This study evaluates the impact of a community-based information campaign on school performance from a cluster randomized control trial in 610 villages. The campaign consisted of eight or nine public meetings in each of 340 treatment villages across three Indian states to disseminate information to the community about its state-mandated roles and…

Important changes characterize the recent evolution of the schooling of workers in Portugal. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consequences of those changes in the gender wage gap. In particular, we analyze and compare the way that this process has evolved in the groups of young workers and older workers. Our findings suggest that…

Improving cognitive skills of young children has been suggested as a possible strategy for equalising opportunities across racial groups. Using data on four and five year olds in the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children, we focus on two cognitive tests: the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the "Who Am I?" test. We estimate the test score…

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…

Using a probit and censored ordered probit model of school completion we identify some state-specific factors influencing primary and middle school graduation probabilities of male and female children in two north-Indian states: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We find that education of the parents, economic and social status of the household and the…

This paper documents the experience of incentive-based reforms in the secondary Islamic/madrasa education sector in Bangladesh within the context of the broader debate over modernization of religious school systems in South Asia. Key features of the reform are changes of the curriculum and policy regarding admission of female students. In return…

Empirical evidence shows that the quality of learning in public schools is very low in India. There is also a robust belief that private schools offer better-quality learning at a lower cost and are a cost-effective alternative to public schools. Most of the evidence on which this latter claim is based does not correct for selection bias--students…

Evidence from cross-country studies suggests that the sustainability of India's rapid economic growth will be conditioned by the quality of its education. This paper analyzed a 2005 World Bank-sponsored survey of Grade Nine students in the states of Rajasthan and Orissa. The survey used internationally comparable items from the 1999 Trends of…

Recent evidence from Pakistan points to significant pro-male bias within households in the allocation of education expenditures. This raises two important questions. Is less spent on enrolled girls than boys through differential school-type choice for the two sexes; for example, through a greater likelihood of sending boys to fee-charging private…

It is widely believed that administrative expenditures in US higher education are growing too rapidly, particularly in relation to expenditures that are directly related to instruction, and that this so-called "administrative bloat" is a major factor in the rising cost of higher education. We argue that this perception of rapid growth is…

We employ Data Envelopment Analysis to compute the technical efficiency of Italian and English higher education institutions. Our results show that, in relation to the country-specific frontier, institutions in both countries are typically very efficient. However, institutions in England are more efficient than those in Italy when we compare…

Economic theory suggests that competitive pressures will impact on organisational efficiency. In recent years, universities in Australia and New Zealand have faced increased competition for students. The aim of this paper is to explore the efficiency of Australian and New Zealand public universities and to investigate the impact of competition for…

The present paper makes use of detailed information gathered at university department level, combined with graduate survey data, to assess the impact of different kinds of employability skills initiative on graduate labour market performance. We find that structured work experience and employer involvement in degree course design and delivery have…

This is the first study of technical efficiencies of higher education institutions and the first study evaluating performance at faculty level in Turkey. The study also compares technical efficiencies of private and public institutions. Estimation shows low overall efficiency with high variations across the faculties of economics. The results also…

As the relative level of public support for higher education declines, colleges and universities aim to maximize alumni-giving to keep their programs competitive. Anchored in a utility maximization framework, this study employs the classification and regression tree methodology to examine characteristics of alumni donors and non-donors at a…