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on Education |
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Issue of 2011‒07‒02
ten papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Carolina Castagnetti (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia); Silvia Dal Bianco (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia); Luisa Rosti (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia) |
| Abstract: | Italian university system was reformed in 2001. This paper tests the screening role of degree scores for 2004-Italian graduates. We find support of the strong screening hypothesis for prereform type degrees, while we do not find any evidence of signalling effects for post-reform 3-years degrees. We gauge that the shutting down of the signal can be partially ascribed to the poor quality of students who obtained a 3-years degree without taking any further education. |
| Keywords: | Screening, Italy, Higher Education |
| JEL: | I23 J08 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pav:wpaper:269&r=edu |
| By: | Hottenrott, Hanna; Thorwarth, Susanne |
| Abstract: | University research provides valuable inputs to industrial innovation. It is therefore not surprising that private sector firms increasingly seek direct access through funding public R&D. This development, however, spurred concerns about possible negative long-run effects on scientific performance. While previous research mainly focused on a potential crowding-out of scientific publications through commercialization activities such as patenting or the formation of spin-off companies, we study the effects of direct funding from industry on professors' publication and patenting efforts. Our analysis on a sample of 678 professors at 46 higher education institutions in Germany shows that a higher share of industry funding of a professor's research budget results in a lower publication outcome both in terms of quantity and quality in subsequent years. For patents, we find that industry funding increases their quality measured by patent citations. -- |
| Keywords: | Scientific Productivity,Research Funding,Academic Patents,Technology Transfer |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10105r&r=edu |
| By: | Carlos Vieira (Departamento de Economia, CEFAGE-UE, Universidade de Évora); Isabel Vieira (Departamento de Economia, CEFAGE-UE, Universidade de Évora) |
| Abstract: | This paper formulates a model of demand for higher education in Portugal considering a wide range of demographic, economic, social and institutional explanatory variables. The estimation results suggest that the number of applicants reacts positively to demographic trends, graduation rates at secondary education, female participation, compulsory schooling and the recent Bologna process. Demand reacts negatively to the existence of tuition fees and to unemployment rates. Within an adverse demographic and economic context, forecasts of demand for the next two decades suggest the need to increase participation rates, to avoid funding problems in the higher education system and increase long-term economic development prospects. |
| Keywords: | Demand for higher education; determinants of university participation; applications forecasting. |
| JEL: | I20 I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2011_15&r=edu |
| By: | Stacy Dale; Alan B. Krueger |
| Abstract: | We estimate the monetary return to attending a highly selective college using the College and Beyond (C&B) Survey linked to Detailed Earnings Records from the Social Security Administration (SSA). This paper extends earlier work by Dale and Krueger (2002) that examined the relationship between the college that students attended in 1976 and the earnings they self-reported reported in 1995 on the C&B follow-up survey. In this analysis, we use administrative earnings data to estimate the return to various measures of college selectivity for a more recent cohort of students: those who entered college in 1989. We also estimate the return to college selectivity for the 1976 cohort of students, but over a longer time horizon (from 1983 through 2007) using administrative data. We find that the return to college selectivity is sizeable for both cohorts in regression models that control for variables commonly observed by researchers, such as student high school GPA and SAT scores. However, when we adjust for unobserved student ability by controlling for the average SAT score of the colleges that students applied to, our estimates of the return to college selectivity fall substantially and are generally indistinguishable from zero. There were notable exceptions for certain subgroups. For black and Hispanic students and for students who come from less-educated families (in terms of their parents’ education), the estimates of the return to college selectivity remain large, even in models that adjust for unobserved student characteristics. |
| JEL: | I21 J31 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17159&r=edu |
| By: | Basu, Parantap; Bhattarai, Keshab |
| Abstract: | A surprising cross country stylized fact is that a higher public spending on education tends to lower the long run per capita growth rate and schooling returns. This is contrary to the conventional wisdom that education is a major driver of growth. In this paper, we revisit this issue and try to understand these puzzling facts in terms of an endogenous growth model. Our cross country calibration of the growth model predicts that countries with a greater government involvement in education experience lower schooling efforts and lower growth. |
| Keywords: | endogenous growth; public spending on education |
| JEL: | E62 N10 |
| Date: | 2011–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31791&r=edu |
| By: | Bosio, Giulio (University of Milan); Leonardi, Marco (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | The Bologna process inspired the Italian 3+2 reform of the university system which constitutes a big increase in the supply of college graduates. This paper is a preliminary attempt to identify the effects of the reform on (i) the relative probability (relative to non-graduates) of employment of college graduates in the age range 25-34; (ii) their quality of employment measured with the relative probability of being employed with a temporary contract; (iii) the college wage premium. Using administrative data to identify the gradual introduction of the reform in different universities, we find that the reform increases significantly the relative employment of graduates except for women in the South where the rapid increase of female post-reform graduates has not been absorbed by the weak labour market. Finally we find that post-reform college graduates have a significantly lower college premium with respect to high school graduates than pre-reform graduates. |
| Keywords: | university reforms, college attainment, college wage premium |
| JEL: | I23 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5789&r=edu |
| By: | Awan, Masood Sarwar; Malik, Nouman; Sarwar, Haroon; Waqas, Muhammad |
| Abstract: | Poverty is a stumbling block in the way of achieving economic development. Cognizant of the essence of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and ‘Education for All’ program, education is promulgated as the primary weapon against poverty prevalence. Hence it is important to seek out the effect of different levels of education upon poverty in Pakistan. This study evaluates the effect of different levels of education, experience and gender of the employed individuals (employers, self-employed, wage earners and unpaid family workers) as the determinants of poverty. The data for this task comes from the Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) for the years 1998-99 and 2001-02. A logistic regression model is estimated based on this data, with the probability of an individual being poor as the dependent variable and a set of educational levels, experience and gender as explanatory variables. It is found that experience and educational achievement is negatively related with the poverty incidence in both years. Also as we go for the higher levels of education the chances of a person being non-poor increases. Moreover, being a male person provides an advantage in retaining a position above poverty level. |
| Keywords: | Poverty; Education; Pakistan |
| JEL: | H75 I3 I21 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31826&r=edu |
| By: | Chumacero, Rómulo; Paredes, Ricardo |
| Abstract: | We study school choice within the family, analyzing how birth order, gender, innate talent, and family financial restrictions impact the parents´ decision to prioritize the education of one or more of the children over the rest. We find that parents, particularly from lower income homes, are more likely to select more prestigious, higher cost schools for their eldest child, male children and the most talented children. This behavior may explain part of the positive “male bias” in learning and may have a relevant impact on income distribution among family members. |
| Keywords: | School Choice; Siblings; Chile |
| JEL: | D13 C25 |
| Date: | 2011–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31838&r=edu |
| By: | John P. Papay; Richard J. Murnane; John B. Willett |
| Abstract: | Students receive abundant information about their educational performance, but how this information affects future educational-investment decisions is not well understood. Increasingly common sources of information are state-mandated standardized tests. On these tests, students receive a score and a label that summarizes their performance. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we find persistent effects of earning a more positive label on the college-going decisions of urban, low-income students. Consistent with a Bayesian-updating model, these effects are concentrated among students with weaker priors, specifically those who report before taking the test that they do not plan to attend a four-year college. |
| JEL: | I20 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17120&r=edu |
| By: | Gustave Goldmann (University of Ottawa); Arthur Sweetman (McMaster University); Casey Warman (Queen's University) |
| Abstract: | The implications of human capital portability -- including interactions between education, language skills and pre- and post-immigration occupational matching -- for earnings are explored for new immigrants to Canada. Given the importance of occupation-specific skills, as a precursor we also investigate occupational mobility and observe convergence toward the occupational skill distribution of the domestic population, although four years after landing immigrants remain less likely have a high skilled job. Immigrants who are able to match their source and host country occupations obtain higher earnings. However, surprisingly, neither matching nor language skills have any impact on the return to pre-immigration work experience, which is observed to be statistically significantly negative. Crucially, English language skills are found to have an appreciable direct impact on earnings, and to mediate the return to pre-immigration education but not labour market experience. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, human capital portability, occupation, education, language |
| JEL: | J24 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1271&r=edu |