This paper provides evidence on the sources of differences in inequality in educational scores and their evolution over time in four European countries. Using Programme for International Student Assessment data from the 2000 and the 2006 waves, the paper shows that inequality decreased in Germany and Spain (two "decentralised" schooling…

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential impact of the reform designed to decentralise public education in Italy, currently under discussion, on interregional redistribution. The central government has always played a prominent financial and administrative role in the provision of compulsory education in Italy. This has had a strong…

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, although many cost function studies have been done in developed countries, there has been no such study for the developing countries such as Vietnam. This paper will make the first attempt at conducting a cost function analysis for Vietnam. Second, it also demonstrates how the results of the cost…

The role of for-profit educational organizations in the predominantly public and not-for-profit K-12 US schooling system is being fiercely debated across our nation. Little empirical research is available to help policy-makers develop informed decisions regarding the educational value that for-profit schools provide to our students. This paper…

In 1994, the newly elected Government in Malawi abolished primary school fees. Using household survey data from 1990/91 and 1997/98, this paper assesses the impact this major policy change, combined with increased Government spending on education, has had on access to schooling by the poor. This paper shows that enrolment rates have increased…

Although the role of education in an economy is emphasized in theoretical studies, empirical literature finds mixed results for the relationship between growth and education. We examine the relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and enrollments in primary, secondary, and high schools, as well as universities in Turkey for 1937-1996, in…

Using a supply-demand framework, a six-equation model is specified to generate hypotheses about the relationship between state aid and student performance. Theory predicts that an increase in state or federal aid provides an incentive to decrease local funding, but that the disincentive associated with increased state aid is moderated when federal…

The "National Standards for Financial Literacy" describe the knowledge, understanding, and skills that are important for students to learn about personal finance. They are designed to guide teachers, school administrators, and other educators in developing curriculum and educational materials for teaching financial literacy. In this…

Economics can be taught much earlier than we usually imagine, as a life skill, with direct experience, from kindergarten on. An experiential, early-grades economics of budgets, buying, and giving-up-to-get may be better than the politically inspired insistence that students get an allegedly healthy dose of free-market ideology just before they are…

Measures the relative influence of engaging in various learning activities--spanning the "life-wide" spectrum of learning--on economic and social benefits. Finds that relationship between formal education and economic and social outcomes is complex, with confounding effects, indicating that different types of learning activities taken for…

Examines the relationship between returns to education and family background using samples of male and female workers drawn from the Spanish Survey on Class Structure. Results for males show a positive relationship between parents' education (or occupation) and returns to schools. Returns for females are mixed: Least-squares estimates show…

Explores relationship between education and earnings in Singapore. Uses Labor Force data to obtain estimates of private returns to investment in formal and technical/vocational education. Some results confirm earlier patterns from other countries, whole others make Singapore a world outlier, with very high private returns to schooling in relation…

Analyzes the substitution process in the labor market to develop an educational classification based on observed possibilities of workers with different educational backgrounds to enter similar occupations using the recognizability of the groups distinguished and incorporating the criterion of statistical reliability. Results in an educational…

Examines educational attainment in Bangladesh using two different variables: current school enrollment and highest level of schooling attained. Finds that educational attainment of children is higher for females than for males and is positively associated with household income and parents' level of education (especially that of mothers). (Contains…

Investigates the relationship between political preferences and the privatization of education in the United Kingdom. Finds that parents with children in school and individuals with higher tax liabilities favor privatization; those working in education oppose privatization. (Contains 5 tables and 29 references.)(PKP)