|
on Education |
|
Issue of 2014‒08‒16
fifteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Uwe DUlleck; Juliana Silva-Goncalves; Benno Torgler |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on an evaluation of the Fogs Artie program, designed to improve educational outcomes of Australian Indigenous students. In 2012, all Indigenous students enrolled in 21 high schools in Queensland were offered in-kind incentives conditional on their achievement of a specific target for academic grades, behaviour and attendance, coupled with information sessions on the importance of educational achievement. Using a differences-in-differences strategy, we find that the program improved behavioural and academic grades and reduced the number of unexplained absences for female students, but not for male students. In contrast, the program improved scores on a standardized national assessment test for male students. Moreover, we find that the program is only effective for students belonging to intact families. |
| Keywords: | Education, Incentives, Achievement, Indigenous, Program Evaluation, Policy |
| JEL: | I24 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2014–07–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:qubewp:wp026&r=edu |
| By: | Berberoglu, Giray; Tansel, Aysit |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effectiveness of private tutoring in Turkey. The authors introduce their study by providing some background information on the two major national examinations and three different kinds of tutoring. They then describe how they aimed to analyse whether attending private tutoring centres (PTCs) enhances Turkish students’ academic performance. By way of multiple linear regression analysis, their study sought to evaluate whether the impact of private tutoring varies in different subject areas, taking into account several student-related characteristics such as family and academic backgrounds as well as interest in and perception of academic success. In terms of subject areas, the results indicate that while private tutoring does have a positive impact on academic performance in mathematics and Turkish language, this is not the case in natural sciences. However, as evidenced by the effect sizes, these impacts are rather small compared to the impacts of other variables such as interest in and perception of academic success, high school graduation fields of study, high school cumulative grade point average (CGPA), parental education and students’ sociocultural background. While the authors point out that more research on the impact of further important variables needs to be done, their view is that school seems to be an important factor for determining students’ academic performance. |
| Keywords: | Private tutoring, Academic Performance, Regression analysis, Turkey |
| JEL: | I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2014–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57370&r=edu |
| By: | Diana Alessandrini (Department of Economics and Finance, University of Guelph, Canada) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the cyclicality of schooling decisions. Its novelty is threefold. This is the first study that focuses on Canada. Second, the analysis is based on longitudinal data, while previous papers in the literature mainly focused on pooled cross-sectional data. Third, the analysis distinguishes among individuals of different ability levels, which is new to the literature. Main results show that macroeconomic conditions affect schooling decisions of recent high-school graduates only. University enrollment is counter-cyclical: more students enroll in university during economic contractions. Ability, proxied by parental education, negatively affects the counter-cyclicality of university enrollment. Finally, economic downturns stimulate the acquisition of theoretical rather than practical education. Contrary to university enrollment, college enrollment is pro-cyclical and enrollment in other (non-university) PSE institutions is acyclical. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:16_14&r=edu |
| By: | Tanaka, Ryuichi (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies Japan); Farré, Lídia (IAE Barcelona (CSIC)); Ortega, Francesc (Queens College, CUNY) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of immigration on the education system of the receiving country from a political economy perspective. Specifically, we extend the school-choice model by Epple and Romano (1996b) and Coen-Pirani (2011) by incorporating a subsidy to private schools, a distinguishing feature of Spain's education system. We calibrate the model to match key moments of Spain's economy and education system in year 2008, the end of a large episode of immigration. By means of simulations we evaluate the effects of immigration on the size and quality of Spain's public education. Our main findings are as follows. First, immigration will lead to a small increase in the size of public education in terms of enrollment. However, this increase in size masks an important composition effect. There is a large native flight away from public schools that is offset by the large inflow of immigrant children into public schools. Secondly, we predict a large reduction in the quality of public education, an 11 percent reduction in public spending per student. Our analysis suggests that these effects will unfold unevenly over time. While the changes in the size (and student composition) of public schools will take place promptly upon arrival of the immigrants, the reduction in funding will be more gradual and only fully take place once the immigrant population has been enfranchised. We also provide estimates separately for Spain's regions, which enjoy some autonomy in their education policies and experienced widely different levels of immigration. |
| Keywords: | education, public school, immigration, naturalization |
| JEL: | D7 F22 H52 H75 J61 I22 I24 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8342&r=edu |
| By: | Hamsa Vekatakrishnan (Wits School of Education); Nicholas Spaull (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | Primary school mathematics teachers should, at the most basic level, have mastery of the content knowledge that they are required to teach. In this paper we test empirically whether this is the case by analyzing the South African SACMEQ 2007 mathematics teacher test data which tested 401 grade 6 mathematics teachers from a nationally representative sample of primary schools. Findings indicate that 79% of grade 6 mathematics teachers showed content knowledge levels below the grade 6/7 band, and that the few remaining teachers with higher-level content knowledge are highly inequitably distributed. |
| Keywords: | mathematics teacher knowledge, SACMEQ, South Africa, mathematics |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers218&r=edu |
| By: | Ciccone, Antonio; Garcia-Fontes, Walter |
| Abstract: | We propose estimating gender peer effects in school by exploiting within-school variation in gender composition across birth cohorts. Our approach differs from the existing literature, which exploits variation in gender composition at a given grade level in different years. We argue that the birth cohort approach is a useful alternative as the grade level approach generally yields spurious gender peer effects when there is grade retention. The birth cohort approach applied to primary schools in Spain indicates statistically significant positive gender peer effects of girls on boys’ academic achievement and statistically insignificant effects of girls on girls’ achievement. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnh:wpaper:36847&r=edu |
| By: | Aysit Tansel (Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Bonn, Germany and Economic Research Forum (ERF) Cairo, Egypt); Deniz Karaoglan (Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This is the first study which provides empirical analysis of the variation in health behaviors for adult men and women in Turkey which is a developing country. The health behaviors considered are smoking, drinking, fruit and vegetable consumption, exercise and body mass index (BMI). We find that in Turkey education is the most important factor that affects the health behaviors. The results indicate that smoking is positively associated with education at all levels with a decreasing effect with the level of education unlike in the developed countries. This result indicates that smoking is a serious public health problem in Turkey at all levels of education. Further, alcohol consumption and schooling are positively related and it increases by the level of education. Higher educated individuals clearly eat more fruits, vegetables and exercise more and their BMI levels are in the normal range compared to less educated and illiterate. We also highlight the importance of demographic factors, labor market status and household income. We use Health Survey of Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) for years 2008, 2010 and 2012. This study will provide a baseline for further studies on the various aspects of health behaviors in Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Health Behaviors, Education, Demographic Factors, Turkey. |
| JEL: | I10 I12 I19 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1414&r=edu |
| By: | Julia A. Barde; Juliana Walkiewicz (Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of access to piped water on human capital formation as measured by test scores from standardized school exams in Brazilian primary schools. We find that children in urban areas with access to tap water at home perform signicantly better at school: They achieve test scores that are 14 percent of the standard deviation higher than the average test score without access. The effect is conditional on the education of the mother and turns out to be insignicant in rural areas. Our results capture the long term effect of the reduced incidence of water-related diseases for children with access to tap water. We exploit school-specic variation across years as well as a comprehensive vector of socioeconomic background variables to identify this effect. |
| Keywords: | Health, piped water, cognitive development, human capital formation |
| JEL: | I15 I25 H41 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fre:wpaper:28&r=edu |
| By: | Delavande, Adeline; Zafar, Basit (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the determinants of students’ university choice, with a focus on expected monetary returns, non-pecuniary factors enjoyed at school, and financial constraints, in the Pakistani context. To mitigate the identification problem concerning the separation of preferences, expectations, and markets constraints, we combine rich data on individual-specific subjective expectations about labor market and non-pecuniary outcomes, with direct measures of financial constraints and students’ stated school choice both with and without financial constraints. Estimates from a life-cycle model show that future earnings play a small (but statistically significant) role. However, non-pecuniary features, such as a school’s ideology, are major determinants. Data on students’ choices without financial constraints allow for the out-of-sample validation of the model, which shows a strikingly good fit. Our results demonstrate that 37 percent of students are financially constrained in their choice of university, and that implementing policies relaxing financial constraints would increase students’ average lifetime subjective expected utility by 21 percent. From a methodological standpoint, we find that ignoring non-pecuniary factors, uncertainty related to employment and drop-out, or direct measures of financial constraints yields biased estimates—a result that underscores the importance of having data on these elements for understanding university choice in any context. |
| Keywords: | school choice; credit constraints; subjective expectations |
| JEL: | D81 D84 I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2014–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:683&r=edu |
| By: | Checchi, Daniele (University of Milan); De Fraja, Gianni (University of Nottingham); Verzillo, Stefano (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | We derive a theoretical model of effort in the presence of career concern based on the multi-unit all-pay auction, and closely inspired by the Italian academic market. In this model, the number of applicants, the number of new posts, and the relative importance of the determinants of promotion determine academics' effort. Because of the specific characteristics of Italian universities, where incentives operate only through promotion, and where all appointment panels are drawn from strictly separated and relatively narrow scientific sectors, the model fits well Italian academia, and we test it in a newly constructed dataset which collects the journal publications of all Italian academics working in universities. We find that individual researchers respond to incentives in the manner predicted by the theoretical model: more capable researchers respond to increases in the importance of the measurable determinants of promotion and in the competitiveness of the scientific sector by exerting more effort; less able researchers do the opposite. |
| Keywords: | career concerns, applied auction theory, publications, academic job market, nepotism |
| JEL: | D44 I23 I21 M51 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8345&r=edu |
| By: | Timothy J. Bartik (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); Marta Lachowska (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Keywords: | Kalamazoo Promise, promise-type programs, universal scholarship program, postsecondary education |
| JEL: | I21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:tjbml14&r=edu |
| By: | Gavrel, Frédéric (University of Caen); Lebon, Isabelle (University of Caen); Rebiere, Therese (CNAM, Paris) |
| Abstract: | The efficiency of educational choices is studied in a search-matching model where individuals face a tradeoff: acquiring formal education or learning while on the job. When their education effort is successful, newcomers directly obtain a high-skill job; otherwise, they begin with a low-skill job, learn-by-doing and then search while on-the-job for a high-skill job. Low-skill firms suffer from hold-up behavior by high-skill firms. The low-skill sector is insufficiently attractive and individuals devote too much effort to formal education. A self-financing tax and subsidy policy restores market efficiency. |
| Keywords: | formal education, learning-by-doing, market efficiency, on-the-job search, search unemployment |
| JEL: | H21 I20 J21 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8341&r=edu |
| By: | Flavio Cireno (Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger, Brazil); Joana Silva (World Bank); Rafael Proença (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Conditionalities, School Performance and Progression of Bolsa Família Programme Recipients |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:oparab:241&r=edu |
| By: | Masamune Iwasawa (Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University and Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science); Mitsuo Inada (Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, and Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science); Seiichi Fukui (Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the effects of remittances on child education that depend on three types of migration: parental, non-parental, and no migration. Measuring the effects of remittances is challenging and demands great caution because their theoretical positive impacts can be partly or fully offset by the adverse influences of family members’ migration. The magnitude of this negative impact, furthermore, depends significantly on migrant characteristics. Specifically, given that parents play an irreplaceable role in their children’s education, parental migration not only leads to a labor shortage in the household but also results in insufficient parental input. To overcome the difficulties of measuring the effects of remittances, we derive data from the Cambodian Socio-Economic Survey in 2009, which provides a sufficient sample size for the three self-selected migration types. Estimating each subsample enables us to disentangle the net impact of remittances from that of migration and measure the influence of remittances given the differences in migrant characteristics. Overall, the estimates suggest that the positive effects of remittances are partially canceled out for non-parental migration and completely eliminated when parental migration occurs. |
| Keywords: | Remittance; Migrant heterogeneity; Educational expenditure |
| JEL: | O15 I25 J13 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:898&r=edu |
| By: | Nicolas CARAYOL; Agenor LAHATTE |
| Abstract: | In this article, we propose to extend the concept of stochastic dominance, extensively used in decision theory and social choice, to the comparison of composite outcomes, both the quality and quantity of which do matter. Unanimity of judgment among new classes of functions is also studied. We introduce and characterize axiomatically a new index, called Importance, which allows us to rank institutions on clear grounds using the information contained in any set of available unanimous bilateral comparisons (an incomplete tournament). This theory is applied to the ranking of U.S. research universities taking into account both the volume of publications and their impact. We also compare and rank academic departments in economics taking both the size of the department and the prestige of its members into account. |
| Keywords: | Stochastic Dominance, Ranking, Tournaments, Axiomatics, Citations. |
| JEL: | D63 I23 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2014-14&r=edu |