This study examines two programmes aimed at integrating refugees into the Austrian labour market: a short‐term Skills Assessment and a longer‐term Integration Year that includes an internship and training. The theoretical framework draws on the concepts of social field and forms of capital proposed by Pierre Bourdieu. Using data from a large‐scale refugee survey in early 2019, we find that Austria’s short‐term Skills Assessment fails to increase refugees’ employment chances. The Integration Year positively helps employment, but this outcome is limited to refugee women. We conclude that integration programmes only help if they provide refugees with both cultural and social capital. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Alarmingly, the burgeoning empirical literature on the causes and effects of financing constraints finds considerable and robust evidence that financing constraints severely affect firm behavior, obstruct firm performance and greatly curb firm growth. 1 Theoretically, the presence of financing constraints is ascribed to capital market imperfections such as non-negligible information asymmetries between entrepreneurs and uninformed outside investors. For instance, in the model of credit rationing developed by Stiglitz and Weiss (1981), imperfect information induces banks to resort to rationing credits instead of increasing the interest rate to maximize profits. Since the interest rate banks charge for credits also affects the riskiness of their pool of loans through an adverse selection effect and a negative incentive effect, higher interest rates would both attract riskier projects and induce debtors to realize projects with a generally lower probability of success but higher returns when successful. Hence, the on average higher riskiness of potential borrowers lowers overall profits for the banks and induces profit-maximizing banks to restrict the number of credits they grant.Empirically, a quickly growing body of literature finds strong evidence of financing constraints, but also stresses that the prevalence and extent of such constraints strongly depend on specific firm characteristics. For instance, due to insufficient collateral and resources, smaller firms are more financially constrained Sandra M. Leitner
ABSTRACT
The paper aims to shed light on the effects of different types of financing constraints on firm sales and employment growth in Emerging
After Jeanette Wing in 2006 described computational thinking (CT) as a fundamental skill for everyone just like reading or arithmetic, it has become a widely discussed topic all over the world. Computational thinking is a problem-solving skill set that is used to tackle problems in computer science. However, these skills, such as pattern recognition, decomposition, abstraction, generalization, and algorithmic thinking, are useful in other domains, as well. This study focuses on the use of CT skills to approach complex linguistic learning tasks in the foreign language classroom. To foster these problem-solving skills, an innovative method is used. The authors take advantage of computer science (CS) models (e.g. Unified Modeling Language – UML) and transform them into a teaching and learning tool. This paper describes the design and implementation of a survey used to detect students’ use of learning strategies that are linked to computational thinking. This survey is an instrument used in a multiple-case study and was administered at the beginning of the interventions. The participants of the study were learners of English and Spanish (n=66) from two secondary schools. Results indicated that the students were medium to low users of learning strategies that demand problem-solving skills related to computational thinking. Differences by gender were also found, with females reporting higher use of learning strategies than males. To conclude, the study showed a low use of strategies among students and highlighted the importance of introducing students to learning strategies and fostering skills needed for future professional life.
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