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on Education |
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Issue of 2014‒12‒03
twenty-two papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Sharma, Uttam |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative in Nepal’s primary and lower-secondary schools. This evaluation of the OLPC program in Nepal uses a pre-post test quasi-experimental design that consists of 26 program schools and 39 control schools that are spread across six different districts of the country. A low-cost laptop was provided to each student in grades two, three and six of the program schools at the beginning of the Nepali academic year (May 2009). At the same time, a round of tests in English and mathematics designed specifically for this program was administered to all students in grades two, three, four and six in both program and control schools. The same students were given similar tests in February 2010 and in June/July 2011. The impact of the OLPC program is estimated by analyzing how the program and control schools differ in terms of changes in test scores (double difference comparisons between schools and within schools), attendance rates and measures of non-cognitive skills. The exposure to computer-assisted learning in Nepal had no impact or a negative impact on student learning, non-cognitive skills and attendance. Students from grade 2 in treatment schools did particularly poorly in year-end English tests compared to control school students. |
| Keywords: | Economics of Education, ICT in education, International Development, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169846&r=edu |
| By: | Mohamad Fahmi (Department of Economics, Padjadjaran University) |
| Abstract: | I estimate the higher education access gap among individuals who study in different type of upper secondary school. I use a non linear Binder-Oaxaca decomposition as de-pendent variable is a binary choice. The sample data is a household data that pull out from three waves of Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS). The results show that student from public school has higher chances to attend post secondary education as compared to private Islam and private secular group, whereas, private Christian is superior than pub-lic school. The evidence also indicates there are considerable differences between public school, private non-religious and Islamic school graduates in academic achievement and socio-economic characteristics. Parents’ education and academic achievement provides important contribution to a low probability of entering higher education for private non religious school graduates. While father’s education and family income contribute sub-stantially to a low probability of accessing higher education for the private non religious group. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, Access; Non-Linier Decomposition |
| JEL: | I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unp:wpaper:201414&r=edu |
| By: | Magejo, Prudence (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg); Benhura, Miracle (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg); Gwatidzo, Tendai (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates trends in intergenerational transmission of education among black South Africans – changes in correlation between parents' and children's education. Using data for 1954-1993 birth cohorts, we find a decrease in intergenerational transmission of education over the last four decades. The decline is strongest in the lower tail of the educational distribution. Nevertheless, a considerable portion of children's education still depends on family background. Children from poor educational backgrounds face significant barriers to attaining higher levels of education while the reverse applies to those from rich backgrounds. This suggests that initiatives to weaken the intergenerational link, particularly at higher levels of education, should target the offspring of educationally deprived parents. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational transmission, education, South Africa |
| JEL: | J62 I24 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8546&r=edu |
| By: | Meya, Johannes; Suntheim, Katharina |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of studying abroad on students´ success at university. Using an extensive dataset, propensity score matching is applied to account for possible self-selection into international mobility. Our empirical analysis suggests that a temporary study-related visit abroad significantly improves the final university grade, thus granting a second dividend in addition to personal experience. However, it seems that this effect is mainly driven by selective transferring of grades. Moreover, the study shows that a sojourn reduces the probability of finishing studies within the standard time period, suggesting that this dividend comes at a cost. |
| Keywords: | tertiary education,international student mobility,academic performance,grade point average,propensity score matching |
| JEL: | I21 J61 J11 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:215&r=edu |
| By: | Backes, Benjamin (American Institutes for Research); Holzer, Harry J. (Georgetown University); Dunlop Velez, Erin (RTI International) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine a range of postsecondary education and labor market outcomes, with a particular focus on minorities and/or disadvantaged workers. We use administrative data from the state of Florida, where postsecondary student records have been linked to UI earnings data and also to secondary education records. Our main findings can be summarized as follows: 1) Gaps in secondary school achievement can account for a large portion of the variation in postsecondary attainment and labor market outcomes between the disadvantaged and other students, but meaningful gaps also exist within achievement groups, and 2) Earnings of the disadvantaged are hurt by low completion rates in postsecondary programs, poor performance during college, and not choosing high-earning fields. In particular, significant labor market premia can be earned in a variety of more technical certificate and Associate (AA) programs, even for those with weak earlier academic performance, but instead many disadvantaged (and other) students choose general humanities programs at the AA (and even the Bachelor’s or BA) level with low completion rates and low compensation afterwards. A range of policies and practices might be used to improve student choices as well as their completion rates and earnings. |
| Keywords: | postsecondary education, earnings, certificates, associate degrees, bachelor degrees, fields of study, low-income students, minority students |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8474&r=edu |
| By: | Czibor, Eszter (University of Amsterdam); Onderstal, Sander (University of Amsterdam); Sloof, Randolph (University of Amsterdam); van Praag, Mirjam C. (Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | The provision of non-pecuniary incentives in education is a topic that has received much scholarly attention lately. Our paper contributes to this discussion by investigating the effectiveness of grade incentives in increasing student performance. We perform a direct comparison of the two most commonly used grading practices: the absolute (i.e., criterion-referenced) and the relative (i.e., norm-referenced) grading schemes in a large-scale field experiment at a university. We hypothesize that relative grading, by creating a rank-order tournament in the classroom, provides stronger incentives for male students than absolute grading. In the full sample, we find weak support for our hypothesis. Among the more motivated students we find evidence that men indeed score significantly higher on the test when graded on a curve. Female students, irrespective of their motivation, do not increase their scores under relative grading. Since women slightly outperform men under absolute grading, grading on a curve actually narrows the gender gap in performance. |
| Keywords: | education, test performance, grade incentives, competition, gender, field experiment |
| JEL: | I21 I23 A22 D03 C93 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8429&r=edu |
| By: | Richey, Jeremiah; Rosburg, Alicia |
| Abstract: | Using data from the 1979 and 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we investigate the changing roles of ability and education in the transmission of economic status across generations. Potential changes are identified using a decomposition method based on the OLS omitted variable bias formula. We find that ability plays a substantially diminished role for the most recent cohort while education plays a substantially larger role. The first finding results from a smaller effect of children's ability on status and a reduced correlation between parental status and children's ability. The second finding results mainly from increased returns to higher education. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility, Education, Ability |
| JEL: | I24 J62 |
| Date: | 2014–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60113&r=edu |
| By: | Naci Mocan; Luiza Pogorelova |
| Abstract: | We exploit information on compulsory schooling reforms in 11 European countries, implemented mostly in the 1960s and 70s, to identify the impact of education on religious adherence and religious practices. Using micro data from the European Social Survey, conducted in various years between 2002 and 2013, we find consistently large negative effects of schooling on self-reported religiosity, social religious acts (attending religious services), as well as solitary religious acts (the frequency of praying). We also use data from European Values Survey to apply the same empirical design to analyze the impact of schooling on superstitious beliefs. We find that more education, due to increased mandatory years of schooling, reduces individuals' propensity to believe in the power of lucky charms and the tendency to take into account horoscopes in daily life. |
| JEL: | I20 I25 K10 Z1 Z12 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20557&r=edu |
| By: | Annabelle Krause (IZA); Simone Schüller (FBK-IRVAPP and IZA) |
| Abstract: | This article reviews empirical evidence on the early tracking system in Germany and the educational inequalities associated with it. Overall, the literature confirms the existence of considerable social, ethnic, gender- and age-related inequalities in secondary school track placement. Studies on tracking timing and track allocation mechanisms reveal that postponement of the selection decision and binding teacher recommendations may reduce certain (mainly social) inequalities. Furthermore, recent evidence concerning long-term consequences of tracking on labor market outcomes suggests that sizeable built-in flexibilities in the German system succeed in compensating for initial (age-related) education inequalities. The paper concludes with an outline and discussion of the most promising pathways for future research in order to help design inequality-reducing policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Tracking, Educational inequality, School system, Germany |
| JEL: | I24 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fbk:wpaper:2014-07&r=edu |
| By: | Andrew Bacher-Hicks; Thomas J. Kane; Douglas O. Staiger |
| Abstract: | In a widely cited study, Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff (2014a; hereafter CFR) evaluate the degree of bias in teacher value-added estimates using a novel "teacher switching" research design with data from New York City. They conclude that there is little to no bias in their estimates. Using the same model with data from North Carolina, Rothstein (2014) argued that the CFR research design is invalid, given a relationship between student baseline test scores and teachers' value-added. In this paper, we replicated the CFR analysis using data from the Los Angeles Unified School District and similarly found that teacher value-added estimates were valid predictors of student achievement. We also demonstrate that Rothstein's test does not invalidate the CFR design and instead reflects a mechanical relationship, given that teacher value-added scores from prior years and baseline test scores can be based on the same data. In addition, we explore the (1) predictive validity of value-added estimates drawn from the same, similar, and different schools, (2) an alternative way of estimating differences in access to effective teaching by taking teacher experience into account, and (3) the implications of alternative ways of imputing value-added when it cannot be estimated directly. |
| JEL: | I21 J45 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20657&r=edu |
| By: | Dorfman, Jeffrey H.; Matthews, Paul; Wu, Xuedong |
| Abstract: | A large-scale movement is underway in higher education to incorporate academic service-learning experiences into the curriculum. Decades of research across a range of disciplines and institutional contexts has shown this pedagogy’s positive effects on student outcomes such as personal and civic development, critical thinking, inter-cultural competence, and more. However, there are no adequate studies of the benefits of such courses in terms of employment and earning outcomes for students. This study addresses that gap through a careful examination of the self-reported employment records of a set of over 500 college students over the first two years post graduation. Using unique matching of the sample individuals and several statistical tests, this research investigate the differences between students who take service-learning classes and their counterpart on various aspects such as time needed to employment, starting salary, chances of getting raise and promotion and so on. This study has the potential to validate university and student investment in service-learning coursework beyond the pedagogy’s demonstrated impacts on student social, cognitive, and civic outcomes. Results will represent the first scientific estimates of the economic benefits of service-learning classes. |
| Keywords: | Service-Learning classes, employment, matching, paired tests, Labor and Human Capital, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:169958&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | <ul> <li> Many countries have implemented reforms to develop and support doctoral studies and postdoctoral research, stressing the crucial role of doctorate students and degree holders in terms of economic growth, innovation and scientific research. </li> <li> The number of advanced research qualifications being awarded across OECD countries significantly increased over the past decade, growing from 158 000 new doctorates in 2000 to 247 000 in 2012, a rise of 56%. International students get one in five of these new doctorates. </li> <li> Even though the share of women in doctorate programmes has increased over the last decade (as in other levels of education), by 2012 women were still less likely than men to earn an advanced research qualification. </li> <li> On average, individuals with advanced research qualifications benefit from higher employment rates compared to other university-level graduates (Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees combined). </li> <li> The business enterprise sector offers better wages for new doctorate holders than the higher education and government sectors, but also unequal opportunities, depending on the field in which they graduate. </li></ul> |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaf:25-en&r=edu |
| By: | Tubadji, Annie (University of Regensburg); Gheasi, Masood (VU University Amsterdam); Nijkamp, Peter (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an operationalization of a mixed Bourdieu–Mincer-type model that seeks to find evidence for individual and local cultural capital effects on human capital 'ability'. We aim to compare these effects for native workers and immigrants (as well as between immigrants themselves) in a locality. The main objective of the paper is twofold: 1) to examine how ethnic background affects immigrants' schooling results; and 2) to explore the link between the wage differential of immigrant young workers entering the labour market in the context of a locally varying cultural milieu. Our study utilises the 2007–2009 data set for higher professional education (termed HBO in Dutch) graduates from Maastricht University. We use a two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimation method to analyse empirically a system of two equations. In the first Bourdieu-type equation, individual cultural capital, together with school type/quality, explains the individual's schooling achievement. Next, this 'schooling achievement' is employed as an explanatory variable in the second Mincer-type equation, which examines wage differential effects. Our Mincer-type equation is next augmented with a control for the local cultural milieu. We find evidence of ethnic segregation with regard to the quality of educational institution to which immigrants have access, which naturally explains part of the wage differential effect. Moreover, we find that local cultural capital determines the size of the wage gap. |
| Keywords: | immigration, wage differential, cultural capital, local cultural milieu, Mincer equation |
| JEL: | Z10 O31 O43 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8460&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | <ul> <li> One in eight students across OECD countries has repeated a grade at least once before the age of 15. </li> <li> Many countries reduced the rate of grade repetition between 2003 and 2012. </li> <li> One in five disadvantaged 15-year-olds has repeated a grade. Even among students with similar academic performance, the likelihood of repeating a grade is one-and-a-half times greater for disadvantaged students than for advantaged students. </li></ul> |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:43-en&r=edu |
| By: | Gustafsson, Björn Anders (University of Gothenburg); Sai, Ding (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Disparities in length of schooling between the largest Muslim minority in China, the Hui, and the Han majority are investigated. We use household data collected in Ningxia autonomous region in 2007. It is found that compared with Han persons of the same age and gender, Hui persons have shorter educations with the exception of young and middle-aged urban males who have twelve years of schooling, on average. Particularly noteworthy is that as many as 45 percent of adult rural Hui females are not literate. Possible reasons for the shorter educations of Hui in many segments of the population are numerous. We show that the incentive to invest in length of schooling is smaller among Hui than Han as the association between education and income is weaker. We also report that Hui parents spend fewer resources on education than Han parents and that fewer years of schooling for Hui in the first generation helps to explain why Hui persons in the second generation have shorter educations. |
| Keywords: | China, schooling, Hui ethnicity, Han ethnicity, Ningxia, inequality |
| JEL: | I24 J15 P35 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8595&r=edu |
| By: | Margherita Calderone |
| Abstract: | Financial literacy has received increased attention since the global financial crisis and the literature confirms that it is correlated with higher household well-being. In parallel, financial education programs have grown in popularity and an increasing number of countries are developing national financial education strategies and making more investments in related programs. However, the evidence from field experimental research linking financial education interventions and household financial outcomes in developing countries provides mixed results. New findings from recent experiments suggest that well designed and targeted training programs can indeed be successful in increasing formal savings and promoting responsible financial behaviors. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwrup:34en&r=edu |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Renata Lemos; Raffaella Sadun; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | We collect data on operations, targets and human resources management practices in over 1,800 schools educating 15-year-olds in eight countries. Overall, we show that higher management quality is strongly associated with better educational outcomes. The UK, Sweden, Canada and the US obtain the highest management scores closely followed by Germany, with a gap to Italy, Brazil and then finally India. We also show that autonomous government schools (i.e. government funded but with substantial independence like UK academies and US charters) have significantly higher management scores than regular government schools and private schools. Almost half of the difference between the management scores of autonomous government schools and regular government schools is accounted for by differences in leadership of the principal and better governance. |
| JEL: | L2 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20667&r=edu |
| By: | O'Leary, Nigel C. (Swansea University); Sloane, Peter J. (Swansea University) |
| Abstract: | There is an apparent inconsistency in the existing literature on graduate employment in the UK. While analyses of rates of return to graduates or graduate mark-ups show high returns, suggesting that demand has kept up with a rapidly rising supply of graduates, the literature on over-education suggests that many graduates are unable to find employment in graduate jobs and the proportion over-educated has risen over time. Using a simple supply and demand model applied to UK data that defines graduate jobs in terms of the proportion of graduates and/or the graduate earnings mark-up within occupations, we find that there has been a shift in the likelihood of young British university graduates being employed in non-graduate jobs in the recent years of our analysis. This finding is in contrast to existing studies. |
| Keywords: | education, wages, graduates, mismatch |
| JEL: | I2 J0 J3 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8413&r=edu |
| By: | Sandro Ambuehl; B. Douglas Bernheim; Annamaria Lusardi |
| Abstract: | We introduce the concept of financial competence, a measure of the extent to which individuals' financial choices align with those they would make if they properly understood their opportunity sets. Unlike existing measures of the quality of financial decision making, the concept is firmly rooted in the principles of choice-based behavioral welfare analysis; it also avoids the types of paternalistic judgments that are common in policy discussions. We document the importance of assessing financial competence by demonstrating, through an example, that an educational intervention can appear highly successful according to conventional outcome measures while failing to improve the quality of financial decision making. Specifically, we study a simple intervention concerning compound interest that significantly improves performance on a test of conceptual knowledge (which subjects report operationalizing in their decisions), and appears to counteract exponential growth bias. However, financial competence (welfare) does not improve. We trace the mechanisms that account for these seemingly divergent findings. |
| JEL: | D14 D91 I21 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20618&r=edu |
| By: | Cavalcanti Ferreira, Pedro (EPGE/FGV); Monge-Naranjo, Alexander (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis); Torres de Mello Pereira, Luciene (EPGE/FGV) |
| Abstract: | This article studies the impact of education and fertility in structural transformation and growth. In the model there are three sectors, agriculture, which uses only low-skill labor, manufacturing, that uses high-skill labor only and services, that uses both. Parents choose optimally the number of children and their skill. Educational policy has two dimensions, it may or may not allow child labor and it subsidizes education expenditures. The model is calibrated to South Korea and Brazil, and is able to reproduce some key stylized facts observed between 1960 and 2005 in these economies, such as the low (high) productivity of services in Brazil (South Korea) which is shown to be a function of human capital and very important in explaining its stagnation (growth) after 1980. We also analyze how different government policies towards education and child labor implemented in these countries affected individuals’ decisions toward education and the growth trajectory of each economy. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; structural transformation; education; fertility |
| JEL: | J13 J24 O40 O41 O47 O57 |
| Date: | 2014–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2014-039&r=edu |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | <ul> <li> Less than one in three teachers across countries participating in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 believes that the teaching profession is valued by society. </li> <li> Nevertheless, the great majority of teachers in all surveyed countries are happy with their jobs. </li> <li> Challenging classrooms with large proportions of students with behavioural problems and the perception that appraisals and feedback are done simply as administrative tasks are among factors that tend to lower job satisfaction. </li> <li> Collaboration between teachers and positive teacher-student relationships, on the other hand, are among factors that can boost teacher job satisfaction. </li></ul> |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaah:5-en&r=edu |
| By: | Nicoletti, Cheti; Rabe, Birgitta |
| Abstract: | We provide the first empirical evidence on direct sibling spillover effects in school achievement using English administrative data. Our identification strategy exploits the variation in school test scores across three subjects observed at age 11 and 16 and the variation in the composition of school mates between siblings. These two sources of variation have been separately used to identify school peer effects, but never in combination. By combining them we are able to identify a sibling spillover effect that is net of unobserved child, family and school characteristics shared by siblings. We find a modest spillover effect from the older sibling to the younger but not vice versa. This effect is considerably higher for siblings from deprived backgrounds, where sibling sharing of school knowledge might compensate for the lack of parental information. |
| Date: | 2014–11–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2014-40&r=edu |