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on Education |
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Issue of 2010‒12‒18
thirteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Calin Arcalean (ESADE Ramon Llull University); Ioana Schiopu (ESADE Ramon Llull University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the relationship between inequality and education funding in a model of probabilistic voting over public education spending where the private option is available. A change in inequality can have opposite effects at different income levels: higher inequality decreases public spending per student and increases enrollment in public schools in poor economies, while the opposite holds in the rich ones. A change in the tax base can also have non-monotonic e¤ects. We also study the implications of different voting participation across income groups. The predictions of the model are supported by U.S. school district-level data. |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inu:caeprp:2010-009&r=edu |
| By: | Paula Andréa Marques do Valle (FACE-UFG, Ciências Econômicas); Dnilson Carlos Dias (FACE-UFG, Ciências Econômicas) |
| Abstract: | This study aims to identify the characteristics of groups of students in business and engineering, in a comparative way, which qualifies them as future innovative professionals, spreading the knowledge frontier. Five factors were highlighted: assertiveness, leadership, risk tolerance/accessibility, dedication and competence in information. The focus was on identifying the presence of entrepreneurial characteristics, contrasting the ranks of engineering and business, and the relationship of these characteristics with age and gender of respondents, allowing a comparative analysis of their educational backgrounds. To discuss that, this paper made use of a data set obtained from a research applied to students of the Federal University of Goiás. This study is part of an ongoing research that will investigate students’ profiles for a period of ten years, understanding the role carried out by institutions of higher education, through this case study. The research main instrument is a questionnaire developed by the University of Northern Iowa (USA) and applied to students of business (economics, business administration and accounting) as well as engineering majors (civil engineers) of the Federal University of Goiás. To analyze the data the study will make use of multivariate analysis, such as factor analysis (FA) via PCA (principal component analysis), followed by a logistic regression of gender in relation to the entrepreneurial profile of students, as well as an OLS linear regression of age in relation to these same factors. The results pointed out that both groups presented innovative traces in common, such as: assertiveness, dedication, leadership and informational competence; and, individually, the engineer group showed accessibility to be a major factor, versus risk tolerance for the business group. In the logistic regression analysis the innovative characteristics were assertiveness and leadership for the business majors; versus dedication and accessibility for the engineering majors. This allowed the considerations that the assertiveness was associated with the female students, while leadership was consistent with the male respondents, for the business students; as for the engineers it was identified a higher dedication trait for women in face of a more pronounced accessibility for men. Regarding the age analysis it was only possible to identify significance for the business group, which presented a higher dedication for older students. |
| Keywords: | Production of knowledge, education, entrepreneurship. |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ufb:wpaper:021&r=edu |
| By: | Kevin Denny (School of Economics, University College Dublin); Veruska Oppedisano (Department of Economics, University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the marginal effect of class size on educational attainment of high school students. We control for the potential endogeneity of class size in two ways using a conventional instrumental variable approach, based on changes in cohort size, and an alternative method where identification is based on restriction on higher moments. The data is drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) collected in 2003 for the United States and the United Kingdom. Using either method or the two in conjunction leads to the conclusion that increases in class size lead to improvements in student’s mathematics scores. Only the results for the United Kingdom are statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | class sizes, educational production |
| Date: | 2010–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201051&r=edu |
| By: | Kevin Denny (University College Dublin); Veruska Oppedisano (University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the marginal effect of class size on educational attainment of high school students. We control for the potential endogeneity of class size in two ways using a conventional instrumental variable approach, based on changes in cohort size, and an alternative method where identification is based on restriction on higher moments. The data is drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) collected in 2003 for the United States and the United Kingdom. Using either method or the two in conjunction leads to the conclusion that increases in class size lead to improvements in student’s mathematics scores. Only the results for the United Kingdom are statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | class sizes, educational production |
| Date: | 2010–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201039&r=edu |
| By: | Link, Al (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Wessner, Charles (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | N/A |
| Keywords: | university; universities; entrepreneur |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2010–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2010_012&r=edu |
| By: | Pedro de Araujo (Colorado College); James Murray (University of Wisconsin - La Crosse) |
| Abstract: | Many large universities require freshman to live in dormitories on the basis that living on campus leads to better classroom performance and lower drop out incidence. Large universities also provide a number of academic services in dormitories such as tutoring and student organizations that encourage an environment condusive to learn- ing. A survey was administered to college students at a large state school to determine what impact dormitory living has on student performance. We use a handful of instru- mental variable strategies to account for the possibly endogenous decision to live on campus. We nd a robust result across model specications and estimation techniques that on average, living on campus increases GPA by between 0.19 to 0.97. That is, the estimate for the degree of improvement to student performance caused by living on campus ranges between one-fth to one full letter grade. |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inu:caeprp:2010-002&r=edu |
| By: | Donato Iacobucci (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica, Gestionale e dell’Automazione, Università Politecnica delle Marche); Alessandra Micozzi (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica, Gestionale e dell’Automazione, Università Politecnica delle Marche) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the present situation and recent evolution in entrepreneurship courses and curricula in Italian universities. The analysis is based on a census of entrepreneurship courses and curricula run by Italian universities in 2004 and 2010. Entrepreneurship education in Italian universities is in its early development. Up to 2004 only a few universities had courses dedicated to entrepreneurship and the majority of them dealt with the development of the business plan. This situation has only slightly improved in the following years. Courses and curricula are mostly within business schools while very few exist in engineering and science schools. This situation contrasts with the need for entrepreneurship education in the Italian economy. Given the importance of traditional sectors in Italian industry we need to stimulate start-up in high-tech sectors: the development of entrepreneurship courses in engineering and in other science curricula could play an important role in this sense. At the same time we need to favor the growth process of small firms; this requires people who are able to play an entrepreneurial role in established firms. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship education, university courses, intrapreneurship, entrepreneurial competences. |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cme:wpaper:1006&r=edu |
| By: | Holmlund, Helena (Swedish Institute for Social Research,); Lindahl, Mikael (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies); Plug, Erik (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies) |
| Abstract: | We review the empirical literature that estimates the causal effect of parent’s schooling on child’s schooling, and conclude that estimates differ across studies. We then consider three explanations for why this is: (a) idiosyncratic differences in data sets; (b) differences in remaining biases between different identification strategies; and (c) differences across identification strategies in their ability to make out-of-sample predictions. We conclude that discrepancies in past studies can be explained by violations of identifying assumptions. Our reading of past evidence, together with an application to Swedish register data, suggests that intergenerational schooling associations are largely driven by selection. Parental schooling constitutes a large part of the parental nurture effect, but as a whole does not play a large role. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility; education; causation; selection; identification |
| JEL: | C13 I21 J62 |
| Date: | 2010–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uulswp:2010_008&r=edu |
| By: | Geuna Aldo; Rossi Federica (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Most European countries since the end of the 1990s have been moving away from inventor ownership of patent rights towards different systems of institutional ownership. This shift is based on the objectives of policymakers to make conditions similar to those in the US, where the 1980 Bayh–Dole Act allows universities to retain intellectual property rights (IPR) over inventions that come out of federally funded research. This article challenges the view that direct comparisons with US experience will enable us to predict the effects of the implementation of institutional IPR ownership systems in Europe. We provide an overview of the current state of regulation on academic patent ownership in selected European countries which shows that, despite the changes to institutional ownership that have been implemented, there is wide diversity in national systems and several important differences with the US framework. Our analysis of patterns of ownership of academic patents shows that there has not been a general increase in university patenting since 1990, and seeming increases may be due to more complex dynamics in academic patenting and academic patents ownership. The paper concludes with a discussion of how changes in IPR regulations and management of technology transfer by universities, and public policies supporting technology transfer are affecting academic patenting and research activities in universities |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201015&r=edu |
| By: | Murat G. Kýrdar (Middle East Technical University); Meltem Dayýoglu Tayfur (Middle East Technical University); Ýsmet Koç (Institute of Population Studies, Hacettepe University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of the extension of compulsory schooling in Turkey from 5 to 8 years on the marriage and fertility behavior of teenage women in Turkey using the 2008 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. We find that the new education policy reduces the probability of marriage and giving birth for teenage women substantially: the probability of marriage by age 16 is reduced by 44 percent and the probability of giving birth by age 17 falls by 36 percent. The effects of the education policy on the time until marriage and firstbirth persist beyond the completion of compulsory schooling. In addition, we find that the delay in the time until first-birth is driven by the delay in the time until marriage. After a woman is married, the rise in compulsory schooling years does not have an effect on the duration until her first-birth. Finally, we find that the education policy was more effective in reducing early marriage than a change in the Civil Code aimed for this purpose. |
| Keywords: | Age at marriage, Fertility, Education, Compulsory Schooling |
| JEL: | J12 J13 I20 D10 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1035&r=edu |
| By: | Andersen Birgitte; Rossi Federica (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The public discourse advocating increased patenting of academic discoveries, which has led to the approval of legislative measures (such as the Bayh Dole Act, which is now adopted world-wide in various forms) is based on a set of theoretical arguments, mainly related to knowledge transfer and financial reward. Using an original survey of 46 universities (about 27%) in the United Kingdom, we investigate whether some of these arguments are supported by evidence. We focus on the extent to which patents, as opposed to other forms of intellectual property (IP) protection mechanisms, enhance knowledge circulation, and especially contribute to universities’ own knowledge creation processes. We also investigate whether universities consider the markets for ideas and creative expressions to function efficiently. We find that universities use all forms of IP intensively in order to transfer their knowledge to industry or government. However, they mainly rely on non-proprietary IP (open source and no-patent strategies) when aiming to enhance their own knowledge creation processes. Also, universities do not find that markets for patents or copyrights function more smoothly than non-proprietary IP marketplaces. The results challenge the orthodox theories on the rationales for patents and other proprietary intellectual property rights (IPRs). Thus, we question the assumptions and arguments underpinning the implementation of patents on academic research outcomes via political reforms since the 1980s |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201016&r=edu |
| By: | Andersen Birgitte; Rossi Federica (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | In recent years, much emphasis has been placed in the policy discourse on the patenting of academic research outcomes. However, universities produce a wide variety of IP, not all of which is suitable to be patented, or which universities may choose not to patent. The present article, building upon an original survey of 46 universities (about 27% of total) in the United Kingdom, investigates universities’ knowledge transfer processes through the exchange of a variety of forms of IP: patents, copyright, open source and non-patented innovations. The analysis concerns: (i) the extent to which universities exchange these forms of IP; (ii) whether they are used in a complementary or substitute way; and how relatively (iii) strategic effective and (iv) market efficient they are, in allowing universities to reach certain objectives (relating to knowledge transfer, competitive positioning, innovation and financial gain). We find that most universities perceive a variety of types of IP to be effective, usually in order to reach different strategic objectives. Certain forms of IP are use more than others for particular purposes, and no IP exchanges in the marketplace are exempt from institutional problems. Our results challenge the Bayh-Dole Act (now adopted in many OECD countries and elsewhere); i.e. whether patents and patent markets are the best tool for knowledge dissemination from research base into use, and other benefits, and whether instead it would be more appropriate to encourage universities to a variety of IP |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201017&r=edu |
| By: | Jean Jaskold Gabszewicz; Victor Ginsburgh; Didier Laussel; Shlomo Weber |
| Abstract: | We examine patterns of acquiring non-native languages in a model with two linguistic communities with heterogeneous learning skills, where every individual faces the choice of self-learning the foreign language or acquiring it at a profit-maximizing linguistic school. We consider a one-school model with divisions in both communities and various two-school settings with a school in each community. We compare the number of learners and welfare implications under self-learning with those obtained under various schooling contexts. In particular, we show that for communities with similar size, introducing language schools always increases the number of learners with respect to the exclusive self-learning option. |
| Keywords: | Communicative benefits, linguistic equilibrium, learning costs |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/69473&r=edu |