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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Economic Theory
Religion And Growth, Sascha O. Becker, Jared Rubin, Ludger Woessmann
Religion And Growth, Sascha O. Becker, Jared Rubin, Ludger Woessmann
ESI Working Papers
We use the elements of a macroeconomic production function—physical capital, human capital, labor, and technology—together with standard growth models to frame the role of religion in economic growth. Unifying a growing literature, we argue that religion can enhance or impinge upon economic growth through all four elements because it shapes individual preferences, societal norms, and institutions. Religion affects physical capital accumulation by influencing thrift and financial development. It affects human capital through both religious and secular education. It affects population and labor by influencing work effort, fertility, and the demographic transition. And it affects total factor productivity by constraining or …
Cognitive Performance Across The Life Course Of Bolivian Forager-Farmers With Limited Schooling, Michael Gurven, Eric Fuerstenberg, Benjamin C. Trumble, Jonathan Stieglitz, Bret Beheim, Helen Davis, Hillard Kaplan
Cognitive Performance Across The Life Course Of Bolivian Forager-Farmers With Limited Schooling, Michael Gurven, Eric Fuerstenberg, Benjamin C. Trumble, Jonathan Stieglitz, Bret Beheim, Helen Davis, Hillard Kaplan
ESI Publications
Cognitive performance is characterized by at least two distinct life course trajectories. Many cognitive abilities (e.g. “effortful processing” abilities including fluid reasoning, and processing speed) improve throughout early adolescence and start declining in early adulthood, while other abilities (e.g. “crystallized” abilities like vocabulary breadth) improve throughout adult life, remaining robust even at late ages. Although schooling may impact performance and cognitive “reserve”, it has been argued that these age patterns of cognitive performance are human universals. Here we examine age patterns of cognitive performance among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of Bolivia, and test whether schooling is related to differences in cognitive performance …
University Rankings: Evidence And A Conceptual Framework, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Jacob Fowles, H. George Frederickson
University Rankings: Evidence And A Conceptual Framework, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Jacob Fowles, H. George Frederickson
Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell
University ranking has high public visibility, the ranking business has flourished, and institutions of higher education have not been able to ignore it. This study of university ranking presents general considerations of ranking and institutional responses to it, particularly considering reactions to ranking, ranking as a self-fulfilling prophecy, and ranking as a means of transforming qualities into quantities. The authors present a conceptual framework of university ranking based on three propositions and carry out a descriptive statistical analysis of U.S. and international ranking data to evaluate those propositions. The first proposition of university ranking is that ranking systems are demarcated …
Risky Business: An Analysis Of Teacher Risk Preferences, Daniel H. Bowen, Stuart Buck, Cary Deck, Jonathan N. Mills, James V. Shuls
Risky Business: An Analysis Of Teacher Risk Preferences, Daniel H. Bowen, Stuart Buck, Cary Deck, Jonathan N. Mills, James V. Shuls
ESI Publications
A range of proposals aim to reform teacher compensation, recruitment, and retention. Teachers have generally not embraced these policies. One potential explanation for their objections is that teachers are relatively risk averse. We examine this hypothesis using a risk-elicitation task common to experimental economics. By comparing preferences of new teachers with those entering other professions, we find that individuals choosing to teach are significantly more risk averse. This suggests that the teaching profession may attract individuals who are less amenable to certain reforms. Policy-makers should take into account teacher risk characteristics when considering reforms that may clash with preferences.
A Household Model Of Careers And Education Investment, Jessica F. Young
A Household Model Of Careers And Education Investment, Jessica F. Young
Undergraduate Economic Review
This paper develops a two-stage non-cooperative household game, in which parents make career decisions and an investment into their child’s human capital. The model is solved for Nash equilibrium outcomes and extended for a cooperative solution. In non-cooperative pure strategies, both parents choosing to work is a Nash equilibrium, though there are alternative outcomes when the conditions underlying the career decision are varied. The investment behaviour of agents is analysed. We find that choices are critically affected by the magnitude of the cost (and reflected quality) of a high education investment relative to a low investment, and the intrinsic value …
Effects Of The Humanitarian Aid, Internal Displacement On The Social Impacts In Sudan, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
Effects Of The Humanitarian Aid, Internal Displacement On The Social Impacts In Sudan, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
The study presented here reviews activities of NGOs in Sudan by surveying and studying the activities of Save the Children of United Kingdom. Activities of NGOs in Sudan were always a controversial issue that resulted in the expulsion of many in 2009. There were also precedents of such expulsions in previous and following years. The paper discusses humanitarian work in Sudan, positive and negative sides. The case study's activities of the Save the Children efforts in Jebel Aulia Internally Displaced People, specially their efforts in education were investigated. It is concluded that introduce invaluable help in educational field, building classes …
Thieves Or Doctors, Armed Civil Conflicts In Darfur And Impacts On Education In Refugees Camps, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
Thieves Or Doctors, Armed Civil Conflicts In Darfur And Impacts On Education In Refugees Camps, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
The study presented here depends on a field survey of refugees' camps in war strived Darfur region. The data are genuine from people and children. The expelling of NGOs from the region was a moral shock to the whole world, but in Darfur, it was a humanitarian catastrophe affecting the population. In this paper, I surveyed and analyzed data on what I consider the most important factor which are children and establish education as the base of the arguments introduced here. A case study is introduced which is Attash refugees or displaced camp were produced. Data were collected by field …
Impacts Of The Political Regime On The High Education System Of Sudan, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
Impacts Of The Political Regime On The High Education System Of Sudan, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed
In totalitarian systems, especially that of dogmatic nature, education is often targeted to be devoted for the preparations of young generations and dedicating them to the regimes' structure and principles. However, such method negatively influences the educational system and renders the efficient inputs to students. The results can be manifested in deterioration of knowledge, human capital development and the future performance per se.
Public Spending On Education And The Incentives For Student Achievement, William Blankenau, Gabriele Camera
Public Spending On Education And The Incentives For Student Achievement, William Blankenau, Gabriele Camera
Economics Faculty Articles and Research
We build a model where homogeneous workers can accumulate human capital by investing in education. Schools combine public resources and individual effort to generate productive skills. If skills are imperfectly compensated, then in equilibrium students may under-invest in effort. We examine the effect on human capital accumulation of three basic education finance policies. Increased tuition subsidies may not be beneficial because they increase enrollment but they may lower the incentives for student achievement, hence the skill level. Policies directed at enhancing the productivity of education or making degrees more informative are more successful at improving educational outcomes.