Immigrants’ educational disadvantage: an examination across ten countries and three surveys

Studies on immigrants’ disadvantage focus predominantly on labour market perspectives. Immigrants’ poor education is a subject much less examined especially in a cross-national context. This paper examines differences in educational achievement between immigrants and natives across ten OECD countries. In English-speaking countries, immigrants fare best, while in Continental European countries they fare worse compared to natives. Whilst language skills seem to explain immigrants’ disadvantage in English-speaking countries, socioeconomic background and school segregation are further important determinants of immigrants’ gap in Continental Europe. Results presented are predominantly robust across three sources of achievement data: PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS.      

Educational expansion and changes in occupational returns to education in Korea

We use data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) conducted in 1998 by the Korean Labor Institute to examine the school-to-work transition across three labor market entry cohorts of Korean men and women. Taking into account the dramatic expansion of educational system and economic changes Korean society has experienced during the last few decades, we develop hypotheses about possible changes in the effects of educational qualifications on first occupational attainment. We first conduct an OLS regression of first occupational prestige scores on education. We then look at the effects of education on the odds of entering an occupational class using multinomial logit models. The results of the two analyses indicate that educational qualifications strongly affect occupational attainment for both men and women. The effects of education, particularly junior college and university, on first occupation have declined across three labor market cohorts for women but not for men.     

The new economics of education: methods,evidence and policy

In this paper (my keynote talk from the 2006 ESPE conference), I discuss the recent upsurge in research on the economics of education that has occurred, especially in Europe. I discuss the reasons for the increased interest and present some examples from my recent research in the area. The paper concludes that the increased research interest seems likely to be sustained for some time to come.

The replacement effect and comparisons of per capita income across countries: A short note

This article is intended to clarify two aspects of Leibenstein's replacement effect that have not been adequately addressed in print. First, formal analysis of the replacement effect demonstrates that it is not determined by the quality of entering and departing workers alone but, rather, by the entire age schedule of labor quality. Second, a simple model is used to demonstrate the absence of welfare implications associated with the replacement effect and to quantify the magnitude of the replacement effect.     

Identifying the priorities for midwifery education across Australia and New Zealand: A Delphi study

ProblemIn countries where education programmes are assessed as meeting international standards there is limited knowledge about the challenges facing midwifery education.Background/aimThe positive impact of quality midwifery education on maternal and newborn health is acknowledged by the World Health Organisation. However, there is limited research identifying the issues faced in providing quality midwifery education. The aim of this study was to identify the challenges and determine priority projects to strengthen midwifery education across Australia and New Zealand.MethodsA two-round Delphi study with experts in midwifery education was undertaken.FindingsIn round one, 85 participants identified an initial 366 issues for midwifery education. Through thematic content analysis these were categorised into 89 statements reflecting five major themes: In round two, 105 midwifery experts from Australia n = 86 (79%) and New Zealand n = 23 (21%) rated the 89 statements in order of priority. Across the combined data (Australia and New Zealand) a total of 19 statements gained consensus of ≥80%.DiscussionFive priority themes were identified including; (1) enabling success of First Peoples/Māori midwifery students; (2) increasing the visibility and influence of midwifery within regulation, accreditation and university governance; (3) determining how best to deliver the clinical practicum component of programmes; (4) reviewing midwifery programmes to enhance design, content and delivery; and (5) ongoing education and support for the midwifery workforce.ConclusionIn Australia and New Zealand, it is imperative that collaborative work is undertaken to design and action identified projects addressing these priorities.     

The mismatch between employment and child care in Italy: the impact of rationing

In Italy the women’s participation is among the lowest in Europe. The female employment rate stands almost 13 percentage points below the EU average and 22 below the Lisbon target. One of the most important reasons is related to the characteristics of child care system. We analyze the characteristics of the child care system in Italy and its relationship to the labor market participation decision of mothers. The two decisions are jointly considered in a discrete choice framework, which also allows for simple forms of rationing. We go on to estimate a bivariate probit model of the child care and employment decisions and find evidence that rationing is an important factor in interpreting price effects on utilization rates and employment decisions. Responsible editors: Deborah Cobb-Clark & Tito Boeri     

Links between labor supply and unemployment: theory and empirics

A flow model of labor market participation is used to describe how various exogenous variations jointly affect unemployment and participation and provides short-run identification restrictions of a structural VAR. In some countries, fast rising female participation may have had a moderate short- and medium-run impact on unemployment rates. A variance decomposition exercise indicates that, in Continental Europe, participation is driven in the short run by unemployment shocks, whereas in the USA, it is driven by participation shocks (demography, immigration). Unemployment in Europe is driven by participation shocks, whereas in the USA, it is driven by unemployment shocks.      

Labour force participation and marital fertility of Italian women: The role of education

This paper uses data from the 1993 Survey of Household Income and Wealth conducted by the Bank of Italy in order to estimate a reduced form purist model of female marital fertility and labour force participation. It focuses in particular on the effect of formal education on both fertility and labour force participation, and accounts for the potential endogeneity of education. Our estimates show that increasing education up to the upper secondary level exerts ceteris paribus a positive effect on marital fertility at ages 21–39 and that highly educated women postpone fertility and have a higher labour market attachment.I wish to thank participants at the 15 ^th Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics 2001 (Athens), the 16 ^{t h} Italian Conference of Labour Economics 2001 (Florence), especially my discussant Emilia Del Bono, the Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 (Warwick), Luca Mancini, Jeremy Smith and the anonymous referee of this Journal for useful comments. The usual disclaimer applies. The Bank of Italy is gratefully acknowledged as the original depository of the Survey of Household Income and Wealth data used in this paper. Funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research (MURST) Project Too many or too few? The relationship between population dynamics and socio-economic development is also gratefully acknowledged. Responsible editor: Alessandro Cigno.     

Access,boundaries and confidence: The ABC of facilitating continuity of care experience in midwifery education

BackgroundTo register as a midwife in Australia, students must complete minimum requirements of clinical experiences throughout their programme. This includes following women through their childbirth journey in order to gain continuity of care experience. Research suggests that women and students find the continuity of care experience (COCE) valuable. Nevertheless, students cite difficulty in achieving these experiences.Aim This project sought to explore the challenges and identify supportive strategies for midwifery students undertaking the COCE.MethodsThis project adopted an action research approach incorporating the four stages of planning, action, observation and reflection. This paper specifically reports the findings from the planning stage in which a focus group with education providers, facilitator and students was conducted and a survey with students (n = 69) was undertaken. Key themes were identified through thematic analysis and a number of actions were proposed.FindingsThree main themes, ‘access’, ‘boundaries’ and ‘confidence’ were identified as challenges for students undertaking the COCE. Students raised concern regarding lack of access to women for COCE. They identified a need to establish clear professional and personal boundaries in managing the COCE. Students also highlighted the significance of confidence on the success of their experience. Throughout the study students identified strategies that could assist in the COCE.ConclusionThere is a need for clarity and support around the COCE for all stakeholders. Placing the COCE within a Service Learning model is one response that ensures that this experience is understood as being symbiotic for women and students and enables supportive actions to be developed and implemented.     

Returns on education amongst men in England and Wales: The impact of residential segregation and ethno-religious background

Individuals’ occupational and educational attainment is influenced by their ethnicity, religion and colour in the UK and elsewhere. In this paper, we analyse the impact of ethnicity, religion and colour along with residential segregation¹ and socio-economic deprivation on returns to education for men in England and Wales. We analyse the 2001 UK census data by employing multi-level logistic regression models. It is found that non-White groups including Christian Black-African, UK born Sikh-Indians and South Asian Muslims are found to suffer an ethnic penalty compared to Christian White-British. While there is evidence to suggest that Muslim men may experience a greater penalty compared to some non-Whites other non-Muslim groups too face ethno-religious penalties, sometimes even more severely such as in the case of Christian Black-Africans. Socio-economic difficulties faced by ethnic minorities are also linked to spatial segregation only when associated with high levels of area deprivation. This suggests that what matters may not be segregation per se, but whether or not it is associated with deprivation.     

The role of intergenerational transfers,land, and education in fertility transition in rural Kenya: the case of Nyeri district

This qualitative study reveals how population pressures, land availability, inheritance norms, and educational opportunities intertwine to influence fertility decline in rural Kenya. Focus group discussions with men and women whose childbearing occurred both before and after the onset of rapid, unexpected fertility transition in Nyeri, Kenya allowed individuals who actually participated in, or witnessed, the fertility transition to “voice” their perceptions as to the mechanisms underlying the transition. Findings suggest that, since land inheritance is a cultural norm, land scarcity and diminishing farm size often influence fertility decision-making and behavior via preferences for fewer children. Further, education does not appear to be the driving cause of fertility behavior change, but rather is adopted as a substitute for land inheritance when land resources are scarce. These findings have implications for our understanding of fertility behavior as well as for improving predictions of fertility transition in other rural sub-Saharan African contexts.     

Enhanced Antenatal Care: Combining one-to-one and group Antenatal Care models to increase childbirth education and address childbirth fear

BackgroundWe designed and implemented a new model of care, Enhanced Antenatal Care (EAC), which offers a combined approach to midwifery-led care with six one-to-one visits and four group sessions.AimTo assess EAC in terms of women’s satisfaction with care, autonomy in decision-making, and its effectiveness in lowering childbirth fear.MethodsThis was a quasi-experimental controlled trial comparing 32 nulliparous women who received EAC (n = 32) and usual antenatal care (n = 60). We compared women’s satisfaction with care and autonomy in decision-making post-intervention using chi-square test. We administered a Fear of Birth Scale pre- and post-intervention and assessed change in fear of birth in each group using the Cohen’s d for effect size. To isolate the effect of EAC, we then restricted this analysis to women who did not attend classes alongside maternal care (n = 13 in EAC and n = 13 in usual care).FindingsWomen’s satisfaction with care in terms of monitoring their and their baby’s health was similar in both groups. Women receiving EAC were more likely than those in usual care to report having received enough information about the postpartum period (75% vs 30%) and parenting (91% vs 55%). Overall, EAC was more effective than usual care in reducing fear of birth (Cohen’s d = −0.21), especially among women not attending classes alongside antenatal care (Cohen’s d = −0.83).ConclusionThis study is the first to report findings on EAC and suggests that this novel model may be beneficial in terms of providing education and support, as well as lowering childbirth fear.     

The H-1B visa: Free market solutions for business and labor

The H-1B visa program opened the US information technology labor market to temporary, skilled immigrant labor. But the immigrant worker was bound to a specific employer for the duration of the visa. The non-portability of the H-1B visa has benefitted the employer at the expense of immigrant and domestic workers. Much of the political debate surrounding the H-1B program has focused on raising the annual visa cap based on inconclusive evidence of a domestic IT labor shortage. The labor shortage question has obscured the more importantissue of reforming the H-1B program to level the playing field between business and labor.     

地方品质与经济机会对劳动力流动的影响 ——基于CLDS 2016的实证分析

基于2016年中国劳动力动态调查数据,采用条件logit模型实证考察了决定中国城际劳动力区位选择的区域和个人因素。旨在评估流动劳动力选择目的地时地方品质、就业机会和经济结构的相对权重,以及这些地方因素在不同类型的劳动力中的作用程度。结果表明:(1)地方品质对吸引迁移人口流入有显著的正向促进作用且大于就业机会带来的效应,迁移人口会倾向于流向地方品质更好的城市。(2)通过对比地方品质和工资水平对流动人口流向选择概率的影响可以计算得到流动人口对于地方品质水平提升1个单位的支付意愿约为9.70元。(3)从异质性检验结果来看,个人消费服务、地区基础结构和公共服务对本地吸引人才流入的能力均表现出显著的带动性;年轻一代和室内工作的劳动力群体更加注重环境因素的考量,对城市品质提出了更高的要求。相比于地方品质,高教育水平劳动者受到高工资水平的调节作用更大。来自城镇的劳动者更加重视地方品质建设对自身带来的影响,而来自农村的劳动者更加注重工资报酬所带来的经济效用;流入内陆、淮北地区、特大、超大和高收入阶段的城市吸引劳动力受城市地方品质的影响效果更显著;流入内陆、淮南地区、大中小和中等收入偏上/偏下城市吸引劳动力受工资水平的影响更显著。     

Structuring access to higher education: The role of differentiation and privatization

Building on cross-national stratification research that examines how institutional arrangements affect stratification processes, I explore how two characteristics of higher education systems, differentiation and privatization, shape access to postsecondary opportunities. Using hierarchical linear models and relying on variation in educational systems across states in the U.S., I demonstrate that differentiation and privatization structure access to higher education, albeit at times in previously unanticipated ways. Differentiation, which denotes the presence of community colleges, has a democratizing effect: it increases overall enrollment in postsecondary institutions as well as decreases the gap in enrollment between students from different social strata. Moreover, contrary to the diversion hypothesis, differentiation does not disproportionately divert students from less privileged family backgrounds from 4-year institutions. Differentiation does, nevertheless, divert another group of students: those with lower test scores. The results also indicate that privatization has little effect on overall access to higher education, although it influences migration of students, facilitating out-of-state enrollment.     

市场选择与体制依存——社会化养老机构经营现状个案研究

近年来,各类民办性质的养老机构发展迅速,不同于东南沿海,一些相对欠发达地区的养老机构在以市场化经营为基本主体的前提下,受到地方经济水平、制度惯性与文化传统的多重影响,往往产生了对政府体制既有依赖性又有反弹性的双重经营局面。本文试图通过对东北地区F市几所养老机构经营发展状况的个案调查,分析在市场化与社会化经营过程中,体制性力量与地方性力量是如何作用于养老机构日常化运作的,以此进一步探讨我国社会化养老机构在发展建设过程中所面对的困难与不足。     

The impact of local labour markets on investment in further education: Evidence from the England and Wales youth cohort studies

The paper focuses on the individual's choice of activity on completion of compulsory schooling – to remain in full-time education or to seek employment – and the factors influencing this decision. Information from the England and Wales Youth Cohort Studies, coupled with labour market data, is used to estimate of logit model of choice and assess the role played by social and market factors. The results show that labour market conditions play an influential role in determining outcomes, particularly in the case of young males with weaker academic qualifications. Consistent with the time-series evidence, we find that participation rates in further education for both males and females are positively related to the unemployment rate in the local labour market, the effects being greater at times of economic recession when unemployment rates are rising. Received: 5 May 1997/Accepted: 17 July 1998     

Aging women and men in the medical profession: The effect of gender and marital status on successful aging and retirement intent in Australian doctors

Despite increasing interest from the medical profession in aging and retirement, we know little about effects of gender, marital status, and cohort on aging within the profession. We surveyed 1,048 Australian doctors from “younger” (55–64) and “older” (65–89) cohorts, investigating gender and marital effects on perceptions of successful aging, career, and retirement intent. Women intend to retire earlier. Younger cohort and married women more frequently viewed their career as a calling, while women in general, and single women more frequently, endorsed personal successful aging more than men. Broader understanding of the different experiences of aging for men and women doctors is needed.     

婚姻、就业及退休对健康影响的性别差异——西方的视角及其研究进展

性别差异既是人群健康差异的重要原因之一,也是人群健康差异的表现维度之一。就业、婚姻和退休是人生的重要环节,也是与成年人生活息息相关的制度安排。无论是职场还是家庭,所有的经济角色都会因性别化的角色期待和角色认知而形成性别差异,该差异会导致健康相关行为的性别差异,从而对两性的健康产生不同的影响。通过梳理国外的相关文献,对该领域的研究成果进行总结回顾,以期为国内的研究提供一些参考。