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on Sociology of Economics |
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Issue of 2007‒04‒09
eight papers chosen by Jonas Holmström Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration |
| By: | Doh-Shin Jeon; Jean-Charles Rochet |
| Abstract: | More and more academic journals adopt an open-access policy, by which articles are accessible free of charge, while publication costs are recovered through author fees. We study the efficient pricing of an academic journal from a two-sided market perspective and the consequences of the open access policy on the journal’s quality standard. When the journal’s objective is to maximize social welfare, open access is optimal if and only if the positive externalities generated by its diffusion exceed the marginal cost of distribution. This condition is satisfied in particular for an electronic journal for which the marginal cost of distribution is zero. However, we show that if the journal is run by a not-for-profit association that has a different objective (such as maximizing the utility of its readers or the impact of the journal), the move from the traditional reader-pays model to the open-access model may result in a decrease in quality standard below the socially efficient level. In some cases, it may even lead to a reduction in readership size. |
| Keywords: | Academic Journals, Open-Access, Reader-Pays, Two-Sided Market, Endogenous Quality |
| JEL: | D42 L44 L82 |
| Date: | 2007–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1025&r=sog |
| By: | Alexander Kemnitz (Institut für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik (IVS)) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the impact of university finance reforms on teaching quality. It is shown that the graduate tax can achieve efficiency with tuition fees administered by the government, while student grants, pure and income contingent loans are bound to fail. All options are inefficient when universities have the autonomy to set tuition fees. Then, pure loans dominate the graduate tax and are more efficient than income contingent loans unless peer group effects are strong. However, properly chosen uniform administered fees create an even higher surplus. Moreover, pure loans may make the majority of students worse off than a central assignment system with very poor quality incentives. |
| JEL: | H52 I22 L13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mea:ivswpa:610&r=sog |
| By: | Yann Bramoullé; Gilles Saint-Paul |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the dynamics of fundamental research. We develop a simple model where researchers allocate their effort between improving existing fields and inventing new ones. A key assumption is that scientists derive utility from recognition from other scientists. We show that the economy can be either in a regime where new fields are constantly invented, and then converges to a steady state, or in a cyclical regime where periods of innovation alternate with periods of exploitation. We characterize the cyclicals dynamics of the economy, show that indeterminacy may appear, and establish some comparative statics and welfare implications. |
| Keywords: | Research dynamics, innovation cycles, indeterminacy |
| JEL: | O39 C61 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0704&r=sog |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | As higher education has grown and state funding has been constrained, the financial sustainability of institutions of higher education has become an issue for policy makers and for those who govern and manage these institutions. The challenge for governments is to ensure that increasingly autonomous institutions respond to public interest agendas while taking a greater responsibility for their own financial sustainability. The challenge for institutions is to manage an increasingly complex portfolio of aims and funding. This report examines the conditions needed to secure financial sustainability for the future from the national (policy) and institutional (management) perspectives. <BR>A mesure que l’enseignement supérieur se développe et que le financement par l’Etat se restreint, la viabilité financière des établissements d’enseignement supérieur devient un enjeu pour les décideurs, ainsi que pour ceux qui gouvernent et gèrent ces établissements. Le défi auquel les gouvernements doivent faire face est de s’assurer que les établissements de plus en plus autonomes continuent de répondre à l’ensemble des intérêts publics tout en assumant une plus grande responsabilité pour leur propre viabilité financière. Quant aux établissements, leur défi réside dans la gestion d’un portefeuille d’objectifs et de financements de plus en plus complexe. Le présent rapport examine les conditions nécessaires pour garantir la pérennité financière dans l’avenir, d’un point de vue national (politiques) et institutionnel (gestion). |
| Date: | 2007–03–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:7-en&r=sog |
| By: | Franz Strehl; Sabine Reisinger; Michael Kalatschan |
| Abstract: | This international study focuses on the funding systems in the area of higher education in the following countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Portugal and Slovak Republic. Each individual country study was designed and conducted within an overall common framework by a project partner from the respective country. By using the stakeholder approach, this study addresses and analyses the effects of funding systems on the higher education system and its institutions. In order to present a comprehensive overview, the study explicitly takes into account the stakeholders' diversity and explores the effects of how funding systems are perceived and assessed differently... <BR>Cette étude internationale cible les systèmes de financement de l'enseignement supérieur dans les pays suivants : Allemagne, Autriche, Danemark, Irlande, Lettonie, Norvège, Portugal, République slovaque et République tchèque. Chaque étude par pays a été conçue et menée selon un cadre général commun par un partenaire du projet du pays concerné. À travers le recours à l'approche des parties prenantes, cette étude aborde les effets des dispositifs de financement sur les systèmes et établissements de l'enseignement supérieur, avant d'en faire l'analyse. Dans le but de présenter une vue d'ensemble exhaustive, l'étude prend clairement en considération la diversité des parties prenantes et explore les effets consécutifs aux différentes perceptions et évaluations des systèmes de financement... |
| Date: | 2007–03–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:6-en&r=sog |
| By: | Alexander Kemnitz (Institut für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik (IVS)) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how the abolishment of a ban on tuition fees affects the quality of higher education with centralized and decentralized decision making. It is shown that tuition fees fully crowd public funds under centralization and quality of university education does not improve. However, with decentralized decisions total higher education spending increases in the tuition level. Therefore, decentralization can lead to a higher quality of university education than centralization although the opposite holds when funding is restricted to be public. |
| JEL: | H77 I22 D78 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mea:ivswpa:617&r=sog |
| By: | Christofides, L.; Hoy, M.; Yang, L. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gue:guelph:2006-8&r=sog |
| By: | Christofides, L.; Hoy, M.; Yang, L. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gue:guelph:2006-10&r=sog |