The purpose of this study is to examine efficiency and its determinants in a set of higher education institutions (HEIs) from several European countries by means of non-parametric frontier techniques. Our analysis is based on a sample of 259 public HEIs from 7 European countries across the time period of 2001–2005. We conduct a two-stage DEA analysis (Simar and Wilson in J Economet 136:31–64, 2007), first evaluating DEA scores and then regressing them on potential covariates with the use of a bootstrapped truncated regression. Results indicate a considerable variability of efficiency scores within and between countries. Unit size (economies of scale), number and composition of faculties, sources of funding and gender staff composition are found to be among the crucial determinants of these units’ performance. Specifically, we found evidence that a higher share of funds from external sources and a higher number of women among academic staff improve the efficiency of the institution.

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This paper assesses the impact of international outsourcing/offshoring practices on the process of wage equalization across manufacturing sectors in a sample of EU27 economies (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009). We discriminate between heterogeneous wage effects on different skill categories of workers (low, medium and high skill). The main focus is on the labour market outcomes of vertical integration, so we augment a model of conditional wage convergence through the inclusion of sector-specific broad and narrow outsourcing/offshoring indices based on input-output data (World Input Output Database, April 2012 release). Twoway relations between trade and wages are addressed through the use of a gravity-based sector-level instrument. We find no evidence supporting unconditional skill-specific wage convergence in EU sectors. In a conditional setting, (slow) wage convergence takes place, but international outsourcing plays a negligible role in wage equalization. Moreover, even though regression results indicate that offshoring reduces the wage growth of domestic medium-and low-skilled workers, we show that this negative effect is economically small.The research has been conducted within the project financed by the National Science Centre (NCN), Poland (decision number DEC-2013/11/B/HS4/02134). Financial support from NCN is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank two anonymous referees, David Card, as well as the participants to conferences (Max Weber Conference -European University Institute, Warsaw International Economic Meeting, DEGIT, Macromodels) and seminars (Labor Lunch Seminar -University of California, Berkeley; Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona; Warsaw School of Economics, Gdansk University of Technology) for useful remarks on an earlier version of this paper. The usual disclaimers apply.A. Parteka ( ) · J. Wolszczak-Derlacz

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This study examines the overall effect of global value chains (GVCs) on wages and labour demand. It exploits the World Input-Output Database to measure GVC involvement via recently developed participation indices (using both backward and forward linkages) and the relative GVC position using three-stage least squares regression. We find that the relative GVC position is negatively correlated with wages and employment and that the GVC participation effect depends on whether backward or forward linkages are considered. Moreover, we find heterogeneity across both countries (middle-vs high-income) and sectors (manufacturing versus services). Notably, the effect of GVC involvement on the labour market differs from that produced by traditional domestic trade.