1,721,071 research outputs found
Studenti resilienti: quando la famiglia "non conta"
No full textIl tema della resilienza in ambito educativo è di particolare interesse poiché strettamente connesso con il concetto di equità, intesa come capacità del sistema scolastico di dare le stesse opportunità di accesso e di successo a tutti. L’equità scolastica, come emerge dai risultati delle principali indagini nazionali e internazionali, costituisce uno dei punti di criticità del sistema italiano caratterizzato da un notevole gap di competenze tra gli studenti del Nord (top performers) e quelli del Sud (low performers). Si cercherà, quindi, di descrivere il fenomeno della resilienza in Italia inquadrandola in una prospettiva school-oriented, cioè focalizzandosi non solo sulle caratteristiche degli studenti, ma, soprattutto, sui fattori che a livello di scuola possono influenzare e favorire la resilienza
Actual Autonomy, Efficiency and Performance of Universities: Insights from the Russian Case
No full textThis paper studies the relationship between university institutional autonomy (both formal and informal) and their performance and efficiency using multi-stage empirical methodology. First, we measure an “autonomy-in-use” index, and then we employ Data Envelopment Analysis in order to evaluate institutional efficiency. Lastly, we use a panel fixed effect regression to provide robust evidence for the relationship between institutional autonomy, performance and efficiency. We find that formal status of autonomy does not predict higher publication activity or efficiency. However, the findings also reveal that informal autonomy is positively associated with efficiency scores, and advanced practices in staff management can contribute to increases in publication activity and overall institutional efficiency
The transient and persistent efficiency of Italian and German universities: a stochastic frontier analysis
No full textDespite measures on the European level to increase the compatibility between the higher education sectors, the recent literature exposes variations in their efficiencies. To gain insights into these differences, we split the efficiency term according to the two management levels each university is confronted with. We separate short-term and long-term efficiency while controlling for unobserved institution-specific heterogeneity. We argue that the first term reflects the efficiency of the individual universities working within the country, while the second term echoes the influence of the overall country-specific higher education structure. The cross-country comparison displays whether efficiency differences between countries are related to the individual performance of their universities or their higher education structure. This allows more purposeful policy recommendations and expands the literature regarding the efficiency of universities in a fundamental way. Choosing Italy and Germany as two important illustrative examples, we show that the Italian higher education sector exhibits a higher overall efficiency value. With the individual universities working at the upper bound of efficiency in both countries, the remaining inefficiency and the gap between the countries are caused by persistent, structural inefficiency. Future measures should hence aim at the country-specific structure and not solely at the activities of single universities
Higher education and economic growth: A longitudinal study of European regions 2000–2017
No full textThis paper investigates the impact of regional higher education systems (HESs) on economic growth, based upon 284 European regions (NUTS 2) over an 18-year period (from 2000 to 2017). The empirical framework specifically models the heterogeneity of the HESs by including indicators on university concentration, on the size of the HES and on HES performance and other important factors. The analysis is based on a novel and integrated dataset, created by collecting and combining indicators from different data sources (Eurostat, OECD, WHED and InCites). The results reveal that an increase in number of universities in a region is conducive to stronger economic growth within that region. The quality of research and a specialisation in STEM subjects are the primary drivers through which universities impact positively on the regions’ economic development
Local governments' efficiency and its heterogeneity - empirical evidence from a stochastic frontier analysis of Italian municipalities 2010-2018
No full textThis paper investigates the efficiency of Italian local governments using Stochastic Frontier Analysis for the years 2010-2018. As a dependent variable of the cost function, we consider the total current expenditure for producing six 'essential' local public services: education (ancillary services), waste management, general administration, local police, public roads and planning, and social services. As outputs, we employ indicators for each of the six services in the multi-output cost function. In an alternative model specification, we use a composite indicator for the total output volume. Thus, we estimate a global efficiency score for each local government, for each year. The findings reveal that the total expenditure declined over time, more than proportionally than the contraction of output produced. Therefore, the global efficiency of Italian municipalities is estimated to be higher in 2018 than it was in 2010. Moreover, there is evidence of substantial scale economies and congestion effects, with municipalities with around 10,000 inhabitants being more efficient than their smaller and larger counterparts. Lastly, on average, local governments are more efficient in providing public services in the Northern regions than in the Southern ones, although efficiency does not decline monotonically moving South
The efficiency of schools in developing countries, analysed through PISA 2012 data
No full textThis paper analyses the efficiency of more than 6800 schools in 28 developing countries, by means of a two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis and using data from OECD PISA 2012. The results reveal that the average efficiency of schools is around 70%, meaning that achievement scores can be raised by 30% by employing a more effective use of available resources. Substantial heterogeneity exists both between and within countries; in general, efficiency scores are higher when comparing schools only with those in the same country. Among factors associated with schools' efficiency, the most important are the characteristics of student population (for instance, motivation, truancy, etc.). Therefore, some practices related to accountability, teachers’ involvement and professional development, and extracurricular activities are also positively associated with higher levels of efficiency
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