitherto estimation results, within these sectors the share of highly skilled employees does not, however, substantially increase the probability to be an innovative firm. |
| Keywords: | innovation, human capital, qualification, sectoral innovation system |
| JEL: | O31 J |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwh:dispap:10-07&r=edu |
| By: | Hayfa Grira (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to understand why children often delay school enrolment despite the prediction of human capital theory that schooling should begin at the earliest possible age. We explore different explanations of delayed enrolment but focus particularly on the effect of child health on the timing of human capital investment and on ultimate attainment. We improve on past studies in a number of ways mainly by incorporating into our analysis the endogenous nature of child health, the discrete nature of dependent variable and mainly by correcting for the problem of censoring variables. Using the Matlab Health and Socioeconomic Survey conducted in Bangladesh (1996), our results strongly suggest that early childhood malnutrition is the cause of delayed enrolment. Our estimation results suggest that the cost of three years average delayed enrolment is about 23 % of individual life-time wealth. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh, anthropometry, censored ordered probit, delayed enrolment, duration models. |
| JEL: | I12 I21 J13 C21 C24 |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:bla07038&r=edu |
| By: | Carvalho, Pedro G.; Miragaia, Dina |
| Abstract: | The European Quality Assurance methodology is pushing hard Portuguese Universities so that they should improve their overall performance. Working at a Portuguese University more than a decade ago, one of the authors experienced several life cycles in different Departments and the experience acquired in foreign Universities (USA) teached him a couple of simple things in order to positively participate in this kind of processes. However, he found it quite difficult to apply his knowledge without other’s contribution, due to several endogenous and exogenous reasons, including age and generation viewpoints. Together with the second author we started to apply some theoretical new insights we were discussing together during her PhD research. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiment we are in now, following a social network methodology used in my Economics PhD together with three theoretical influences we think are inter twinkled like the lean thinking, the value focus thinking and the complication in innovation diffusion processes. After a brief literature review we describe the basic pillars we used to achieve the main goal of improving performance in a young university department. Using some coaching and economic tools and knowledge, we were able to gather a group of different people – students, staff and teachers - deeply involved in our proposal methodology. Preliminary results are briefly identified, as much as further research challenges. |
| Keywords: | Lean thinking; quality improvement; social networks analysis; decision making; Portuguese Universities |
| JEL: | O22 H83 L23 H52 |
| Date: | 2007–03–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:2616&r=edu |
| By: | Christian Zimmermann (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | This documents describes the data collection and use for the computation of rankings within RePEc (Research Papers in Economics). This encompasses the determination of impact factors for journals and working paper series, as well as the ranking of authors, institutions and geographic regions. The various ranking methods are also compared, using a snapshot of the data. |
| Keywords: | RePEc, rankings, impact factors, working papers, h-index, citations. |
| JEL: | A14 A10 A11 A13 Z00 |
| Date: | 2007–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2007-36&r=edu |