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on Education |
|
Issue of 2009‒02‒14
forty-one papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Chen, Dandan (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the differentiated outcomes of vocational and general secondary academic education, particularly in terms of employment opportunities, labor market earnings, and access to tertiary education in Indonesia. With data from a panel of two waves of the Indonesia Family Life Survey in 1997 and 2000, the paper tracks a cohort of high school students in 1997 to examine their schooling and employment status in 2000. The findings demonstrate that: (1) attendance at vocational secondary schools results in neither market advantage nor disadvantage in terms of employment opportunities and/or earnings premium; (2) attendance at vocational schools leads to significantly lower academic achievement as measured by national test scores; and (3) There is no stigma attached to attendance at vocational schools that results in a disadvantage in access to tertiary education; rather, it is the lower academic achievement associated with attendance at vocational school that lowers the likelihood of entering college. The empirical approach of this paper addresses two limitations of the existing literature in this area. First, it takes into account the observation censoring issue due to college entry when evaluating labor market outcomes of secondary school graduates. Second, using an instrumental variable approach, the paper also treats endogeneity of household choice of vocational versus academic track of secondary education, teasing out the net effect of secondary school choice on labor market and schooling outcomes. |
| Keywords: | academic achievement; academic attainment; academic content; academic education; academic schools; access to higher education; access to tertiary education; catholic schools; classroom; classroom time |
| Date: | 2009–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4814&r=edu |
| By: | Bauer, Philipp C. (economiesuisse); Riphahn, Regina T. (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | We use Swiss data to test whether intergenerational educational mobility is affected by the age at which children first enter (primary) school. Early age at school entry significantly affects mobility and reduces the relative advantage of children of better educated parents. |
| Keywords: | age at entry, intergenerational transmission of education, educational mobility |
| JEL: | I2 I21 J24 D30 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3977&r=edu |
| By: | Bill Adamson; Ritu Hooda (South Dakota State University) |
| Keywords: | retun to education, south dakota, wages, wage premium, education |
| JEL: | J31 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sda:ibrief:2008504&r=edu |
| By: | Hoffman, Florian; Oreopoulos, Philip |
| Abstract: | Many wonder whether teacher gender plays an important role in higher education by influencing student achievement and subject interest. The data used in this paper helps identify average effects from male and female university students assigned to male or female teachers. In contrast to previous work at the primary and secondary school level, our focus on large first-year undergraduate classes isolates gender interaction effects due to students reacting to instructors rather than instructors reacting to students. In addition, by focussing on university students, we examine the extent to which gender interactions may exist at later ages. We find that assignment to a same-sex instructor boosts relative grade performance and the likelihood of completing a course, but the magnitudes of these effects are small. A same-sex instructor increases average grade performance by at most 5 percent of its standard deviation and decreases the likelihood of dropping a course by 1.2 percentage points. The effects are similar when conditioning on initial ability (high school achievement), and ethnic background (mother tongue not English), but smaller when conditioning on mathematics and science courses. The effects of same-sex instructors on upper-year course selection are insignificant. |
| Keywords: | Teacher Quality, Higher Education, Gender Role Model Effects |
| JEL: | I2 H4 |
| Date: | 2009–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2009-13&r=edu |
| By: | Carlos Vieira (Universidade de Evora, CEFAGE-UE); Isabel Vieira (Universidade de Evora, CEFAGE-UE) |
| Abstract: | Higher education systems have generally been adapting to increasing demand, higher quality requirements and severe financial constraints. In Portugal, where public funding critically depends on the new enrolments, the short term uncertainties of declining applications exacerbate systemic long term underfunding certainties. Unfavourable demographics explain most, but not all, recent negative trends in demand for higher education. In such uncertain context strategic planning is difficult, and predicting new enrolments, and thus the volume of public funds, became a new and major challenge for universities. This paper proposes an empirical analysis of demand’s main determinants, allowing a more precise picture of future enrolments and funding. |
| Keywords: | demand for higher education; determinants of university participation; financing higher education; enrolments forecasting. |
| JEL: | I20 I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2009_02&r=edu |
| By: | Belley, Phillippe; Lochner, Lance |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from the 1979 and 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth cohorts(NLSY79 and NLSY97) to estimate changes in the effects of ability and family income on educational attainment for youth in their late teens during the early 1980s and early 2000s. Cognitive ability plays an important role in determining educational outcomes for both NLSY cohorts, while family income plays little role in determining high school completion in either cohort. Most interestingly, we document a dramatic increase in the effects of family income on college attendance (particularly among the least able) from the NLSY79 to the NLSY97. Family income has also become a much more important determinant of college `quality' and hours/weeks worked during the academic year (the latter among the most able) in the NLSY97. Family income has little effect on college delay in either sample. To interpret our empirical findings on college attendance, we develop an educational choice model that incorporates both borrowing constraints and a `consumption' value of schooling – two of the most commonly invoked explanations for a positive family income - schooling relationship. Without borrowing constraints, the model cannot explain the rising effects of family income on college attendance in response to the sharply rising costs and returns to college experienced from the early 1980s to early 2000s: the incentives created by a 'consumption' value of schooling imply that income should have become less important over time (or even negatively related to attendance). Instead, the data are more broadly consistent with the hypothesis that more youth are borrowing constrained today than were in the early 1980s. |
| Keywords: | Ability, Achievement, Borrowing Constraints, College, Credit Constraints, Family Income, High School |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2009–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2009-9&r=edu |
| By: | Neill, Christine |
| Abstract: | Student loan programs are an important feature of post-secondary education systems around the world. However, there is little direct evidence on whether these programs are effective in increasing enrolments of credit constrained students. Unlike other countries, Canada has a system of student loans and grants that is based on combined provincial/federal jurisdiction, leading to policy differences over time between provinces. I exploit these differences to evaluate the effects of changes in maximum student loan limits on enrolments of young people. I find that although there is evidence that increasing nonrepayable assistance leads to increases in enrolments, loans appear to increase only the probability of youth living away from their parents’ house while studying. |
| Keywords: | Post-Secondary Education, Student Loans, Credit Constraints |
| JEL: | I2 I28 |
| Date: | 2009–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2009-11&r=edu |
| By: | Pandey, Priyanka (The World Bank); Goya, Sangeeta (The World Bank); Sundararaman, Venkatesh (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents findings from baseline surveys on student learning achievement, teacher effort and community participation in three Indian states, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Results indicate low teacher attendance and poor student learning. Parents and school committees are neither aware of their oversight roles nor participating in school management. However, there is substantial heterogeneity in outcomes across states. Karnataka has better student and teacher outcomes as well as higher levels of community awareness and participation than the other two states. We find substantial variation in teacher effort within schools, but most observable teacher characteristics are not associated with teacher effort. One reason for low teacher effort may be lack of accountability. Regression analysis suggests low rates of teacher attendance are only part of the problem of low student achievement. The gains in test scores associated with higher rates of attendance and engagement in teaching are small in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, suggesting teachers themselves may not be effective. Ineffective teaching may result from lack of accountability as well as poor professional development of teachers. Further research is needed to examine not only issues of accountability but also professional development of teachers. |
| Keywords: | Academic Achievement; annual grants; average class size; basic competencies; basic education; basic services; blackboards; call; civil service; civil service teachers; class size; class sizes |
| Date: | 2008–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4777&r=edu |
| By: | Pasqualino Montanaro (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | Student performance has been tested by various surveys at the international level in recent years, using different aims and methodologies. On the basis of a comparative analysis, this paper aims to describe the differences in performance between Italian regions, subjects and ages or grades. All the surveys revealed significant gaps in performance across the Italian regions, with students in the South being far behind those in the North in all the subjects surveyed (reading, mathematics, science). This gap is particularly marked in technical (“istituti tecnici”) and vocational (“istituti professionali”) schools. Also the degree of disparity in scores is higher in the South. The geographical divides increase with grade: the gaps between North and South are more mitigated at the earlier grades and concentrated among students with a low parental background. Student achievement is strongly correlated with the socio-cultural and economic conditions of the family. However, this relationship seems to be sharper at the earlier grades, while it vanishes at the upper secondary school level, when the type-of-program and school effects have much greater impact. Finally, this paper also suggests that marks (or final grades) given internally by schools do not reflect the real levels of proficiency, and do not, therefore, distinguish good students from bad ones. |
| Keywords: | quality of education, international assessments, regional disparities |
| JEL: | I20 I21 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_14_08&r=edu |
| By: | Farré, Lídia (University of Alicante); Klein, Roger (Rutgers University); Vella, Francis (Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the degree of intergenerational transmission of education for individuals from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Rather than identifying the causal effect of parental education via instrumental variables we exploit the feature of the transmission mechanism responsible for its endogeneity. More explicitly, we assume the intergenerational transfer of unobserved ability is invariant to the economic environment. This, combined with the heteroskedasticity resulting from the interaction of unobserved ability with socioeconomic factors, identifies this causal effect. We conclude the observed intergenerational educational correlation reflects both a causal parental educational effect and a transfer of unobserved ability. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, endogeneity, conditional correlation |
| JEL: | C31 J62 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3967&r=edu |
| By: | Dongshu Ou |
| Abstract: | The high school exit exam (HSEE) is rapidly becoming a standardized assessment procedure foreducational accountability in the United States. I use a unique state-specific dataset to identify theeffect of failing the HSEE on the likelihood that a student drops out early based on a RegressionDiscontinuity design. It shows that students who barely fail the exam are more likely to exit thanthose who barely pass despite being offered retest opportunities. The discontinuity amounts to a largeproportion of the dropout probability of barely-failers, particularly for minority and low-incomestudents, suggesting that the potential benefit of raising educational standards might come at the costof increasing inequalities in the educational system. |
| Keywords: | high school exit exam, student dropout, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0907&r=edu |
| By: | Azam, Mehtabul Azam (Southern Methodist University); Blom, Andreas (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Using nationally representative household surveys, this paper examines the trends in attainment, enrollment, and access to tertiary (higher) education in India from 1983 to 2005. The findings suggest that there has been considerable progress in attainment and participation; however, they remain low. Important gaps exist in enrollment between rich and poor, rural and urban areas, men and women, disadvantaged groups and the general population, and states. Analysis of transition rates from secondary education to tertiary education and regression analysis indicate that inequality in tertiary education between disadvantaged groups and the general population is explained by low completion rates of secondary education. Inequality in tertiary education related to income, gender, rural residence, and between states is explained by: (i) differences in completion rates of secondary education, and (ii) differences in the probability of transitioning from secondary education to tertiary education. In particular, the importance of household income has grown markedly. Equitable expansion of secondary education is therefore critical for improving the equity of tertiary education. There is also a need to help qualified youth from low-income families and rural backgrounds to attend tertiary education, in particular the technical and engineering streams, in which participation is lower. |
| Keywords: | access to higher education; access to tertiary education; age cohort; age group; age groups; colleges; competition for entry; completion rate; completion rates degree courses; degrees |
| Date: | 2008–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4793&r=edu |
| By: | Majidov, Toshtemir; Ghosh, Dipak; Ruziev, Kobil |
| Abstract: | Uzbekistan's higher education system has undergone some dramatic changes in the past century, evolving from largely traditional religious colleges to fully state-funded communist-atheist institutions. Since the end of the communist administration and subsequent market-oriented reforms, the institutions of higher education (IHE) in Uzbekistan have had to reinvent and reform themselves again, as the demand for different kind of education increased. This paper puts the current changes and trends in IHEs into an historical perspective and highlights some important effects of the market reforms on the educational scene. |
| Keywords: | Education; Higher; Uzbekistan; Reforms; Transition |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stl:stledp:2009-03&r=edu |
| By: | Bunar, Nihad (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this article is to describe and analyze how a number of multicultural urban schools in the Swedish cities of Stockholm and Malmö identify, understand and respond to the competition they have been exposed to on the emerging educational quasi-market. Based on interviews with school leaders and research on a wide range of secondary literature it is possible to identify three types of competitors: “white” schools, ordinary and religious/ethnic free schools and neighboring multicultural schools. The responding strategies vary from the logic of resignation and condemnation of parents for making “wrong” choices to a critical redefinition of pedagogical practices towards minority students and the equivocal alliances. I argue that the competition as an exclusive incentive for school development, as proposed by the neoliberal educationalists, only partly has proven its aptitude. If the education system is to maintain its transformative capacity then interventions are needed in the very basis of the structure of inequality that generates social differences; in the way the educational market is organized as well as; in the multicultural urban schools’ daily operations and communications with their local communities. |
| Keywords: | school choice; multicultural urban schools; competition; resignation |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2009–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2009_003&r=edu |
| By: | Andersson, Åke E (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This study gives an account of theory, models and measurements of returns to higher education, seen as the results of economically rational investment decisions. The focus is on returns in the form of increased wages and salaries. These returns vary considerably between different countries and tend to be considerably larger in the USA than in western Europe. One of the reasons for these differences in returns may be the differences in systems of funding of higher education. It is claimed that practically all studies of returns to investments in higher education disregard the benefits from reductions in consumer transaction costs and the role played by education as an important input in household production functions. Econometric studies, reported in the paper, accordingly indicate that the level of education has a considerable impact on the structure of household consumption expenditures. |
| Keywords: | education; returns; growth; higher education |
| JEL: | I21 I23 O11 O15 O31 |
| Date: | 2009–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0163&r=edu |
| By: | Nordin, Martin (Department of Economics, Lund University); Persson, Inga (Department of Economics, Lund University); Rooth, Dan-Olof (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper adds to the small literature on the consequences of education-occupation mismatches. It examines the income penalty for field of education – occupation mismatches for men and women with higher education in Sweden and reveals that the penalty for such mismatches is large for both men and women. In fact, it is substantially larger than has been found for the US. Controlling for cognitive ability further establishes that the income penalty is not caused by a sorting by ability, at least for Swedish men. The income penalty for men decreases with work experience which is an indication that education-specific skills and work experience are substitutes to some extent. There is no evidence, though, that the mismatched individuals move to a matching occupation over time. Thus, for some, the income penalty seems to be permanent. |
| Keywords: | Human capital; rate of return; salary wage differentials; educational economics |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–02–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2009_001&r=edu |
| By: | Boudarbat, Brahim; Lemieux, Thomas; Riddell, W. Craig |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the evolution of the returns to human capital in Canada over the period 1980-2006. Most of the analysis is based on Census data, and on weekly wage and salary earnings of full-time workers. Our main finding is that the returns to education increased substantially for Canadian men between 1980 and 2000, in contrast to conclusions reached in previous studies. For example, the adjusted wage gap between men with exactly a bachelors’ degree and men with only a high school diploma increased from 34 percent to 43 percent during this period. Most of this rise took place in the early 1980s and late 1990s. Returns to education also rose for Canadian women, but the magnitudes of the increases were more modest. For instance, the adjusted BA-high school wage differential among women increased about 4 percentage points between 1980 and 1985 and remained stable thereafter. Results based on Labour Force Survey data show the upward trend in returns to education has recently been reversed for both men and women. Another important development is that after fifteen years of expansion (1980-1995), the return to work experience measured by the wage gap between younger and older workers declined between 1995 and 2000. Finally, we find little difference between measures based on means and those based on medians of log wages for both genders. Also, the use of broader earnings measures (such as including self-employment earnings, using weekly earnings of all workers, or using annual earnings of full-time workers) does not alter the main conclusions from the analysis based on weekly wage and salary earnings of full-time workers. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Wage Differentials, Returns to Education, Canada |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2009-8&r=edu |
| By: | Deborah Nusche |
| Abstract: | Education plays an essential role in preparing the children of immigrants for participation in the labour market and society. Giving these children opportunities to fully develop their potential is vital for future economic growth and social cohesion in OECD countries. But migrant students in most OECD countries tend to have lower education outcomes than their native peers. Extensive previous research has described the system level, school level and individual level factors that influence the education outcomes of migrant students. Building on such previous research, this paper looks at the ways in which education policies can influence these factors to help provide better educational opportunities for migrant students.<BR>L’éducation joue un rôle crucial dans la préparation des enfants d’immigrants au monde du travail et à la vie sociale. Donner à ces enfants l’opportunité de développer pleinement leur potentiel est une nécessité pour assurer la croissance économique future et la cohésion sociale dans les pays de l’OCDE. Cependant, les résultats scolaires des étudiants migrants sont en moyenne plus faibles que ceux des natifs dans la plupart des pays de l’OCDE. De nombreux travaux de recherche ont décrit les facteurs influençant la performance des migrants, au niveau du système d’éducation dans son ensemble, comme au niveau de chaque école et de chaque individu en particulier. En s’appuyant sur les résultats de la recherche existante, ce papier étudie comment les politiques d’éducation peuvent à leur tour influencer ces facteurs, afin de donner aux étudiants migrants les meilleures opportunités. |
| Date: | 2009–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:22-en&r=edu |
| By: | Rita Cappariello (Bank of Italy); Roberta Zizza (Bank of Italy) |
| Keywords: | irregular employment, underground economy, dual informal sector, occupational choice, education, school drop-out, North and South divide Abstract: The paper empirically tests the relationship between underground labour and schooling achievement for Italy, a country ranking badly in both respects when compared to other high-income economies, with a marked duality between North and South. In order to identify underground workers, we exploit the information on individualsÂ’ social security positions available from the Bank of ItalyÂ’s Survey on Household Income and Wealth. After controlling for a wide range of socio-demographic and economic variables and addressing potential endogeneity and selection issues, we show that a low level of education sizeably and significantly increases the probability of working underground. Switching from completing compulsory school to graduating at college more than halves this probability for both men and women. The gain is slightly higher for individuals completing the compulsory track with respect to those having no formal education at all. The different probabilities found for self-employed and dependent workers support the view of a dual informal sector, in which necessity and desirability coexist. |
| JEL: | I21 J24 O17 R23 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_702_09&r=edu |
| By: | Meacci, Ferdinando |
| Abstract: | The Italian university system has undergone two reforms in recent years. One has been introduced by the Ministerial Decrees 3 November 1999, n. 509 and 22 October 2004 n. 207. The other has been introduced by the law 23 December 2000 n. 388 art. 59, c.3. and by the Presidential Decree 24 May 2001, n. 254. The former compels Italian universities, whether public (the majority) or private (a tiny minority) to change their graduation system and courses. The latter enables State universities to establish university foundations (fondazioni universitarie) with the purpose to support their teaching and research activities and, in particular, to extend the sources of their financing to subjects other than the State. The aim of this paper is to present the main features of these reforms. It will show that while the new graduation system conforms to the guidelines of the overarching Bologna Process, which encompasses 45 countries to date, the new university foundations were devised outside of this Process and in view of the obstacles faced by Italian State universities in running their activities and in raising additional funds for their further development especially in the direction of research and technology transfer. |
| Keywords: | Italian university system; university funding; university foundations |
| JEL: | A20 D02 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2008–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:13328&r=edu |
| By: | Laura Abramovsky; Helen Simpson |
| Abstract: | We investigate evidence for spatially mediated knowledge transfer from university research. We examine whether firms locate their R&D labs in proximity to university research departments, and whether those that do are more likely to co-operate with, or source information from universities in the course of their innovative activities. We find evidence that pharmaceutical firms locate their R&D facilities near to frontier chemistry research departments, consistent with accessing localised knowledge spillovers, but also linked to the presence of science parks. In industries such as chemicals and vehicles there is less evidence of immediate co-location with universities, but those innovative firms that do locate near to relevant research departments are more likely to engage with universities. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Geography, spillovers, public research |
| JEL: | O3 R11 R13 I23 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:08/200&r=edu |
| By: | Pandey, Priyanka (The World Bank); Goya, Sangeeta (The World Bank); Sundararaman, Venkatesh (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impact of a community-based information campaign on school performance from a cluster randomized control trial. The campaign consisted of eight to nine public meetings in each of 340 treatment villages across three Indian states to disseminate information to the community about its state mandated roles and responsibilities in school management. The findings from the first follow-up 2-4 months after the campaign show that providing information through a structured campaign to communities had a positive impact in all three states. In two states there was a significant and positive impact on reading (14-27 percent) in one of the three grades tested; in the third state there was a significant impact on writing in one grade (15 percent) and on mathematics in the other grade tested (27 percent). The intervention is associated with improvement in teacher effort in two states. Some improvements occurred in the delivery of certain benefits entitled to students (stipend, uniform, and mid day meal) and in process variables such as community participation in each of the three states. Follow-up research needs to examine whether there is a systematic increase in learning when the impact is measured over a longer time period and whether a campaign sustained over a longer time is able to generate greater impact on school outcomes. |
| Keywords: | annual grants; attendance requirements; average treatment effect; basic education; blackboards; call; civil service; civil service teachers; classroom; Community Participation; competencies |
| Date: | 2008–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4776&r=edu |
| By: | Mansur, Kasim; Abd. Rahim, Dayangku Aslinah; Lim, Beatrice; Mahmud, Roslinah |
| Abstract: | Malaysian women have continued to play an increasingly important role in the national development of the country including greater participation in the economy and labor market. These improvements were made possible by the increasing numbers of females having access to education. Education provides better work opportunities and thus increases the level of income of an individual. Therefore education is perceived to be an important factor in human capital formation. In Islam, every Muslim is required to acquire knowledge as much as possible. Knowledge generates wealth. Thus, Islam condemns idleness, inactivity and poverty are condemned. A Muslim should be actively involved in the pursuit of increasing their knowledge and skill to ensure that their life is not of mere subsistence. This paper will look at the perception towards the importance of education among Muslim women. A total of 189 respondents were interviewed from selected kampongs in the district of Papar, Sabah. The data collected was analyzed and reported using descriptive statistics. About 42.4 percent respondents have obtained a diploma and degree level education. From the study, it is found that 78 percent of the total respondents perceived that education is very important. A total of 47.1 percent strongly agreed that education can influence future income. Essentially, a total of 78.8 per cent agreed that higher level of education leads to a higher level of income. |
| Keywords: | Education; Women; Sabah |
| JEL: | O18 I20 |
| Date: | 2009–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:13274&r=edu |
| By: | Oleksiy Kryvtsov; Alexander Ueberfeldt |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the differences in wage ratios of university graduates to less than university graduates, the education premium, in Canada and the United States from 1980 to 2000. Both countries experienced a similar increase in the fraction of university graduates and a similar increase in skill biased technological change based on capital-embodied technological progress, but only the United States had a large increase in the education premium. Using a calibrated Krussel et al. (2000) model, the paper finds that the cross country difference is in equal proportion due to the effective stock of capital equipment, the growth in skilled labor supply relative to unskilled labor and the relative abundance of skilled population in 1980. Growth in the working age population is unimportant for the difference. |
| Keywords: | Labour markets; Productivity |
| JEL: | E24 E25 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:09-4&r=edu |
| By: | Nistor, Cristina Silvia |
| Abstract: | Balanced Scorecard is a new control tool in public entities, especially in universities. The aim of this paper is to analyze the possibility of implementation in Romanian universities. At an international level, this concept was used at the beginning by the private sector, followed by its usage by the public sector as well. In universities of the Anglo – Saxon states, there have been debates on the subject for a long period of time in relation to the opportunity of introducing this concept; these debates have been supported by pro and against arguments. At a national level, this concept is virtually unknown in the higher education state institution system. Through the present paper, we would like to test the opportunity of introducing the concept starting from the identification at a global level of the conditions and regulations specific to the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) concept. Our results will present the first overview of this new subject, which is not yet developed in Romania. |
| Keywords: | Balanced Scorecard Concept; Public University; Managerial Accounting |
| JEL: | M41 I28 |
| Date: | 2009–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:13208&r=edu |
| By: | George Leckie; Harvey Goldstein |
| Abstract: | In England, so-called ‘league tables’ based upon examination results and test scores are published annually, ostensibly to inform parental choice of secondary schools. A crucial limitation of these tables is that the most recent published information is based on the current performance of a cohort of pupils who entered secondary schools several years earlier, whereas for choosing a school it is the future performance of the current cohort that is of interest. We show that there is substantial uncertainty in predicting such future performance and that incorporating this uncertainty leads to a situation where only a handful of schools’ future performances can be separated from both the overall mean and from one another with an acceptable degree of precision. This suggests that school league tables, including value-added ones, have very little to offer as guides to school choice. |
| Keywords: | Examination results, Institutional comparisons, League tables, Multilevel modelling, Performance indicators, Ranking, School choice, School effectiveness, Value-added |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:09/208&r=edu |
| By: | Hou, Xiaohui (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | The relationship between wealth and child labor has been widely examined. This paper uses three rounds of time-series, cross-sectional data to examine the relationship between wealth and child labor and schooling. The paper finds that wealth is crucial in determining a child's activities, but that this factor is far from being a sufficient condition to enroll a child in school. This is particularly the case for rural girls. Nonparametric analysis shows a universal increase in school enrollment for rural girls from 1998 to 2006. This increase is independent of wealth (measured by per capita expenditure). Multinomial logit regression further shows that wealth is insignificant in determining rural girls' activity decisions. Thus, interventions to increase school enrollment should incorporate broad-targeted, demand-side interventions as well as supply-side interventions. |
| Keywords: | Child labor; Education; Poverty |
| JEL: | D01 J13 O12 |
| Date: | 2009–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4831&r=edu |
| By: | Dessus, Sebastien (The World Bank); Nahas, Charbel (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | With growing international skilled labor mobility, education and migration decisions have become increasingly inter-related, and potentially have a large impact on the growth trajectories of source countries, through their effects on labor supply, savings, or the cost of education. The authors develop a generic dynamic general equilibrium model to analyze the education-migration nexus in a consistent framework. They use the model as a laboratory to test empirical conditions for the existence of net brain gain, that is, greater domestic accumulation of human capital (in per capita terms) with greater migration of skilled workers. The results suggest that although some structural parameters can favor simultaneously greater human capital accumulation and greater skilled migration --such as high ratio of remittances over domestic incomes, high dependency ratios in migrant households, low dependency ratios in source countries, increasing returns to scale in the education sector, technological transfers and export market access with Diasporas, and efficient financial markets -- this does not necessarily mean that greater migration encourages the constitution of greater stocks of human capital in source countries. |
| Keywords: | Migration; Education; Brain Gain; Brain Drain; General Equilibrium Models |
| JEL: | C68 P36 R23 |
| Date: | 2008–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4775&r=edu |
| By: | Çoban, Serap |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on the relationships among mortality rates, income and educational inequality in terms of economic growth to investigate similarities and differences between the Euro Area and Turkey. For this purpose, income gini as an indicator of income inequality and education gini as an indicator of education inequality are used in the analyses. The relations among the variables are examined with panel data analysis for the Euro Area and with time series analysis for Turkey by using these coefficients and mortality rates for the period of 1980 and 2006. The results show that access to education is more important than the others for Turkey and the Euro Area. There is also a considerable relation between education inequality and mortality rates of infant and adult. |
| Keywords: | Educational Gini; Income Gini; Mortality Rates; Economic Growth; Panel Data Analysis; Euro Area; Turkey |
| JEL: | I30 I20 I10 |
| Date: | 2008–07–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:13296&r=edu |
| By: | Geraint Johnes |
| Abstract: | We construct a family of models to analyse the effect on optimal educational investment of (i) society's preferences for equity and (ii) competition between countries. The models provide insights about the impact of a variety of parameters on optimal policy. In particular, we identify a form of 'overeducation' that is new to the literature, and provide a counterexample to a common finding in the literature on fiscal federalism. |
| Keywords: | education, taxation, income distribution, competition |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:005891&r=edu |
| By: | Beckmann, Klaus (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg); Schneider, Andrea (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares student evaluation of teaching on the web site MeinProf.de to the standard evaluation procedures at German universities. While MeinProf offers the advantage of a broad, publicly available database, a number of theoretical and econometric problems emerge. Many of these problems are, however, pervasive in the student evaluation of teaching as a whole. We demonstrate that this seriously hampers empirical work on the relationship of teaching and research. |
| Keywords: | Lehrevaluation; Lehre versus Forschung; Lehrqualitaet |
| JEL: | I20 I23 |
| Date: | 2009–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:vhsuwp:2009_090&r=edu |
| By: | Mansur, Kasim; Jubok, Zainodin |
| Abstract: | In this era of globalisation, most university curriculum requires new sets of settings and arrangements. Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is no exception. Multi-disciplinary, academic degree-granting programme in UMS have been designed for students and faculties as the basis in ensuring a harmonious existence within and outside the campus. Most of the curriculum in UMS is designed to promote the understanding of universal values and traditions consistent with the quest for global peace and human solidarity. UMS not only provides knowledge, practical experience and skills for scholars and practitioners involved in conflict resolution but also play its role as a peace builder; giving humanitarian and economic assistance. To bring about peace and harmony amongst students of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, UMS has two components: one is the orientation-training programme for all the new students and the other is the year–round practical training, character building and curriculum development programmes. This paper examines how the forces of globalisation have transformed its curriculum and raised new challenges to our existing institutions in promoting peace and intercultural harmony among students and staff alike. |
| Keywords: | Curriculum; Harmony; University; Peace; Malaysia |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2009–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:13267&r=edu |
| By: | Deborah Wilson |
| Abstract: | The use of choice as a mechanism to improve public service delivery is now well established in the UK. Current policy discourse additionally considers voice as a further, complementary, user-driven mechanism. In this paper I scrutinise the assumption that choice (exit) and voice complement each other in creating user-driven incentives to increase quality for all consumers in the context of education. I do this by going back to Hirschman’s (1970) thesis, focussing in particular on the definitions of quality put forward by him. I apply his analysis to the English education sector and show that, while the current policy discourse evokes the language of Hirschman, it doesn’t follow through on the actual implications of his analysis. In particular, I argue that in the current system, choice and voice may complement each other for only a subset of consumers. |
| Keywords: | exit, choice, voice, education |
| JEL: | I2 H4 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:08/194&r=edu |
| By: | Steve Bradley; Jim Taylor; Giuseppe Migali |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effectiveness of a resource-based policy on im- proving school quality measured in terms of pupils’ test scores. Using several data sets, we present a set of empirical tests to control for pupil’s prior attainment, policy-off policy-on, duration of the funding and subjects of specialisation. We apply matching methods to con- front issues of the choice of an appropriate control group and selection bias. After matching we find a positive and statistically significant policy effect on test score levels, but this is approximately 50% lower than our ‘naive’ estimates. Difference-in-differences estimates show a significant and positive effect on the change in test scores. |
| Keywords: | School Quality, Subject Specialisation, Matching models. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:005894&r=edu |
| By: | Jaeger, David A. (CUNY Graduate Center); Parys, Juliane (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | We provide a comparison of return to schooling estimates based on an influential study by Angrist and Krueger (1991) using two stage least squares (TSLS), limited information maximum likelihood (LIML), jackknife (JIVE), and split sample instrumental variables (SSIV) estimation. We find that the estimated return to education is quite sensitive to the age controls used in the models as well as the estimation method used. In particular, we provide evidence that JIVE coefficients' standard errors are inflated by a group of extreme years of education observations, for which identification is especially weak. We propose to use Cook's Distance in order to identify influential outliers having substantial influence on first-stage JIVE coefficients and fitted values. |
| Keywords: | Cook's Distance, heteroskedasticity, outliers, return to education, specification, weak instruments |
| JEL: | C13 C31 J31 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3961&r=edu |
| By: | Simon Burgess; Deborah Wilson; Adam Briggs; Anete Piebalga |
| Abstract: | In this paper we ask whether ethnic segregation in schools and in neighbourhoods has a causal effect on differential school attainment. We ask two related but different questions. First, we look at the test score gap between White and minority ethnic students, separately for Black Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani ethnic groups. Second, we consider the absolute performance of students in each of these minority ethnic groups across cities with varying levels of segregation. We show that, in strong contrast to similar studies in the US, the test score gap is largely unaffected by segregation for any of the three groups we study, and we find no evidence of a negative impact of ethnic segregation on absolute attainment levels. |
| Keywords: | ethnic segregation, schools |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:08/204&r=edu |
| By: | Mihaescu, Diana; Mihaescu, Liviu; Andrei, Olivia; Bologa, Lia |
| Abstract: | The life of any organization is not only manifested through its activities, but also by subjective states that its members live and shape its human dimension. Involved in carrying out different activities, the TTD’s academic human resource interact and cooperate, their work is accompanied by all kinds of experiences: dissatisfaction-satisfaction, happiness-sadness, confidence-deterrence, etc. These states are the subjective dimension of work, influencing, at a high level, the overall condition and the smooth running of the organization, its performance. |
| Keywords: | human resources; quality assurance; educational management |
| JEL: | M14 I23 M54 M12 |
| Date: | 2008–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:12986&r=edu |
| By: | Shintaro Yamaguchi |
| Abstract: | This paper constructs and structurally estimates a dynamic model of occupational choice where all occupations are characterized in a continuous multidimensional space of skill requirement using the data from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and the NLSY79. This skill space approach allows the model to include hundreds of occupations at the three-digit census classification level without a large number of parameters. Thereby it provides more detailed analysis of occupations than previous papers. Parameter estimates indicate that skill demanding occupations offer higher returns to education and experience, which results in occupational sorting. They also suggest that the estimated skill prices by the OLS are severely biased due to this sorting. |
| Keywords: | Occupational choice, occupational sorting, human capital, skills, structural estimation |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd08-25&r=edu |
| By: | Roger Sandilands (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | This paper publishes the hitherto unpublished correspondence between Allyn Abbott Young’s biographer Charles Blitch and 17 of Young’s former students or associates. Together with related biographical and archival material, the paper shows the way in which this adds to our knowledge of Young’s considerable influence as a teacher upon some of the twentieth century’s greatest economists. The correspondents are as follows: James W Angell, Colin Clark, Arthur H Cole, Lauchlin Currie, Melvin G de Chazeau, Eleanor Lansing Dulles, Howard S Ellis, Frank W Fetter, Earl J Hamilton, Seymour S Harris, Richard S Howey, Nicholas Kaldor, Melvin M Knight, Bertil Ohlin, Geoffrey Shepherd, Overton H Taylor, and Gilbert Walker. |
| Keywords: | Allyn Young, Harvard University, London School of Economics |
| JEL: | A11 A20 B31 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:0905&r=edu |
| By: | Anders Holm (Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen); Mads Meier Jæger (Danish National Centre for Social Research, Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | Most studies which use Mare’s (1980, 1981) seminal model of educational transitions find that the effect of family background variables decreases across educational transitions. Cameron and Heckman (1998, 2001) have argued that this “waning coefficients” phenomenon might be driven by selection on unobserved variables. This paper, first, analyzes theoretically how selection on unobserved variables leads to waning coefficients and, second, illustrates empirically how selection affects estimates of the effect of family background variables on educational transitions. Our empirical analysis which uses data from the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Netherlands shows that the effect of family background variables on educational transitions is largely constant across transitions when we control for selection on unobserved variables. We also discuss the inherent difficulties in estimating educational transition models which deal effectively with selection on unobserved variables. |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kuieca:2009_05&r=edu |
| By: | Geraint Johnes; Jill Johnes; E Thanassoulis; Mika Kortelainen |
| Abstract: | As student numbers in the UK's higher education sector have expanded substantially during the last 15 years, it has become increasingly important for government to understand the structure of costs in higher education, thus allowing it to evaluate the potential for expansion and associated cost implications. This study applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to higher education institutions (HEIs) in England in the period 2000/01-2002/03 to assess the cost structure and the performance of various HEI groups. The paper continues and complements an earlier study by Johnes, Johnes and Thanassoulis (forthcoming), who used parametric regression methods to analyse the same panel data. Interestingly, the DEA analysis provides estimates of subject-specific unit costs that are in the same ballpark as those provided by the parametric methods. We then extend the previous analysis by examining potential cost savings and output augmentations in different HEI groups using several different DEA models. The findings include a suggestion that substantial gains of the order of 20-27% are feasible if all potential savings are directed at raising student numbers so that each HEI exploits to the full not only operating and scale efficiency gains but also adjusts its student mix to maximise student numbers. Finally we use a Malmquist index approach to assess productivity change in UK HEIs. The results reveal that for a majority of HEIs productivity has actually decreased during the study period. |
| Keywords: | higher education; data envelopment analysis; performance measurement; productivity; cost function |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:005896&r=edu |