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on Education |
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Issue of 2011‒12‒19
28 papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Yamauchi, Futoshi; Liu, Yanyan |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of a large supply-side education intervention in the Philippines, the Third Elementary Education Project, on students' national achievement test scores. We find that the program significantly increased student test scores at grades 4 to 6. The estimate indicates that the six-year exposure to the program increases test scores by about 15 score points. Interestingly, the mathematics score is more responsive to this education reform than other subjects. We also find that textbooks, instructional training of teachers, and new classroom constructions particularly contributed to these outcomes. The empirical results also imply that early-stage investments improve student performance at later stages in the elementary school cycle, which suggests that social returns to such an investment are greater than what the current study demonstrates. |
| Keywords: | School quality, policy intervention, elementary schools, human capital formation, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1121&r=edu |
| By: | Deborah A. Cobb-Clark; Mathias Sinning; Steven Stillman |
| Abstract: | We use 2009 Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) data to link institutional arrangements in OECD countries to the disparity in reading, math, and science test scores for migrant and native-born students. We find that achievement gaps are larger for those migrant youths who arrive later and for those who do not speak the test language at home. Institutional arrangements often serve to mitigate the achievement gaps of some migrant students while leaving unaffected or exacerbating those of others. For example, earlier school starting ages help migrant youths in some cases, but by no means in all. Limited tracking on ability appears beneficial for migrants‘ relative achievement, while complete tracking and a large private school sector appear detrimental. Migrant students‘ achievement relative to their native-born peers suffers as educational spending and teachers‘ salaries increase, but is improved when examination is a component of the process for evaluating teachers. |
| Keywords: | Migrant youths; PISA test scores; schools; institutions; academic achievement |
| JEL: | F22 I24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0292&r=edu |
| By: | Marina Murat |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from PISA 2006 on science, mathematics and reading to analyse immigrant school gaps – negative difference between immigrants’ and natives’ scores - and the structural features of educational systems in two adjacent countries, Italy and France, with similar migration inflows and with similar schooling institutions, based on tracking. Our results show that tracking and school specific programs matter; in both countries, the school system upholds a separation between students with different backgrounds and ethnicities. Residential segregation or discrimination seem also to be at work, especially in France. Given the existing school model, a teaching support in mathematics and science in France and in reading in Italy would help immigrant students to converge to natives’ standards |
| Keywords: | International migration; educational systems; PISA; |
| JEL: | F22 I21 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:depeco:0670&r=edu |
| By: | Thomas K. Bauer; Barbara S. Grave |
| Abstract: | German universities are regarded as being under-financed, inefficient, and performing below average if compared to universities in other European countries and the US. Starting in the 1990s, several German federal states implemented reforms to improve this situation. An important part of these reforms has been the introduction of indicator-based funding systems. These financing systems aimed at increasing the competition between universities by making their public funds dependent on their relative performance concerning different output measures, such as the share of students obtaining a degree or the amount of third party funds. This paper evaluates whether the indicator-based funding created unintended incentives, i.e. whether the reform caused a grade inflation. Estimating mean as well as quantile treatment effects, we cannot support the hypothesis that increased competition between universities causes grade inflation. |
| Keywords: | Grade inflation; higher education funding; university competition |
| JEL: | H52 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0288&r=edu |
| By: | Mehmet Eris |
| Abstract: | Overall, the education system fares well by international comparison. Slovenia has one of the highest shares of the population aged 25 to 64 to have completed at least upper secondary education, and ranks high in international educational achievement tests. Nevertheless, in some areas, reforms could significantly improve performance and equip the labour force with the skills most in demand in a rapidly changing economy. In particular, low student-teacher ratios, small class sizes, and a high share of non-teaching staff suggest that there is room for improving spending efficiency. Rationalising teaching and non-teaching staff would also free up valuable public resources that could be redirected towards underfunded aspects of the education system. Low enrolment rates in short vocational education programmes and in certain higher education fields, such as science and engineering, contribute to a skill deficit in some occupations, underlining the need to make such programmes more attractive. At the tertiary level, completion rates and spending per student are low by international standards, and students take too long to complete their studies. The combination of low student fees and access to generous financial support, coupled with the preferential treatment of student work until recently, creates “fake students”; it also provides genuine students with an incentive to remain in the tertiary education system too long. Introducing universal tuition fees along with loans with income-contingent repayment would help to address such issues. This Working Paper relates to the 2011 Economic Survey of Slovenia (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Slovenia).<P>Améliorer les résultats du système éducatif en Slovénie<BR>Dans l’ensemble, le système éducatif donne des résultats satisfaisants par rapport aux autres pays. La proportion de la population slovène âgée de 25 à 64 ans ayant achevé au moins le deuxième cycle de l’enseignement secondaire est parmi les plus élevées de la zone OCDE et le pays est très bien placé dans les évaluations internationales du niveau des élèves. Néanmoins, dans certains domaines, des réformes pourraient largement contribuer à améliorer les performances et à doter les travailleurs des qualifications les plus recherchées dans une économie en pleine mutation. Ainsi, le faible nombre d’élèves par enseignant, la taille réduite des classes et la proportion élevée de personnel non enseignant donnent à penser qu’il serait possible d’accroître l’efficacité des dépenses. La rationalisation des effectifs enseignants et non enseignants serait un autre moyen de dégager des ressources publiques précieuses qui pourraient être réaffectées à des secteurs du système éducatif dont le financement est insuffisant. Le faible nombre d’inscrits dans les filières courtes de l’enseignement professionnel et dans certaines branches de l’enseignement supérieur comme les sciences et les études d’ingénieur se traduit par un déficit de compétences dans certains métiers, d’où la nécessité de rendre ces formations plus attrayantes. Dans l’enseignement supérieur, les taux de réussite et les dépenses par étudiant sont faibles par rapport aux moyennes internationales et les études durent trop longtemps. De plus, la modicité des droits de scolarité et l’accès à des aides financières généreuses, conjugués au traitement préférentiel dont bénéficiait jusqu’à une date récente le travail des étudiants, ont pour effet de créer des « faux étudiants », tout en incitant ceux qui font vraiment des études à rester trop longtemps dans l’enseignement supérieur. L’instauration de droits de scolarité universels, parallèlement à des prêts remboursables en fonction des ressources, pourrait apporter une solution à ces problèmes. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE de la Slovénie 2011 (www.oecd.org/eco/etudes/Slovénie). |
| Keywords: | tertiary education, early childhood education, PISA, income-contingent loans, tuition fees, vocational and technical education, student work, éducation tertiaire, PISA, éducation préscolaire, frais de scolarité, éducation technique et professionnelle, travail des élèves |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I22 I23 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2011–12–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:915-en&r=edu |
| By: | Geraint Johnes; A Aggarwal; R Freguglia; G Spricigo |
| Abstract: | The impact of education on labour market outcomes is analysed using data from various rounds of the National Sample Survey of India. Occupational destination is examined using both multinomial logit analyses and structural dynamic discrete choice modelling. The latter approach involves the use of a novel approach to constructing a pseudo-panel from repeated cross-section data, and is particularly useful as a means of evaluating policy impacts over time. We find that policy to expand educational provision leads initially to an increased takeup of education, and in the longer term leads to an increased propensity for workers to enter non-manual employment. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:4256&r=edu |
| By: | Geraint Johnes; R Freguglia; G Spricigo; A Aggarwal |
| Abstract: | The effect of education on labour market outcomes is analysed using both survey and administrative data from The Brazilian PNAD and RAIS-MIGRA series, respectively. Occupational destination is examined using both multinomial logit analyses and structural dynamic discrete choice modelling. The latter approach is particularly useful as a means of evaluating policy impacts over time. We find that policy to expand educational provision leads initially to an increased take-up of education, and in the longer term leads to an increased propensity for workers to enter non-manual employment. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:4255&r=edu |
| By: | Hanushek, Eric A. (Stanford University); Link, Susanne (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Decentralization of decision-making is among the most intriguing recent school reforms, in part because countries went in opposite directions over the past decade and because prior evidence is inconclusive. We suggest that autonomy may be conducive to student achievement in well-developed systems but detrimental in low-performing systems. We construct a panel dataset from the four waves of international PISA tests spanning 2000-2009, comprising over one million students in 42 countries. Relying on panel estimation with country fixed effects, we identify the effect of school autonomy from within-country changes in the average share of schools with autonomy over key elements of school operations. Our results show that autonomy affects student achievement negatively in developing and low-performing countries, but positively in developed and high-performing countries. These results are unaffected by a wide variety of robustness and specification tests, providing confidence in the need for nuanced application of reform ideas. |
| Keywords: | school autonomy, decentralization, developing countries, educational production, international student achievement tests, panel estimation |
| JEL: | I20 O15 H75 I25 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6185&r=edu |
| By: | Robert Fairlie (Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz); Jonathan Robinson (Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz) |
| Abstract: | Are home computers are an important input in the educational production function? To address this question, we conduct a field experiment involving the provision of free computers to schoolchildren for home use. Low-income children attending middle and high schools in 15 schools in California were randomly selected to receive free computers and followed over the school year. The results indicate that the experiment substantially increased computer ownership and total computer use among the schoolchildren with no substitution away from use at school or other locations outside the home. We find no evidence that the home computers improved educational outcomes for the treatment group. From detailed administrative data provided by the schools and a follow-up survey, we find no evidence of positive effects on a comprehensive set of outcomes such as grades, test scores, credits, attendance, school enrollment, computer skills, and college aspirations. The estimates also do not indicate that the effects of home computers on educational outcomes are instead negative. Our estimates are precise enough to rule out even modestly-sized positive or negative impacts. The lack of a positive net effect on educational outcomes may be due to displacement from non-educational uses such as for games, social networking, and entertainment. We find evidence that total hours of computer use for games and social networking increases substantially with having a home computer, and increases more than total hours of computer use for schoolwork. |
| Keywords: | Computers, education, technology, experiment |
| JEL: | I24 |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1114&r=edu |
| By: | Brunello, Giorgio; Fort, Margherita; Schneeweis, Nicole; Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf |
| Abstract: | We study the contribution of health-related behaviors to the health-education gradient by distinguishing between short-run and long-run mediating effects: while in the former only current or lagged behaviors are taken into account, in the latter we consider the entire history of behaviors. We use an empirical approach that addresses the endogeneity of education and behaviors in the health production function. Focusing on self-reported poor health as our health outcome, we find that education has a protective effect for European males and females aged 50+. We also find that the mediating effects of health behaviors--measured by smoking, drinking, exercising and the body mass index--account in the short run for 17% to 31% and in the long run for 23% to 45% of the entire effect of education on health, depending on gender. |
| Keywords: | education; Europe; health; health behaviours |
| JEL: | I1 I12 I21 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8707&r=edu |
| By: | Ohinata, A.; Ours, J.C. van (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze how the share of immigrant children in the classroom affects the educational attainment of native Dutch children. Our analysis uses data from various sources, which allow us to characterize educational attainment in terms of reading literacy, mathematical skills and science skills. We do not find strong evidence of negative spill-over effects from immigrant children to native Dutch children. Immigrant children themselves experience negative language spill-over effects from a high share of immigrant children in the classroom but no spill-over effects on maths and science skills. |
| Keywords: | Immigrant children;Peer effects;Educational attainment. |
| JEL: | I21 J15 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2011136&r=edu |
| By: | de la Fuente, Angel; Jimeno, Juan Francisco |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use the methodology developed in de la Fuente and Jimeno (2009) to construct estimates of the private returns to schooling in Spain by region and educational level and to explore the implications of such investment for public finances. Our calculations take into account the effects of schooling on wages, participation rates and employment probabilities and, through them, on contributive unemployment and pension benefits. We also allow for academic failure rates, the direct and opportunity costs of schooling and the impact of personal taxes and social security contributions. Our results show that almost all post-mandatory schooling levels offer attractive returns and generate incremental flows of net fiscal revenues along an individual’s lifecycle that allow the government to recoup an important fraction of its spending on schooling. The results are, however, much less attractive than they could be due to the existence of high rates of academic failure that raise the direct costs of schooling and reduce the flows of net private and fiscal benefits generated by an additional year spent in school. |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2011-11&r=edu |
| By: | Irene Mosca (TILDA, Trinity College, Dublin); Robert Wright (Department of Economics, The University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the persistence of under-employment amongst UK higher education graduates. For the cohort of individuals who graduated in 2002/3, micro-data collected by the Higher Education Statistical Agency, are used to calculate the rates of “non-graduate job†employment 6 months and 42 months after graduation. A logit regression analysis suggests the underemployment is not a short-term phenomenon and is systematically related to a set of observable characteristics. It is also found that under-employment 6 months after graduation is positively related to under-employment 42 months after graduation, which is consistent with the view that the nature of the first job after graduation is important in terms of occupational attainment later in the life-cycle. |
| Keywords: | graduates, under-employment, over-education, persistence, United Kingdom |
| JEL: | I23 J24 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1134&r=edu |
| By: | Roberto Torrini (Bank of Italy and ANVUR); Fabiano Schivardi (Cagliari University and EIEF) |
| Abstract: | We study the role of human capital in the restructuring of the Italian economy. The share of university graduates in the population has long been far lower in Italy (12 per cent in 2007) that in the rest of Europe (24 per cent). The 3+2 reform of Italian degree programmes has significantly increased the supply of graduates, mostly absorbed by the private sector. Firm-level evidence shows that the growth in graduate employment is due almost entirely to a “within” firm component rather than to a shift of the productive structure from low to high human capital activities. We also find that a higher share of university graduates at local level is positively associated with restructuring activities and with productivity growth. This suggests that increasing the workforce’s level of educational attainment is crucial to overcome the stagnation in productivity that has characterized the Italian economy since the mid-nineties. |
| Keywords: | human capital, tertiary education, firm restructuring, growth |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_108_11&r=edu |
| By: | Mathias Kuepie (CEPS/INSTEAD, UMR DIAL IRD Université Paris Dauphine); Christophe Nordman (IRD, UMR DIAL Université Paris Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | (english) The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of education on labor market entry, particularly on earnings in the two largest cities of the Republic of Congo. We examine firsthand data from the 2009 Congo's Employment and Informal Sector Survey (Enquête sur l’emploi et le secteur informel au Congo - EESIC) from a representative sample of about 3000 households in the cities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. Results indicate that education is relatively widespread in both cities, with an average of about ten years of schooling. This phenomenon goes back a relatively long time, since even for the over 50 generations, more than eight out of ten adults completed primary school. The labor market itself is characterized by a large informal sector (where more than six out of ten working age people have an activity), which could potentially become a poverty trap and reflects high unemployment (especially among the youth), increasing with the level of education on the market. The Congolese urban labor market is also specifically characterized by the weight of the public sector, where almost one out of three people employed in the capital (Brazzaville) and a little over one out of five for both cities are employed. Therefore, the formal private sector is reduced to its congruent proportion. Multivariate analyses of the risk of unemployment and sectoral choice confirm that young people suffer greatly from lack of professional insertion: for most of these youth, their only choice is to remain unemployed or join the informal sector. To measure the specific impact of education on entry into various segments of the labor market, particularly on activity generated earnings, we directly address issues related to sample selection (related to the endogenous distribution among sectors) and the endogeneity of the education variable in the earnings function. Another important methodological challenge relates to the definition of the functional shape of the link that exists between earnings and the number of years of schooling. In the context of this study, we propose a piecewise linear function that allows variation in the marginal return to education when graduating from one educational cycle to another. With this specification, it is possible to emphasize the convexity of education returns; in other words, the last years in secondary and tertiary schooling yield the highest returns, while those of primary education are generally lower. This convexity is also apparent in the informal sector, where education (albeit on another scale) is also an important determinant of earnings. These results point to employment and poverty alleviation policies in the Republic of Congo. Policy proposals are thus developed in that regard throughout the study. _________________________________ (français) L’objectif de cette étude est d’analyser l’impact de l’éducation sur l’insertion sur le marché du travail et en particulier sur les rémunérations dans les deux principales métropoles de la République du Congo. Nous exploitons les données de première main de l’Enquête sur l’Emploi et le Secteur Informel au Congo (EESIC) de 2009 portant sur environ 3000 ménages représentatifs des villes de Brazzaville et de Pointe-Noire. Les résultats montrent que l’éducation est relativement répandue dans les deux villes, puisque le niveau moyen tourne autour de dix années d’études. Il s’agit d’un phénomène relativement ancien, car même dans les générations de plus de 50 ans, plus de huit adultes sur dix ont achevé le cycle primaire. Quant au marché du travail, il est marqué par une hypertrophie du secteur informel (plus de six actifs sur dix y exercent), qui constitue potentiellement une trappe à pauvreté et reflète un chômage élevé (surtout chez les jeunes) et croissant avec le niveau d’étude sur le marché. Le marché du travail urbain congolais présente aussi une caractéristique spécifique qui est le poids du secteur public, qui emploie presqu’un actif sur trois dans la capitale (Brazzaville) et un peu plus d’un sur cinq dans l’ensemble des deux villes. Le secteur privé formel y est donc réduit à la portion congrue. Des analyses multivariées sur le risque de chômage et l’orientation sectorielle confirment que les jeunes sont très défavorisés en matière d’insertion professionnelle : ces jeunes n’ont, pour la plupart, que le choix entre le chômage et le secteur informel. Pour mesurer l’effet propre du capital éducatif sur l’insertion dans les différents segments du marché du travail et en particulier sur les revenus de l’activité, nous abordons de front les problèmes de sélection d’échantillon (liée à l’allocation endogène entre les secteurs) et d’endogénéité de la variable d’éducation dans la fonction de revenu. Un autre défi méthodologique important concerne la spécification de la forme fonctionnelle du lien entre rémunération et années d’éducation. Dans le cadre de cette étude, nous proposons une fonction linéaire par morceaux, qui permet au rendement marginal de l’éducation de varier quand on passe d’un cycle à l’autre. Cette spécification permet de mettre en évidence le caractère convexe des rendements de l’éducation, c'est-à-dire que les dernières années du lycée et du supérieur sont les plus rentables alors que les rendements du primaire sont généralement plus faibles. Cette convexité s’observe même dans le secteur informel dans lequel l’éducation (certes à une autre échelle) est également un important déterminant des gains. Ces résultats interpellent les politiques d’emploi et de lutte contre la pauvreté à Congo-Brazzaville. Des propositions de politiques sont ainsi développées dans ce sens tout au long de l’étude. |
| Keywords: | Participation au marché du travail, Chômage, Rendements de l’éducation, Fonctions de gains, Secteur informel, Congo-Brazzaville,Labor market participation, Unemployment, Returns to education, Earnings functions, Informal sector,Congo-Brazzaville. |
| JEL: | J24 J31 O12 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201111&r=edu |
| By: | Falch, Torberg; Fischer, Justina AV |
| Abstract: | Student achievement has been identified as important contributor to economic growth. This paper investigates the relationship between redistributive government activities and investment in human capital measured by student performance in international comparative tests in Mathematics and Science during the period 1980 to 2003. In fixed effects panel models, government consumption, government social expenditures, and the progressivity of the income tax system have negative effects on student achievement. The results are robust to a variety of model specifications, including models that condition on educational expenditures. Our best estimate indicates that increased government size by 10 percent reduces student achievement by 0.1 standard deviations |
| Keywords: | Student achievement; welfare state; government size; tax system; panel data; international tests |
| JEL: | I2 H2 C33 |
| Date: | 2011–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35269&r=edu |
| By: | John P. Papay; Martin R. West; Jon B. Fullerton; Thomas J. Kane |
| Abstract: | The Boston Teacher Residency is an innovative practice-based preparation program in which candidates work alongside a mentor teacher for a year before becoming a teacher of record in Boston Public Schools. We find that BTR graduates are more racially diverse than other BPS novices, more likely to teach math and science, and more likely to remain teaching in the district through year five. Initially, BTR graduates for whom value-added performance data are available are no more effective at raising student test scores than other novice teachers in English language arts and less effective in math. The effectiveness of BTR graduates in math improves rapidly over time, however, such that by their fourth and fifth years they out-perform veteran teachers. Simulations of the program’s overall impact through retention and effectiveness suggest that it is likely to improve student achievement in the district only modestly over the long run. |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17646&r=edu |
| By: | Giuseppe Bertola (Edhec Business School and CEPR); Paolo Sestito (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the evolution of educational institutions and outcomes over the 150 years since Italy’s unification, and discusses their interaction with national and regional growth patterns. While initial educational conditions contributed to differentiate across regions the early industrial take off in the late 19th century, and formal education does not appear to have played a major role in the postwar economic boom, the slowdown of Italy’s economy since the 1990s may be partly due to interactions between its traditionally low human capital intensity and new comparative advantage patterns, and to the deterioration since the 1970s of the educational system’s organization. |
| Keywords: | Education systems, tracking, economic growth, regional convergence |
| JEL: | N30 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:workqs:qse_6&r=edu |
| By: | Rajashri Chakrabarti |
| Abstract: | The No Child Left Behind law mandated the institution of adequate yearly progress (AYP) objectives, on which schools are assigned a pass or fail. Fail status is associated with negative publicity and often sanctions. In this paper, I study the incentives and responses of schools that failed AYP once. Using data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and regression discontinuity designs, I find evidence in these schools of improvements in high-stakes reading and spillover effects to low-stakes language arts. The patterns are consistent with a focus on marginal students around the high-stakes cutoff, but this improvement did not come at the expense of the ends. Meanwhile, there is little evidence of improvement in high-stakes math or in low-stakes science and social studies. Performance in low-stakes grades suffered, as did performance in weaker subgroups despite their inclusion in AYP computations. While there is no evidence of robust effects in either test participation or graduation, attendance improved in threatened schools where it mattered for AYP. Finally, there is strong evidence in favor of response to incentives: Schools that failed AYP only in reading and/or math subsequently did substantially better in those subject areas. Credibility of threat mattered. AYP-failed schools that faced more competition responded more strongly and also more broadly, robust evidence in favor of improvements in all AYP objectives. |
| Keywords: | Education ; Public schools ; Reward (Psychology) |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:525&r=edu |
| By: | Graziella Bertocchi; Arcangelo Dimico |
| Abstract: | We study the evolution of racial educational inequality across US states from 1940 to 2000. We show that throughout this period, despite evidence of convergence, the racial gap in attainment between blacks and whites has been persistently determined by the initial gap. We obtain these results with 2SLS estimates where slavery is used as an instrument for the initial gap. The excludability of slavery is preliminarily established by instrumenting it with the share of disembarked slaves from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Using the same approach we also find that income growth is negatively affected by the initial racial gap in education and that slavery affects growth indirectly through this channel |
| Keywords: | Race; inequality; education; slavery; development; |
| JEL: | J15 I24 N31 O11 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:depeco:0672&r=edu |
| By: | Enrique López-Bazo (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Elisabet Motellón (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Regional disparities in unemployment rates are large and persistent. The literature provides evidence of their magnitude and evolution, as well as evidence of the role of certain economic, demographic and environmental factors in explaining the gap between regions of low and high unemployment. Most of these studies, however, adopt an aggregate approach and so do not account for the individual characteristics of the unemployed and employed in each region. This paper, by drawing on micro-data from the Spanish wave of the Labour Force Survey, seeks to remedy this shortcoming by analysing regional differentials in unemployment rates. An appropriate decomposition of the regional gap in the average probability of being unemployed enables us to distinguish between the contribution of differences in the regional distribution of individual characteristics from that attributable to a different impact of these characteristics on the probability of unemployment. Our results suggest that the well-documented disparities in regional unemployment are not just the result of regional heterogeneity in the distribution of individual characteristics. Non-negligible differences in the probability of unemployment remain after controlling for this type of heterogeneity, as a result of differences across regions in the impact of the observed characteristics. Among the factors considered in our analysis, regional differences in the endowment and impact of an individual’s education are shown to play a major role. |
| Keywords: | Regional labour markets, Regional unemployment, Education, Gap decomposition for non-linear models. JEL classification:C25, J64, J70, R23 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201125&r=edu |
| By: | Pierpaolo Parrotta (Aarhus University and University of Lausanne); Dario Pozzoli (Aarhus University, Department of Economics and Centre for Research in Integration and Marginalization (CIM)); Mariola Pytlikova (Aarhus Univserity, Centre for Corporate Performance (CCP) and Centre for Research in Integration and Marginalization (CIM)) |
| Abstract: | Using a matched employer-employee data-set, we analyze how workforce diversity in cultural background, education and demographic characteristics affects productivity of firms in Denmark. Implementing a structural estimation of the firms' production function (Ackerberg et al., 2006) we find that labor diversity in education significantly enhances a firm's value added. Hence, the negative effects, coming from communication and integration costs connected to a more culturally and demographically diverse workforce, seem to outweigh the positive effects coming from creativity and knowledge spillovers. |
| Keywords: | Labor diversity, skill complementarity, communication barriers, total factor productivity. |
| JEL: | C23 J24 L20 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2011022&r=edu |
| By: | Daniel Aaronson; Fabian Lange; Bhash Mazumder |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the fertility transition through a new lens: the extensive margin. Parents with high levels of children might substitute quality for quantity as the constraints on quality relax or those on quantity tighten. However, along the extensive margin, the quantity-quality trade-off cannot operate. At low levels of fertility, we expect quality and quantity to be essential complements. We apply these insights to a large school construction program in the American South during the early 20th century, the Rosenwald Rural Schools Initiative. We find that increased schooling opportunities lead to reductions in fertility among women with high fertility levels, while at the same time inducing higher levels of fertility among women with low levels of fertility. The magnitude of the fertility changes induced in the parent generation is, however, small compared to the changes in fertility induced by the Rosenwald intervention among women that were themselves treated by the intervention. The evidence from the Rosenwald intervention therefore suggests that changes in female opportunity costs induced by increased educational attainment might be among the most important driving forces of the fertility transition. |
| Keywords: | Fertility |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2011-09&r=edu |
| By: | Brian Bell; Stephen Machin |
| Abstract: | There is conflicting evidence on the consequences of immigrant neighbourhood segregation for individual outcomes, with various studies finding positive, negative or insubstantial effects. In this paper, we document the evolution of immigrant segregation in England over the last 40 years. We show that standard measures of segregation point to gentle declines over time for all immigrant groups. However, this hides a significant increase in the number of immigrant enclaves where immigrants account for a substantial fraction of the local population. We then explore the link between immigrant segregation, enclaves and crime using both recorded crime and self-reported crime victimization data. Controlling for a rich set of observables, we find that crime is substantially lower in those neighbourhoods with sizeable immigrant population shares. The effect is non-linear and only becomes significant in enclaves. It is present for both natives and immigrants living in such neighbourhoods. Considering different crime types, the evidence suggests that such neighbourhoods benefit from a reduction in more minor, non-violent crimes. We discuss possible mechanisms for the results we observe. |
| Keywords: | Crime, immigrant segregation, enclaves |
| JEL: | F22 J15 K42 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1104&r=edu |
| By: | Kimle, Kevin; Yu, Li; Orazem, Peter; Jolly, Robert W. |
| Abstract: | This report presents an overview of social entrepreneurship activities of public university graduates obtained from a survey. Almost 3 percent of respondents had created at least one nonprofit organization. The primary focus of the organizations founded by social entrepreneur respondents was education and youth related causes, with services geared heavily toward local needs. The nonprofit organizations founded to meet these needs were typically small, with one or two paid employees and 5 to 15 volunteers. |
| Keywords: | social entrepreneurship; non-profit enterprises; alumni |
| Date: | 2011–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:34666&r=edu |
| By: | Çokgezen, Murat |
| Abstract: | Externalities and equity are the two major arguments failures that provide justification for government intervention in education. Supporters belive that the intervention will correct these failures. This paper seeks answers the following two questions in the context of Turkey: (1)Is empirical data supporting the arguments for government intervention? (2) Is government intervention correcting failures? A survey of previous studies and the other evidence show that (1) empricial data is far from supporting the arguments that justify government intervention and (2) government intervention is creating its own failures. |
| Keywords: | education; state intervention; Turkey; government failures |
| JEL: | I28 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35209&r=edu |
| By: | Ben Youssef, Slim; Breton, Michèle; Zaccour, Georges |
| Abstract: | We consider a duopoly competing in quantity, where firms can invest in both innovative and absorptive R&D to reduce their unit production cost, and where they benefit from free R&D spillovers between them. We analyze the case where firms act non cooperatively and the case where they cooperate by forming a research joint venture. We show that, in both modes of play, there exists a unique symmetric solution. We find that the investment in innovative R&D is always higher than in absorptive R&D. We also find that the value of the learning parameter has almost no impact on innovative R&D, firms profits, consumer's surplus and social welfare. Finally, differences in investment in absorptive research and social welfare under the two regimes are in opposite directions according to the importance of the free spillover. |
| Keywords: | Innovative R&D; Absorptive R&D; Learning Parameter; Spillover; Research Joint Venture |
| JEL: | C7 C61 O32 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35326&r=edu |
| By: | Arestoff, Florence (Université Paris-Dauphine - Paris IX); Sgard, Jérôme (Centre d'études et de recherches internationales) |
| Abstract: | Cette contribution à l'édition 2012 du "Ceriscope" propose une visite guidée simple des principaux concepts et des principaux axes de la recherche économique sur les liens entre éducation et inégalités. Elle est centrée principalement sur l'expérience des pays en développement et inclue une bibliographie qui permet de poursuivre l'exploration de ce thème. Il s'agit donc avant tout d'un texte informatif et pédagogique. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:sciepo:info:hdl:2441/eu4vqp9ompqllr09i6dc1i61n&r=edu |