Search Results

This paper calculates new measures of human capital. Contrary to the existing literature, they are based on realistic rates of return to education, which are allowed to vary substantially across countries and to some extent over time. The new measures perform well in regression analysis explaining productivity across OECD countries and over time. In OECD samples, coefficient estimates are broadly consistent with the private returns underlying the construction of the new measures of human capital. In a wider sample of countries, most estimates imply additional positive social returns.

Published abstract. Show less

This article reviews the development of Community Consortia for Education and Training (CCET) in Wales, and explores their role in the development of a cohesive post-16 learning strategy. The article examines the development of the formation of one such consortium as a case study. A range of challenges are identified for making effective progress. These highlight the difficulties, as well as the successes, for this key contemporary cross-sector educational partnership between schools, colleges, universities, businesses and voluntary organisations.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The second World Congress of Colleges and Polytechnics was held in Melbourne, Australia in March 2002. The Congress explored outcomes aligned to themes of accessibility, technology and globalisation, strengthening partnerships and youth as a vocational education and training (VET) customer. Representatives from colleges and polytechnics from many countries shared experience and insight over a wide range of VET issues including VET as a positive force in economic and social development, best practice in the governance and management of institutions, the latest developments in curriculum and delivery approaches to VET and lifelong learning, and the development of global linkages intended to support colleges and polytechnics in all countries. This paper was presented under the theme of funding VET and as part of the workshop on the entrepreneurial institution. The Institute for Design, Entertainment and the Arts (i.D.E.A.) began operation in Melbourne in 1998. The Institute aimed to become a nationally and internationally recognised leader in the provision of courses in multimedia, media and graphic arts. To pursue this aim, the Institute embraced the concept of the 'pursuit of excellence'. This paper provides an overview of the key elements of this strategy as it relates to staff team building, student support, scholarships, industry consultation, online delivery, curriculum, resources, and external work for students.

The volume of papers is indexed at TD/TNC 71.726. Selected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 71.727 to TD/TNC 71.766. Show less

This paper examines the practice of benchmarking universities using a 'league table' approach. Taking the example of the Sunday Times University League Table, the author re-analyses the descriptive data on UK universities. Using a linear programming technique, data envelope analysis (DEA), the author uses the re-analysis to demonstrate the major shortcomings of current league tables. Those shortcomings include the arbitrary allocation of weightings to performance indicators, the failure to differentiate between inputs and outputs, and the comparison of institutions with dissimilar comparators. DEA is used to exemplify how these three shortcomings could be overcome, and how a better approach to benchmarking could be developed. In particular, it is argued that a DEA approach to benchmarking allows for the recognition of diverse missions, which is more appropriate to universities.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The objectives of this paper are to quantify the contribution of recent changes to statutory retirement ages to the rise of participation rates for older people since 2002 and illustrate how much they could contribute in the future. A decomposition of changes to participation rates of 55-to-74 year-olds between 2002 and 2017 based on an estimated equation attributes more than two thirds of the median increase (of 10.9 percentage points) to rising life expectancy and educational attainment. About one percentage point is attributable to changes in statutory retirement ages, although part of the reason these effects are not larger is that in most countries, statutory retirement ages have not kept pace with life expectancy. Although difficult to incorporate in the empirical framework, evidence of falling disability pension rolls and reduced sensitivity of old-age participation to the level of unemployment suggests that the tightening of alternative early retirement pathways through unemployment or disability schemes has been a major factor in the turnaround in the participation rate of older workers. Projections indicate that participation rates for 55-to-74 year-olds should keep rising through 2030, by 3.4 percentage points for the median country. Rising life expectancy and educational attainment are projected to make the largest contributions, more than compensating for the negative contribution of population ageing in most countries.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

This paper provides a new measure of human capital using OECD [Programme for International Student Assessment] PISA and [Programme of International Assessment of Adult Competencies] PIAAC surveys, and mean years of schooling. The new measure is a cohort-weighted average of past PISA scores (representing the quality of education) of the working age population and the corresponding mean years of schooling (representing the quantity of education). In contrast to the existing literature, the relative weights of each component are not imposed or calibrated but directly estimated. The paper finds that the elasticity of the stock of human capital with respect to the quality of education is three to four times larger than for the quantity of education. The new measure has a strong link to productivity with the potential for productivity gains being much greater from improvements in the quality than quantity component of human capital. The magnitude of these potential gains in [multi-factor productivity] MFP is comparable to a similarly standardised improvement in product market regulation, but the effects materialise with much longer lags. The paper demonstrates through the example of pre-primary education, how to simulate the impact of a particular reform to education policy on human capital and productivity.

Published abstract. Show less

This paper uses a new measure of human capital that works much better in explaining productivity in OECD countries compared to earlier measures of human capital to investigate the educational policy drivers of human capital. A novel methodology is utilised by interacting educational policies, for which time series coverage is very poor, with time-varying core drivers of human capital such as public spending on education. In such a framework, policy effects can only be assessed indirectly as they amplify or attenuate the effect of education spending on human capital. The results suggest that higher attendance at pre-primary education, greater autonomy of schools and universities, a lower student-to-teacher ratio, higher age of first tracking in secondary education and lower barriers to funding to students in tertiary education all tend to boost human capital through amplifying the positive effects of greater public spending on education. Benefits from pre-primary education are particularly high for countries with an above-average share of disadvantaged students. School autonomy yields high benefits especially in countries where schools are subject to external accountability.

Published abstract. Show less