The policy determinants of investment in tertiary education

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss how policies can affect investment in tertiary education in ways that would eliminate some of the perceived shortcomings of existing systems, while preserving or (preferably) enhancing equality of access to higher education. To this end, the analysis focuses on the institutional set-up of tertiary education that provides incentives for supplying quality educational services; the private returns from higher education which act to attract prospective students; and, individual funding mechanisms to help overcome the liquidity constraints that may restrict participation in higher education. These mechanisms should also be designed so as to prevent uncertainty about future incomes from unduly deterring investment in tertiary studies by risk-averse individuals. Joaquim Oliveira Martins, Romina Boarini, Hubert Strauss and Christine de la Maisonneuve

International R&D Spillovers and Institutions

“…The quality of tertiary education, which is a composite measure of the extent to which tertiary institutions have: freedom to manage resources, including the selection of students, autonomy to decide on the sources and structure of funding, and staff personnel policies; freedom in setting objectives, including deciding on course content; and are accountable, including various types of evaluation (Oliveira Martins et al, 2007). 21…”

“…Similarly countries where the ease of doing business is relatively high or intellectual property rights are well protected may encourage more entrepreneurial R&D that results in larger quality improvements for a given R&D effort. Different legal systems may also affect the type or productivity of R&D. Notes: For ease of doing business (World Bank, 2007) and quality of tertiary education (Oliveira Martins, et al, 2007) rank indicates if country is in the top (Hi), middle (Mid), or bottom (Lo) third of the 24 countries. An estimate of the quality of tertiary education is not available for Israel, which is assumed to be in the middle category.…”

“…We also tested for the importance of various other institutions, such as measures of financial development, labor market institutions, governance, and ease of trading across borders, but did not find significant differences in the estimated coefficients.21 Values for Belgium, Canada, and the United States are population-weighted averages of the, respectively, linguistic, provincial, and state groups reported in OliveiraMartins et al (2007). An estimate of the quality of tertiary education is not available for Israel, which is assumed to be in the middle group in Table7.…”