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on Education |
| By: | Brian A. Jacob; Lars Lefgren; David Sims |
| Abstract: | Educational interventions are often narrowly targeted and temporary, and evaluations often focus on the short-run impacts of the intervention. Insofar as the positive effects of educational interventions fadeout over time, however, such assessments may be misleading. In this paper, we develop a simple statistical framework to empirically assess the persistence of treatment effects in education. To begin, we present a simple model of student learning that incorporates permanent as well as transitory learning gains. Using this model, we demonstrate how the parameter of interest – the persistence of a particular measurable education input – can be recovered via instrumental variables as a particular local average treatment effect. We initially motivate this strategy in the context of teacher quality, but then generalize the model to consider educational interventions more generally. Using administrative data that links students and teachers, we construct measures of teacher effectiveness and then estimate the persistence of these teacher value-added measures on student test scores. We find that teacher-induced gains in math and reading achievement quickly erode. In most cases, our point estimates suggest a one-year persistence of about one-fifth and rule out a one-year persistence rate higher than one-third. |
| JEL: | I2 I21 J20 J24 J38 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14065&r=edu |
| By: | Stephen Coelen; Sevin� Rende; Doug Fulton |
| Abstract: | Weaknesses of the continuum from high school education into the Connecticut workforce include the following: (1) Too many highly qualified high school students do not go on to college at all; (2) Too many high school students neglect to apply to in-State colleges or are not accepted in the in- State college of their choice; leaving the State, they often remain in their out-of-state community to work (3) Too many additional students transfer from in-State to Out-of-State colleges during college and these, in great numbers, do not return to Connecticut in their post college years; (4) Too many students, wherever trained, may start in the Connecticut labor market but fail to stay in Connecticut employment for very long; and (5) Too many, starting college, fail to complete college, making college an expensive and uncertain proposition, while improving students' completion rates would promote greater efficiency in the use of student and State resources. |
| Keywords: | high school education; college education; workplace success; CAPT testing; SAT testing |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:cceast:2007-apr-01&r=edu |
| By: | Olivier Debande (European Investment Bank, Luxembourg); Jean-Luc De Meulemeester (Université Libre de Bruxelles and SKOPE, University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze a bidimensional quality competition between two higher education sectors characterised by different preferences (academic vs. vocational) as well as cost structures, and its impact on curriculum’s provision (type and quality), both in decentralised and social welfare maximisation settings. The students are heterogenous in terms of their valuation of quality and their intellectual type. We try to illustrate in this abstract setting some stylized facts as academic drift of vocational institutions as well as addressing more normative issue as the relative merits of binary or unitary models of higher education |
| Keywords: | Higher education, competition, vertical and horizontal differentiation |
| JEL: | I21 L13 N30 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dul:wpaper:08-12rs&r=edu |
| By: | Beckstead, Desmond; Brown, W. Mark; Newbold, Bruce |
| Abstract: | University degree holders in large cities are more prevalent and are growing at a more rapid pace than in smaller cities and rural areas. This relatively high rate of growth stems from net migratory flows and/or higher rates of degree attainment in cities. Using data from the 1996 and 2001 Censuses, this paper tests the relative importance of these two sources of human capital growth by decomposing degree-holder growth across cities into net migratory flows (domestic and foreign) and in situ growth: that is, growth resulting from higher rates of degree attainment among the resident populations of cities. We find that both sources are important, with in situ growth being the more dominant force. Hence, it is less the ability of cities to attract human capital than their ability to generate it that underlies the high rates of degree attainment we observe across city populations. |
| Keywords: | Education, training and learning, Business performance and ownership, Population and demography, Educational attainment, Regional and urban profiles, Mobility and migration |
| Date: | 2008–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp1e:2008019e&r=edu |
| By: | Elizabeth Cascio; Damon Clark; Nora Gordon |
| Abstract: | It is widely documented that U.S. students score below their OECD counterparts on international achievement tests, but it is less commonly known that ultimately, U.S. native adults catch up. In this paper, we explore institutional explanations for differences in the evolution of literacy over young adulthood across wealthy OECD countries. We use an international cross-section of micro data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS); these data show that cross-country differences in the age profile of literacy skills are not due to differences in individual family background, and that relatively high rates of university graduation appears to explain a good part of the U.S. "catch up." The cross-sectional design of the IALS prevents us from controlling for cohort effects, but we use a variety of other data sources to show that cohort effects are likely small in comparison to the differences by age revealed in the IALS. We go on to discuss how particular institutional features of secondary and postsecondary education correlate, at the country level, with higher rates of university completion. |
| JEL: | F0 I2 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14073&r=edu |
| By: | A. Arrighetti; S. Curatolo; A. Lasagni |
| Keywords: | Human capital, Educational attainment, Labour demand, Labour supply, Graduate employment , Staff ratio, White Collars, Manufacturing industries, Firm size, Italy |
| JEL: | J24 J21 L60 I20 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:par:dipeco:2008-ep02&r=edu |
| By: | Antonella Fazio Vargas; Antonella Fazio Vargas y Fabio Sánchez Torres |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of land concentration prompted by the distribution of disentailed Church land during the second half of the 19th century on the accumulation of human capital, in early 20th century Colombia1. Utilizing existing primary sources on the process of land disentailment and the 1912 National Census, descriptive statistics and econometric evidence show a significant and negative relationship between the amount of disentailed land during the 1870s at municipal level with literacy and school enrollment rates of males in 1912. |
| Date: | 2008–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:004716&r=edu |
| By: | Luis Fernando Gamboa; Nohora Forero Ramírez |
| Abstract: | We test the existence of changes in the relationship between fertility and schooling in Colombia for women from 30 to 40 years old between 1995 and 2005. For our purpose, we use Poisson Regression Models. Our database is the Demographic and Health Survey from 1995 and 2005. We found a reduction in the fertility during this period and an increase in the educative level of the population. According to our results the total number of children a woman has, keeps an inverse relationship with her educative level, which may be explained by the effects of education on the knowledge of the fertility. We also find that the effect of an additional year of education in 1995 is higher than 2005. Besides, we also find that there are significant rural-urban differences in the determinants on fertility for Colombia’s women in the last decade. *** En este trabajo se pretende evaluar la existencia de cambios en la relación entre fecundidad y escolaridad en Colombia para mujeres de 30 a 40 años de edad entre 1995 y 2005. Para tal efecto se utilizan modelos de Poisson sobre la Encuesta Nacional de Demografía y Salud 1995 y 2005. Se encuentra una reducción en la fecundidad durante el periodo y su relación inversa con la escolaridad, que puede ser explicada por el efecto de la educación sobre otras variables como el incremento en el conocimiento sobre los programas de control natal. Se encuentra además que el efecto de un año adicional de educación sobre la fecundidad es mayor en 1995 que en 2005. De otro lado, se encuentra que las diferencias entre zonas urbanas y rurales son significativas en la explicación de la fecundidad en Colombia durante la última década. |
| Date: | 2008–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:004711&r=edu |
| By: | James J. Heckman |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses (a) the role of cognitive and noncognitive ability in shaping adult outcomes, (b) the early emergence of differentials in abilities between children of advantaged families and children of disadvantaged families, (c) the role of families in creating these abilities, (d) adverse trends in American families, and (e) the effectiveness of early interventions in offsetting these trends. Practical issues in the design and implementation of early childhood programs are discussed. |
| JEL: | A12 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14064&r=edu |
| By: | Luis Hernando Gutierrez; Luis Fernando Gamboa |
| Abstract: | This study examines the determinants of information and communications technology (ICT) use and access of low-income people in three developing countries: Colombia, Mexico and Peru. We focus on cross-country differences and similarities in ICTs use across gender, age, education and income, using two composite indicators of ICT. The main similarity across the countries is that education is by far the single most important factor limiting the digitalization of low-income people. The impact of income was low although positive. There is not apparently a gender gap in Colombia and Mexico but one in Peru. Our findings also suggest that when using a composite indicator that only include the ‘advanced ICTs’, disadvantage people among the low-income people can be more constrained in the use and access of more advanced information and communications technologies. **** El estudio analiza los determinantes de uso y acceso a las tecnologías de información y comunicación en personas de bajos ingresos en pasases como Colombia, México y Perú. El punto central esta en analizar las diferencias entre países de acuerdo a diferentes variables socioeconómicas. Se encuentra que la variable que más explica el nivel de acceso digital es la escolaridad. De otro lado no se encuentra una brecha por género sino en Perú. Los resultados también indican que cuando solo se tienen en cuenta las tecnologías más ‘avanzadas’, las diferencias entre la población son más notorias. |
| Date: | 2008–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:004710&r=edu |
| By: | Blunch, N. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the religion-human capital link, examining a recent household survey for Ghana. Insights from the recent anthropological literature leads to a prediction of Islam being associated with lower human capital levels than Christianity, since Islam, perhaps surprisingly, may be clustered together with Traditional/Animist religion within the group of orally based religions for the case of Ghana. While previous studies typically have only considered the main religions, thereby not allowing for heterogeneous associations in the links at the sub-group level, and also have not allowed religious affiliation to be endogenously determined, these possibilities are explored here, as well. I find a strong association between individual religious affiliation and human capital as measured by years of schooling, with Christians as a group being more literate and having completed more years of schooling than Muslims and Animists / Traditionalists, thus confirming the predictions from the conceptual framework. At the same time, there is a great deal of heterogeneity in the strength of this relationship within different types of Christianity. The instrumental variables estimation strategy proves to be preferable to OLS, while at the same yielding higher associations in the religion-human capital relations ship. In turn, this indicates that previous studies, which have typically used OLS, may have systematically underestimated the strength of the religion-human capital link. Directions for future research are also presented. |
| Keywords: | Religion, human capital, literacy and numeracy, Ghana. |
| JEL: | J24 Z12 |
| Date: | 2007–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0770&r=edu |
| By: | Jonathan Heathcote; Kjetil Storesletten; Giovanni L. Violante |
| Abstract: | In recent decades, the US wage structure has been transformed by a rising college premium, a narrowing gender gap, and increasing persistent and transitory residual wage dispersion. This paper explores the implications of these changes for cross-sectional inequality in hours worked, earnings and consumption, and for welfare. The framework for the analysis is an incomplete-markets overlapping-generations model in which individuals choose education and form households, and households choose consumption and intra-family time allocation. An explicit production technology underlies equilibrium prices for labor inputs differentiated by gender and education. The model is parameterized using micro data from the PSID, the CPS and the CEX. With the changing wage structure as the only primitive force, the model can account for the key trends in cross-sectional US data. We also assess the role played by education, labor supply, and saving in providing insurance against shocks, and in exploiting opportunities presented by changes in the relative prices of different types of labor. |
| JEL: | E21 I21 I31 J2 J31 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14052&r=edu |
| By: | S. S. M. Sadrul Huda, Ahmed Taneem Muzaffar and Jashim Uddin Ahmed (East West University, Bangladesh; East West University, Bangladesh; North South University, Bangladesh) |
| Abstract: | Contaminated and unhygienic food intake is a major problem in the urban cities of Bangladesh. This raises a serious concern for health of the urban citizens. The research investigates into the attitude of the urban educated people on their awareness of food safety. The findings of the study suggest a high degree of awareness amongst respondents of the attitudinal survey. People with higher educational background show higher degree of awareness of how the quality of food should be maintained. A lack of confidence on the functions of government regulatory agency in testing the food standard is also reflected in the study. |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aiu:abewps:65&r=edu |
| By: | Michael D. Grubb; Paul Oyer |
| Abstract: | We use university parking permits to study how firms and employees split the value of employee benefit tax subsidies. Starting in 1998, the IRS allowed employees to pay for parking passes with pre-tax income. This subsidized the parking pass purchases of faculty and staff, but did not affect students. We show that the typical university raised its parking rates by 8-10% extra when it implemented a pre-tax payment system, but that this increase was the same for those affected by the tax change and those that were not affected. We conclude that university employees captured much of the new tax benefit, that faculty and staff that purchase permits benefited relative to those that do not purchase permits, and that students that purchase permits were made worse off relative to those that do not buy permits. We discuss what these results suggest about universities' objectives in setting their parking prices and about the demand for university parking. |
| JEL: | H25 H32 J32 K35 K49 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14062&r=edu |
| By: | Gudrun Biffl (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | The integration of migrant women and youth into the labour market depends upon institutional ramifications (in particular the immigration regime, the welfare model and the education system), on supply factors (in particular the educational attainment level and occupational skills, language competence, ethnic origin and the proximity to the ethnic cultural identity of the host country), and demand factors (in particular the composition by economic sectors, the division of work between the household, the informal and the market sector and the economic and technological development level). |
| Keywords: | Migrants, immigration policy, Gender gaps, welfare models, foreign born, citizenship, third country origin, second generation, education system, labour market integration |
| Date: | 2008–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2008:i:320&r=edu |
| By: | Anna Matas Prats (GEAP, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (SPAIN).); José Luís Raymond Bara (GEAP, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (SPAIN).); José Luís Raymond Bara (GEAP, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (SPAIN).) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to estimate the impact of residential job accessibility on female employment probability in the metropolitan areas of Barcelona and Madrid. Following a “spatial mismatch” framework, we estimate a female employment probability equation where variables controlling for personal characteristics, residential segregation and employment potential on public transport network are included. Data used come from Microcensus 2001 of INE (National Institute of Statistics). The research focuses on the treatment of endogeneity problems and the measurement of accessibility variables. Our results show that low job accessibility in public transport negatively affects employment probability. The intensity of this effect tends to decrease with individual’s educational attainment. A higher degree of residential segregation also reduces job probability in a significant way.. |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2008-05&r=edu |
| By: | Dennis Coates (Department of Economics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County); Craig A. Depken, II (Belk College of Business, University of North Carolina - Charlotte) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the net impacts of college football games on the sales tax revenues and taxable sales of four mid-sized cities in Texas. The paper addresses the question in the title, but also asks whether state policy makers might be justified in encouraging schools in their state to play one another based on the local economic impact those games will have. In general, our evidence suggests the answer to that question is no. |
| Keywords: | tourism, economic impacts, special events |
| JEL: | L83 H27 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:wpaper:0802&r=edu |
| By: | Ramon Marimon; Vincenzo Quadrini |
| Abstract: | We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model with two-sided limited commitment to study how barriers to competition, such as restrictions to business start-up, affect the incentive to accumulate human capital. We show that a lack of contract enforceability amplifies the effect of barriers to competition on human capital accumulation. High barriers reduce the incentive to accumulate human capital by lowering the outside value of ‘skilled workers’, while low barriers can result in over-accumulation of human capital. This over-accumulation can be socially optimal if there are positive knowledge spillovers. A calibration exercise shows that this mechanism can account for significant cross-country income inequality. |
| Keywords: | Limited commitment, limited enforcement, human capital accumulation, income inequality, innovation, barriers to competition. |
| JEL: | D99 E20 J24 O15 O34 O43 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eui:euiwps:eco2008/21&r=edu |
| By: | Berna Demiralp (Old Dominion University, Department of Economics); Johanna Francis (Fordham University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Although the debate about the effect of wealth on entrepreneurship is now almost two decades old, there is little consensus among researchers about the significance of wealth as a determinant for self-employment. We re-visit the relationship between wealth and entrepreneurship using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Like Hurst and Lusardi (2004), our results suggest the relationship between wealth and the probability of entering entrepreneurship is nonlinear. However, unlike Hurst and Lusardi, we find the probability of entrepreneurship increases at an increasing rate with wealth, starting at lower quantiles of the wealth distribution. We also observe that the aggregate relationship masks differences among entrepreneurs with respect to their industry. While high capital requirement industries and professional services display a convex relationship between wealth and the probability of self-employment, low capital requirement industries display a concave relationship. Since we find a positive relationship between wealth and the probability of entering entrepreneurship at lower quantiles of the wealth distribution, it is critical to check whether this relationship is caused by wealth endogeneity. In order to account for the possible endogeneity of wealth we instrument for wealth using changes in housing equity and the value of unexpected inheritances. The results of instrumental variable estimation reveal that there is no significant relationship between wealth and entering entrepreneurship for the full sample as well as for each of the three industries. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneur, wealth, industry, liquidity constraints |
| JEL: | E21 G11 J24 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frd:wpaper:dp2008-09&r=edu |
| By: | RUTA AIDIS; TOMASZ MICKIEWICZ*; ARNIS SAUKA |
| Abstract: | Does entrepreneurial optimism affect business performance? Using a unique data set based on repeated survey design, we investigate this relationship empirically. Our measures of ‘optimism’ and ‘realism’ are derived from comparing the turnover growth expectations of 133 owners-managers with the actual outcomes one year later. Our results indicate that entrepreneurial optimists perform significantly better in terms of profits than pessimists. Moreover, it is the optimist-realist combination that performs best. We interpret our results using regulatory focus theory. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Optimism, Venture Growth, Regulatory Focus Theory, Latvia |
| JEL: | D21 L21 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wdi:papers:2008-914&r=edu |
| By: | Nicola Lacetera (Department of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH, USA); Lorenzo Zirulia (Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Italy; CESPRI, Bocconi University, Milano, Italy; and Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis) |
| Abstract: | Scientific fraud is a pervasive phenomenon with deleterious consequences, as it leads to false scientific knowledge being published, therefore a¤ecting major individual and public decisions. In this paper we build a game-theoretic model of the research and publication process that ana- lyzes why scientists commit fraud and how fraud can be detected and prevented. In the model, authors are asymmetrically informed about the success of their projects, and can fraudulently manipulate their results. We show four main results. First, the types of scientific frauds that are observed are unlikely to be representative of the overall amount of malfeasance in science; also, star scientists are more likely to misbehave, but are less likely to be caught than average scientists. Second, a reduction in the costs of checking for frauds may not lead to a reduction of misconduct episodes, but rather to a change in the type of research that is performed. Third, an increase in competition between scientists may in fact reduce, and not increase, scientific misconduct. Finally, a more active role of editors in checking for misconduct does not always provide additional deterrence. |
| Keywords: | Research and publication process, peer review, fraud. |
| JEL: | A14 D82 K42 O31 Z13 |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cri:cespri:wp215&r=edu |
| By: | Beckstead, Desmond; Brown, W. Mark; Newbold, Bruce |
| Abstract: | Les diplômés universitaires sont plus nombreux et leur nombre croît plus rapidement dans les grandes villes que dans les petites villes et les régions rurales. Ce taux de croissance relativement élevé tient aux flux migratoires nets et(ou) aux taux plus élevés d'obtention d'un diplôme. En s'appuyant sur les données tirées des Recensements de 1996 et de 2001, les auteurs du présent document testent l'importance relative de ces deux sources de croissance du capital humain en décomposant la croissance du nombre de titulaires de diplômes dans les diverses villes en flux migratoires nets (intérieurs et étrangers) et en croissance in situ, autrement dit, croissance attribuable aux taux plus élevés d'obtention d'un diplôme dans les populations des résidents des villes. Nous constatons que les deux sources sont importantes, la croissance in situ étant toutefois le facteur dominant. Ainsi, les taux élevés d'obtention d'un diplôme dans les populations des villes s'expliquent moins par la capacité des villes d'attirer du capital humain que par leur capacité de le générer. |
| Keywords: | Éducation, formation et apprentissage, Rendement des entreprises et appartenance, Population et démographie, Niveau de scolarité, Profils régionaux et urbains, Mobilité et migration |
| Date: | 2008–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp1f:2008019f&r=edu |
| By: | Marco Novarese (Universita del Piemonte Orientale); Christian Zimmermann (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | We study how the democratization of the diffusion of research through the Internet could have helped non traditional fields of research. The specific case we approach is Heterodox Economics as its pre-prints are disseminated through NEP, the email alert service of RePEc. Comparing heterodox and mainstream papers, we find that heterodox ones are quite systematically more downloaded, and particularly so when considering downloads per subscriber. We conclude that the Internet definitely helps heterodox research, also because other researcher get exposed to it. But there is still room for more participation by heterodox researchers. |
| Keywords: | NEP, RePEc, heterodox economics, diffusion of research |
| JEL: | B50 A14 |
| Date: | 2008–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2008-17&r=edu |