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501. CATO Institute: Making College More Expensive: The Unintended Consequences of Federal Tuition Aid

Author:
Gary Wolfram
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
As Congress debates the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, it should heed Friedrich Hayek's warning that democracy is “peculiarly liable, if not guided by accepted common principles, to produce over-all results that nobody wanted.” One result of the federal government's student financial aid programs is higher tuition costs at our nation's colleges and universities. Basic economic theory suggests that the increased demand for higher education generated by HEA will have the effect of increasing tuitions. The empirical evidence is consistent with that—federal loans, Pell grants, and other assistance programs result in higher tuition for students at our nation's colleges and universities.
Topic:
Economics, Education, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

502. Human Capital, R and Competition in Macroeconomic Analysis

Author:
Erik Canton, Bert Minne, Ate Nieuwenhuis, Bert Smid, and Mark van der Steeg
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Long-run per capita economic growth is driven by productivity growth. Major determinants of productivity are investments in education and research, and the intensity of competition on product markets. While these ideas have been incorporated into modern growth theories and tested in empirical analyses, they have not yet found their way to applied macroeconomic models used to forecast economic developments. In this paper, we discuss various options to include human capital, R and product market competition in a macroeconomic framework. We also study how policy can affect the decisions to build human capital or to perform research, and how competition policy impacts on macroeconomic outcomes. We finally sketch how these mechanisms can be implemented into the large models used at the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB).
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, and Emerging Markets
Political Geography:
Netherlands

503. Whither Ripeness Theory?

Author:
Dean G. Pruitt
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University
Abstract:
Ripeness theory, in its most common version, concerns the psychological states that encourage parties who are involved in severe conflict to move into negotiation—either bilateral or mediated. This monograph first summarizes ripeness theory as it stands today, while drawing on the writings of I. William Zartman, the founder of this field, and several other international relations scholars. Then it presents a critique, which recasts this important theory in conventional psychological terms; uses the language of variables rather than necessary states; and focuses on the psychological states of individual actors rather than on joint psychological states.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, Education, and Peace Studies

504. Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms

Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Are pupils learning enough, and learning it well in secondary school classrooms – and how can you tell? Can schools and teachers not only measure the progress made by pupils, but also identify their learning needs and respond to them? Effective assessment is needed to provide effective answers to all these critical questions.
Topic:
International Relations, Civil Society, Development, and Education

505. SALW Awareness in Schools - Towards a National Curriculum

Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Abstract:
Children are naturally curious. This leaves them vulnerable to small arms and light weapons (SALW), because while playing they may search for them, or try to handle booby-traps, abandoned weapons and explosives outdoors. While it is common knowledge that young people, especially boys, display a fascination for guns, research such as that cited in Figures 1 and 22 shows the huge gap between what parents would expect children to do when placed in a context where weapons are present, and what they really do.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Civil Society, and Education
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

506. Education in Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Author:
Robyn Murphy, Ron Sprout, and Matt Petric
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
Conventional wisdom has been that educational aspects of human capital in the former Communist countries were largely an asset going into the transition. However, it has also been widely perceived that the type of education in the Communist countries (with emphases on memorization at the expense of analytical and critical thinking, and perhaps premature specialization if not over-specialization) may be ill-suited for the needs of a market economy This study analyzes trends in four cross-country surveys of education performance: the Trends in International Mathematics and Sciences Study (TIMSS); the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS); the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS); and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Salient “quantity” of education indicators (enrollment and expenditure trends) are also assessed and compared with the “quality” of education indicators from results of the cross-national performance surveys.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, and Education
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

507. Do Parents Help More Their Less Well-off Children?: Evidence from a Sample of Migrants to France

Author:
Seymour Spilerman, François-Charles Wolff, and Claudine Antias-Donfut
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
Through an investigation of parental motives, this paper examines how parents decide on the allocation of their resources within the family when there are several offspring. From a theoretical viewpoint, inter vivos transfers may be explained either by altruism or by an exchange motive. Though unequal sharing is expected under both hypotheses, under altruism parents should direct their assistance to less well off children. Analogously, under an exchange motive we expect support to be channeled to children who live nearby their parents. We assess the relevance of the two transfer motives using the PRI survey, conducted in 2003, on a sample of immigrants living in France. Unequal sharing is frequently observed, and children are more likely to receive financial transfers when they are in poor circumstance, but not necessarily when living in proximity to parents. This is the case even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity with fixed effects models. We also emphasize the role of cultural factors, especially religion, as determinants of the parental allocation among children.
Topic:
Civil Society, Education, and Migration
Political Geography:
France

508. Temporality and Intervention Effects: Trajectory Analysis of a Homeless Mental Health Program

Author:
Mary Clare Lennon, William McAllister, Li Kuang, and Daniel Herman
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
Intervention analyses which incorporate temporality over a followup period typically note differences in the patterns of "single-curves" for each the experimental and control groups or differences in temporally-based taxonomies between experimentals and controls. But the former fails to allow for the possibility of subgroups of multiple trajectories and the latter collapses time (e.g., average spell durations) and arbitrarily creates cut-points to form its taxonomies. This paper investigates the utility for intervention research of using latent class growth analysis (LCGA). This method incorporates the more complete temporal information used by single-curve approaches to statistically identify the multiple subgroups at the heart of the taxonomic approach. We do this by reanalyzing a critical time intervention study (CTI) of homeless mentally ill men that used both single-curve and taxonomic approaches. By finding, among other things, differences between experimentals and controls in the number, sizes and patterns of latent subgroups than were found in the prior analysis, we suggest the utility of LCGA for assessing service interventions.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Education, and Human Welfare

509. Special Education and the Risk of Becoming Less Educated in Germany and the United States

Author:
Justin J.W. Powell
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
Over the twentieth century, a growing group of students has been transferred into considerably expanded special education systems. These programs serve children with diagnosed impairments and disabilities and students with a variety of learning difficulties. Children and youth “with special educational needs” constitute a heterogeneous group with social, ethnic, linguistic, and physical disadvantages. An increasingly large percentage of those students at risk of leaving school without credentials participate in special education, a highly legitimated low status (and stigmatizing) school form. While most countries commit themselves to school integration or inclusive education to replace segregated schools and separate classes, cross-national and regional comparisons of special education's diverse student bodies show considerable disparities in their (1) rates of classification, (2) provided learning opportunities, and (3) educational attainments. Analyzing special education demographics and organizational structures indicates which children and youth are most likely to grow up less educated and how educational systems distribute educational success and failure. Findings from a German-American comparison show that which students bear the greatest risk of becoming less educated depends largely on definitions of “special educational needs” and the institutionalization of special education systems.
Topic:
Development and Education
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Germany

510. Police and Gendarmerie Reform in Belgium: from Force to Service

Author:
Denis Bergmans
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
It is for me, as a representative of the Gendar merie, the Belgian federal police, a great honour to be invited as a speaker for this seminar.
Topic:
Security, Development, and Education
Political Geography:
Europe and Belgium