T. Breda, Julien Grenet, Marion Monnet, Clémentine Van Effenterre
{"title":"Do Female Role Models Reduce the Gender Gap in Science? Evidence from French High Schools","authors":"T. Breda, Julien Grenet, Marion Monnet, Clémentine Van Effenterre","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3584926","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3584926","url":null,"abstract":"We show in a large-scale field experiment that a brief exposure to female role models working in scientific fields affects high school students’ perceptions and choice of undergraduate major. While the classroom interventions generally reduce the prevalence of stereotypical views on jobs in science and gender differences in abilities, the effects on educational choices are concentrated among high-achieving girls in Grade 12. They are more likely \u0000to enroll in selective and male-dominated STEM programs in college. The most effective role model interventions are those that improved students’ perceptions of STEM careers without overemphasizing women’s underrepresentation in science.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132132261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Felipe Barrera-Osorio, Adriana Kugler, M. Silliman
{"title":"Hard and Soft Skills in Vocational Training: Experimental Evidence from Colombia","authors":"Felipe Barrera-Osorio, Adriana Kugler, M. Silliman","doi":"10.3386/w27548","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/w27548","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper studies the effects of an oversubscribed job-training program on skills and labor-market outcomes using both survey and administrative data. Overall, vocational training improves labor-market outcomes, particularly by increasing formal employment. A second round of randomization evaluates how applicants to otherwise similar job-training programs are affected by the extent that hard versus soft skills are emphasized in the curriculum. Admission to a vocational program that emphasizes technical relative to social skills generates greater short-term benefits, but these relative benefits quickly disappear, putting participants in the technical training on equal footing with their peers from the soft-skill training in under a year. Results from an additional randomization suggest that offering financial support for transportation and food increases the effectiveness of the program. The program fails to improve the soft skills or broader labor-market outcomes of women.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123416163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the Nexus Between Bonding, Communication, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty: A Case of Higher Education Institutes in Thailand","authors":"Nuanluk Sangperm, Krissamaporn Pungpho","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3888066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3888066","url":null,"abstract":"The main objective of this study is to examine the role of relationship market dimensions namely bonding and communication on the customer loyalty among Thai university graduates. In addition to that the study has examined the mediating role of customer satisfaction in the relationship between the relationship marketing and customer loyalty. Internationally, the policy related to the fact of being an owner is shifting towards the private sector from the public sector for universities and other higher educational institutions (HEIs). The increasing number of universities either private or public universities is also creating an increase in competition between universities for more enrollment of students. The theoretical structure of the recent research was determined from earlier practical literature and theoretical errors were recognized in the literature review. The structure was defined and supported by two important theories such as the social learning theory and the social exchange theory.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130086449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Window Dressing in the Public Sector: A Case Study of China's Compulsory Education Promotion Program","authors":"Hanming Fang, Chang Liu, Li-an Zhou","doi":"10.3386/w27628","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/w27628","url":null,"abstract":"We examine window dressing phenomenon in the public sector by studying the strategic responses of Chinese local officials to the compulsory education promotion program launched by the central government in the 1990s. According to this program, the Chinese counties should receive inspections on whether the compulsory educational targets were achieved on pre-scheduled time by provincial governments; and failing to pass the inspection would have severe negative career consequences for the county leaders. We find that county-level educational expenditures saw a sustained increase before the inspection, but a sharp drop immediately after the inspection. Local officials who were more likely to be inspected within their tenures window-dressed more aggressively. As a result, middle school enrollment rates declined significantly after the inspection, and rural girls bore the blunt of the decline in school enrollment.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"63 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132570562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Henley Modeled Institution Informed Transformative Potential of Nepal’s Administrative Staff College","authors":"M. I. Tsumagari, Antovna Gyawali","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3898554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3898554","url":null,"abstract":"Administrative Staff College at Henley-on-Thames in the United Kingdom has left a distinctive mark in the development history of executive training. It was a pioneer in drawing managerial staff from both civil service and business sectors for collaborative learning. Henley modeled institutions sprang up in different parts of the world, either as locally contextualized versions of the prototype or modified ones to cater to civil service cohort only. Although not a direct offshoot, the administrative staff college in Nepal is documented as having learned from Henley at its founding in 1982, and much of whose training structure is still retained today. The objective of the study was to review the transformation that Henley modeled administrative staff colleges took in response to the needs of time, and to draw an analysis informative for Nepal’s administrative staff college to plan out its future course. This comparative public administration study treated Henley model as a benchmark and shed light on the transformation of some Henley modeled institutions, including the original Henley. The finding revealed that there is a decisive factor for Henley modeled institutions’ survival. It was if the institution could continue to provide a meaningful platform for public and private sector leaders to contemplate how to co-lead the changing society. In Nepal, executive training strategically tailored for a mix of public and private sector managers is a domain yet to grow. Devising a way to involve non-public sector minds into the forum of executive training for select civil servants seems a logical lesson drawn from the transformative experiences of Henley modeled institutions, for it allows the civil service institution to continue to be relevant to the needs of the changing society it serves.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"107 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114043340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nursing Home Competition, Prices and Quality: A Review and Some Lessons for Australia","authors":"Jongsay Yong, Ou Yang, A. Scott","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3640876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3640876","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, with the aim of containing cost pressure and improving efficiency, many countries have begun to introduce market mechanisms into the aged care sector. Under the right conditions, competition can spur providers to compete by cutting costs, offering better prices and higher quality of services. However, in aged care, market failures can be severe. Information about prices and quality may not be readily available and search costs can be high. This study undertakes a scoping review of the literature on competition in the nursing home sector, with an emphasis on research examining how competition affects prices and quality of care. Online databases were used to identify studies in English language published between 1988–2020. A total of 44 publications covering nine countries are included in this review. On the relationship between competition and quality, the literature offers conflicting evidence. Some studies find greater competition leading to higher quality, while others find the opposite effect. Institutional features such as the presence of binding supply restrictions on nursing homes and public release of information on quality appear to be important considerations. On the price effect of competition, most studies find that greater competition tends to result in lower prices, although the effect is small. The literature offers several lessons for Australia, including whether increasing subsidies can result in higher quality and the role of public reporting of quality ratings in fostering competition.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124473213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Do Elite Universities Practise Meritocratic Admissions? Evidence from Cambridge","authors":"Debopam Bhattacharya, R. Rabovic","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3634647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3634647","url":null,"abstract":"The merit-vs-diversity balance in university-admissions remains a controversial issue. Statistical analysis of these problems is jeopardized by applicant characteristics observed by admission-officers but unobserved by researchers. Using administrative microdata from the two-stage Cambridge admission-process, we compare post-entry exam-scores of directly admitted h-type students with g-types entering via the “pool” - a second-round clearing-mechanism. Better performance by the latter implies higher admission-standards for g-types, irrespective of the unobservability problem. We find strong evidence of higher admission-standards for males in STEM/Economics, and a weak one for private-school applicants. The gender-gap weakens over time for a cohort, and is non-evident in Law/Medicine.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116147919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development of Methodology as Part of Applied Tools for Strategic Research and Assessment of Institutional Stability of the National Security System","authors":"V. Terziev, Mitko Stoykov","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3644588","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3644588","url":null,"abstract":"In order to support the updating and improving of national expertise, it is necessary to develop scientific and scientifically applied tools such as methodologies for expert evaluation of the sustainability of modern administrative units and their institutional capacities, as well as the need for internal interinstitutional and international cooperation to counteract of modern threats to national security. <br><br>Scientific instruments have been selected for the conduct of the study to carry out quantitative and qualitative measurements, evaluations and analyses, the application of which in a specific sequence forms a specialized scientific methodology for the complementary of measurement, evaluation and analytical techniques, as well as for the enhancement of representativeness and reliability of the obtained results.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"61 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130463632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Finance, Governance and Inclusive Education in Sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"S. Asongu, N. Odhiambo","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3627214","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3627214","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to assess the importance of credit access in modulating governance for gender-inclusive education in 42 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with data spanning the period 2004–2014.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The generalized method of moments is used as empirical strategy.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The following findings are established: First, credit access modulates government effectiveness and the rule of law to induce positive net effects on inclusive “primary and secondary education.” Second, credit access also moderates political stability and the rule of law for overall net positive effects on inclusive secondary education. Third, credit access complements government effectiveness to engender an overall positive impact on inclusive tertiary education.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Policy implications are discussed with emphasis on sustainable development goals.\u0000","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129681037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Travel Times and Basic GTCs between Spanish Provinces circa 1867 and Geolocation of Railway Stations and Stops (1848-1930)","authors":"Patricio Sáiz, Sergio A. A. Barbosa, J. Zofío","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3874111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3874111","url":null,"abstract":"We provide a first estimation of ground travel times between Spanish provinces circa 1867 (with a basic indicator of generalized transportations costs [GTCs]) and the geolocation of railway stations and stops between 1848 and 1930. This is work in progress that will be periodically updated with new times and GTCs estimations (for other years), new stop geolocations, and/or data correction when necessary.","PeriodicalId":149553,"journal":{"name":"Political Economy - Development: Public Service Delivery eJournal","volume":"98 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124975837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}