The Impact of Degree Duration on Higher Education Participation: Evidence from a Large‐scale Natural Experiment

This paper investigates the effects on enrolment, retention rate and on‐time graduation of a nationwide Bologna Process reform introduced in Italy to establish BAs with a duration of three years, followed by optional second‐tier degrees of two years, in place of single‐tier degrees of four or five years. The analysis exploits exogenous delay of treatment conditions and the unique availability of microdata that cover the universe of the departments. We estimate that the reform boosted first‐year enrolments by 14.5–17.3 percentage points, compared to a counterfactual status of no reform. This enrolment shift was due to participation gains rather than substitution effects, and it is likely to have persisted in the longer term. Moreover, no trade‐off between increased participation and deteriorated retention and on‐time graduation emerged.     

How much does a single graduation cohort from further education colleges contribute to an open regional economy?

How much does a single graduation cohort from further education colleges contribute to an open regional economy? Spatial Economic Analysis. This paper combines elements of growth accounting and numerical general equilibrium analysis to produce an alternative micro-to-macro modelling approach. This is used to evaluate the macroeconomic impact on the Scottish economy of the human capital generated by a single graduation cohort from further education colleges. The macroeconomic impact is found to be significant and larger than growth accounting would suggest due to the associated endogenous investment, employment and competitiveness effects. From a policy perspective this identifies the importance of the conventional teaching role of education institutions and the key function played by further education colleges in this process.     

Henry George,Jane Jacobs,and Free Trade

Henry George and Jane Jacobs were both journalists and made a contribution to economics based on their commitment to the original version of free trade, as understood by 19^th‐century liberals, rather than the late 20^th‐century version. The distinctive concept of free trade, as originally understood, was as an instrument for small‐scale producers to break up entrenched monopolies and serve the interests of the ordinary citizen. That was how Cobden used it in the debates over the Corn Laws in the 1840s, and how Ruskin, Gesell, Chesterton, and other critics conceived of economic liberation. In debates over free trade in recent decades, that term has come to mean a defense of power and privilege, the exact opposite of the intent of 19^th‐century liberals. George and Jacobs sought to restore the original meaning by developing theories of development and distribution that would enable the market system to benefit everyone.     

Teacher quality and dropout outcomes in a large, urban school district

Recent research shows that variation in teacher quality has large effects on student performance. However, this research is based entirely on student test scores. Focusing on high-school math teachers, this paper evaluates teacher quality in terms of another educational outcome of great interest—graduation. I use a unique instrumental variables approach to identify teacher effects and find that differences in teacher quality have large effects on graduation outcomes. Because teacher effects on graduation outcomes will be more pronounced for students who are on the graduation margin, the results imply an avenue through which high-quality teachers are more productive with disadvantaged students.     

A Reexamination of How Athletic Success Impacts Graduation Rates

A BSTRACT . Past research has found conflicting evidence concerning whether higher levels of athletic success positively or negatively impact college graduation rates. This paper intends to improve on past research by separating the graduation rate of student-athletes from all other undergraduates. Results using generalized least squared estimation and paired t-tests from a sample of Division I schools suggest that neither the graduation rate for student-athletes nor the graduation rate for all other undergraduates is sensitive to the level of a school's athletic success. However, the graduation gap between student-athletes and all other undergraduates is sensitive to various measures of a school's athletic success. Women have higher graduation rates than men in general, and this gender graduation gap is exacerbated when focusing on student-athletes at schools with the most prominent athletic programs.     

Natural Rights: Henry George and the Economic Fruits of a Good Society

This article examines Henry George's understanding of how natural rights grow out of a just society. His views were influenced by the 17^th‐century proponents of natural rights, but cannot be subsumed under them. The connection of freedom to obligation affirmed by George's classical Protestantism allowed him to overcome tension between theories of natural law and natural rights. Rights and responsibilities were not abstractions for George. His practical solution for restructuring society offers a modern path to a more just society in which rights would abound.     

A Brief History of the American Economic Association

The 20^th‐century American economics profession and its leading professional organization—the American Economic Association (AEA)—were privileged and shaped by the federal government's need to direct resources and to call on experts. Bureaucratic tendencies to classify and count had an impact on the discipline's self‐concept, the articulation of subdisciplines, and the establishment of multiple research agendas. They also powerfully framed the strategies for growth and development formulated and deployed by the AEA itself. A consensus of professional opinion and the standardization of curriculums emerged out of the involvement of economists and the AEA with governmental affairs. At the same time, such public engagement was fraught with risks and contradictions—posing challenges and difficulties with which the AEA and the profession would have to contend for decades to come.     

The Effect of PhD Funding on Postdegree Research Career and Publication Productivity

This paper explores the extent to which PhD funding encourages postdegree research career and leads to publications. Using novel data on Italian PhD graduates, I find positive modest effects of funding both on pursuing a research career and on publication productivity within a few years after graduation. The results are robust to a battery of checks and different model specifications. I also provide evidence that funded students invest more in research‐oriented activities and spend less time on outside (non‐research) work during the PhD, thus highlighting mechanisms that potentially account for the effect of funding.     

Heterogeneous economic returns to higher education: evidence from Italy

This paper uses official Italian micro data and different methods to estimate, in the framework of potential outcomes, the marginal return to college education allowing for heterogeneous returns and for self-selection into higher education. Specifically, the paper is focused on the estimation of heterogeneity of average treatment effect (ATE) on a cohort of college and high school graduates using the 2008 survey on household, income and wealth of the Bank of Italy. Methodologically, this study was carried out by using both propensity-score-based (PS-based) methods and a new approach based on marginal treatment effects (MTE), recently proposed by Heckman and his associates as a useful strategy when the ignorability assumption may be violated. In the PS-based approach, heterogeneous treatment effects are estimated in three different manners: the traditional stratification approach (propensity score strata), the regression adjustment within propensity score strata and, finally, a non-parametric smoothing approach. In the MTE approach, the treatment effect heterogeneity across individuals is estimated in a parametric as well as a semi-parametric strategy. Our empirical analysis shows that the estimated heterogeneity is substantial: following MTE based results (quite representative of other methods) the return to college graduation for a randomly selected individual varies from as high as 20 % (for persons who would add one fifth of wage from graduating college) to as low as ?22 % (for persons who would lose from college graduation), suggesting that returns are higher for individuals more likely to attend college. Furthermore, the results of different methods show very low (point) estimates of ATE: average college returns vary from 3.5 % by the PS-smoothing method to 1.8 % by the parametric MTE method, which also leads a greater treatment effect on treated (5.5 %), a moderate, but significant sorting gain and a negligible selection bias.     

基于产学研有机结合的多元化毕业设计模式的探索和实践

分析了毕业设计存在的问题,提出了产学研结合的新的毕业设计教学模式。介绍了产学研结合多元化毕业设计模式改革思路,论述了联合指导企业基地的建设、指导教师的遴选、毕业设计题目的确定,详细分析了多元化毕业设计模式的实施方案和实施效果。多元化毕业设计模式的实施缓解了学校教学资源的不足,又提高学生毕业设计论文质量,是现阶段培养创新性人才的有效方法。     

本科毕业设计与科研项目相结合的探讨

本文通过分析目前我国对创新型人才的要求,简要阐述本科毕业设计的重要性以及目前本科毕业设计所出现的普遍问题,主要分析本科毕业设计与科研项目相结合的重要性。两者相结合有利于锻炼学生的创新能力、综合实践能力、应对能力,有利于培养学生的责任意识、团队协作意识,有利于将本科毕业设计与实际生产、科研相结合。建议在今后的本科毕业设计中广泛应用。     

高校毕业论文网络数字化管理必要性与可行性的研究

传统的毕业论文管理工作十分繁杂,越来越需要开发基于网络的毕业论文管理系统。文章从高校毕业论文管理现状入手,对论文数字化管理的必要性,以及建立高校毕业论文管理信息平台的可行性和系统的需求性进行分析。     

高职电子专业毕业设计课程的创新——选题工作的创新

作为高职电子专业毕业设计课程的开始端的选题环节是促使毕业设计具有创新性的关键步骤之一。本文通过从课题的来源、课题的形式和选题流程的改革,将创新能力的培养融入了毕业设计过程中,为高职电子专业毕业设计课程的改革提出有益的探索。     

高职高专毕业设计指导与管理平台构建研究

在分析高职高专院校毕业设计工作流程的基础上,开展基于工作流的毕业设计指导与管理网络系统平台的构建研究。该系统融入了教育信息技术,将网络化、自动化、规范化结合到毕业设计(论文)的指导和管理工作中,可以辅助完成用户管理、教师立题,专家审题,学生选题、开题、中期、答辩到毕业论文评审、推优等毕业设计指导和管理工作,从而有效地进行过程控制和监督管理,保障毕业设计工作的高效和规范实施。     

基于WEB的毕业设计指导系统的设计与实现

设计和实现一个基于WEB的毕业论文指导系统,使毕业论文指导教师能够高效地对学生进行指导,改变传统论文指导方式,提供快捷即时的在线答疑与交流,解决指导教师和学生的协作交互,提高工作效率,同时便于导师及时了解论文进度。     

Working while enrolled in a university: does it pay?

This study examines how university students' employment decisions affect their labor market success after graduation. The study is based on individual level panel data of Finnish university students from the years 1987–1998. The OLS estimates show that in-school work experience is associated with higher earnings and employment after graduation. However, work months during the enrollment are not exogenously chosen. Average local unemployment rate during enrollment is used as an instrument for work experience acquisition to correct for the endogeneity bias. Comparing graduates with equal times-to-degree, the IV estimates show that work experience increases earnings considerably one year after graduation. The effect is smaller and statistically insignificant in later years. Taking into account that working usually leads to longer times-to-degree, IV estimates show no significant returns to student employment.     

Teacher quality and dropout outcomes in a large,urban school district

Recent research shows that variation in teacher quality has large effects on student performance. However, this research is based entirely on student test scores. Focusing on high-school math teachers, this paper evaluates teacher quality in terms of another educational outcome of great interest—graduation. I use a unique instrumental variables approach to identify teacher effects and find that differences in teacher quality have large effects on graduation outcomes. Because teacher effects on graduation outcomes will be more pronounced for students who are on the graduation margin, the results imply an avenue through which high-quality teachers are more productive with disadvantaged students.     

STUDENT DEBT EFFECTS ON FINANCIAL WELL‐BEING: RESEARCH AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Reviewing the data regarding effects of student debt on students’ financial outcomes following college – whether successful graduation or premature exit – makes clear that there is a price to pay for having to borrow money to go to college. Indebted college graduates have lower net worth, less home equity, and compromised ability to accumulate assets, as compared to their peers with the same level of education but no student debt. They may also experience poorer educational outcomes, with independent effects on earning power and, then, later wealth accumulation. Especially given the relationship between initial household wealth and children's later educational outcomes, these findings about the post‐college financial outcomes of indebted students and graduates raise the specter of ongoing, sustained, and cross‐generational perpetuation of societal divides. In the United States, higher education is valued not just as a good in itself, but also as a means to the end of greater economic security and the primary lever for economic mobility. Evaluating student loans through this lens underscores the long‐term, volatile, and often hidden effects of student loan dependence and raises the stakes for consideration of alternative approaches to higher education finance.     

Incentive Effects in Higher Education: an Improved Funding Model for Universities

We examine the incentive effects of risk‐sharing between student and university in the English higher education system. The ‘graduate premium’ has been widely reported and has been used to justify rising higher education participation and increased individual or governmental expenditure. But this premium is simply the mean of a wide distribution, varying, inter alia, by subject, institution, year of graduation and individual. We assume that universities exist in a state of monopolistic competition and are subject to a budget constraint. Using US college data we find evidence suggesting that a funding model which incorporates risk‐sharing improves the efficiency of educational delivery while maintaining subject diversity and access.     

基于满意度的毕业设计选题系统的研究与实现

分析了毕业论文选题系统的特点,引入了学生及指导教师对选题结果的满意度,建立了一个以总体满意度最大为目标的毕业论文选题系统模型,并在此基础上设计实现了基于web的本科毕业论文选题系统。实际应用表明,该系统可以有效的提高毕业论文选题的总体满意度及选题质量。