The economic impact of universities: Evidence from across the globe

We develop a new dataset using UNESCO source materials on the location of nearly 15,000 universities in about 1,500 regions across 78 countries, some dating back to the 11th Century. We estimate fixed effects models at the sub-national level between 1950 and 2010 and find that increases in the number of universities are positively associated with future growth of GDP per capita (and this relationship is robust to controlling for a host of observables, as well as unobserved regional trends). Our estimates imply that a 10% increase in a region's number of universities per capita is associated with 0.4% higher future GDP per capita in that region. Furthermore, there appear to be positive spillover effects from universities to geographically close neighbouring regions. We show that the relationship between GDP per capita and universities is not simply driven by the direct expenditures of the university, its staff and students. Part of the effect of universities on growth is mediated through an increased supply of human capital and greater innovation. Furthermore, we find that within countries, higher historical university presence is associated with stronger pro-democratic attitudes.     

The economic impact of higher education in the Yorkshire and Humberside region of England

The provision of higher education forms a considerable part of some regional economies, so that the current cutbacks can be expected to have considerable adverse economic effects in many regions. This article looks at the Yorkshire and Humberside planning region, a net exporter of higher education and quantifies the net economic impact of higher education in that region. For this purpose, rough estimates are made for the numbers of staff and students, and the incomes and expenditure of Higher Education institutions in the region. The direct and indirect employment is seen to be roughly 21/2% of regional employment. Of these only one seventh are academic posts, implying that, all else equal, for each academic post added (removed) six other jobs will be created (destroyed).The author is grateful to the late Lord Boyle, the University of Leeds, and the Leeds Association of University Teachers for funding this research, and to John Chartres and John Bowers for providing guidance at many points.     

Measuring the local economic impact of universities: an approach that considers uncertainty

The contribution of universities to society is due to the effects generated both in the supply and in the demand side, the latter being associated with the injection of demand as a result of the activities these institutions carry out. This paper focuses on the impact of the demand side by designing a methodology based on Monte Carlo simulations so as to introduce stochastic elements in calculating the economic impact of universities. We apply this methodology to the case of Valencian public universities, introducing stochastic elements in all the elements which imply assumptions with uncertainty. The results highlight the importance of considering uncertainty by generating multipliers which can vary around the average value by 18 % in the case of output and employment, and 10 % in the case of income.     

The research environment of universities

Part‐time study is one of the foci of the widening participation agenda in the UK. The experiences of part‐time students, however, have received remarkably little attention from scholars, especially in a comparative context. This paper explores existing historical data going back over a decade to identify the main themes of part‐time experience at a number of UK higher education institutions and how it compares and contrasts with the full‐time experience. The surveys use the Student Satisfaction Approach. The main themes emerging from institutional survey data over time are the work/family/study balance, assessment and feedback, access to learning and catering resources, and students' financial situation. There is sometimes a question of identity, but unlike many studies of part‐time student experience, which focus on aspects of disadvantage, social, and cultural capital, the data for this paper indicate that many part‐time students have a sense of themselves as being ignored or at worst marginalised in contemporary higher education.     

Australian universities in the post-Williams period: The impact of public policy on the small universities

This paper examines the impact of the Williams Committee Report on Education and Training on the Australian universities since its publication in February, 1979. In it we discuss the influence of public policy on tertiary education as it has been implemented by the Federal and State Governments of the Commonwealth following the release of the Report.The Federal Government's stated policy in response to the Report was to continue the process of monitoring and adjusting the education system in accord with the Williams Committee proposals for evolutionary change to improve the quality of education. How-ever, because Australian education is experiencing a period of tight economic restraint, it is not surprising that the first tangible reactions to the sections of the Report about universities were to those recommendations about cost, efficiency and availability of tertiary education as well as to those about integration and rationalisation of resources.These outcomes are examined in the context of three Universities, namely, Murdoch University (the Western Australian State Government established a Committee of Inquiry to make recommendations about the future of Murdoch as a result of proposals made by the Williams Committee about it integrating with the University of Western Australia), The University of Tasmania (the Tasmanian State Government took action to follow-up the submission made by the Tasmanian Treasury to the Williams Committee about the rationalisation of resources in tertiary education) and The University of Wollongong (chief executive officers of institutions from the three sectors of higher education in the Illawarra region have reformed an informal advisory group which had operated before the Williams Committee Report was released, into an Advisory Council with a more formal status to explore areas of possible collaboration and cooperation).These reactions have had the aim of broadening the scope of university activities in three of the smallest universities in Australia. In each case, a number of fundamentally important educational and resource issues have been raised and the reactions of the universities have been shaped by public policies. We believe that universities as social institutions should take into account the needs of societies in making decisions about their interests and welfare. It is therefore of paramount importance for universities to be fully aware of relevant public policies and be able and willing to respond constructively.     

高校服务地方经济社会发展对策研究

教育对经济社会发展的推动作用毋庸置疑,高等教育与经济社会发展的关系最为直接和密切,为地方经济社会建设发展服务,是世界范围内高等教育发展的必然规律,也是高等教育的基本职能,分析现阶段高校服务地方经济社会存在的不足,通过对策分析,寻求高校服务地方经济社会的最优途径。     

Measuring the economic impact of universities operating in unstable environments: The case of a private institution in Lebanon

This paper evaluates the economic impact of a university in a country characterised by the scarcity of significant data and quantitative information. It uses an input–output model that permits the use of gross domestic product (GDP) deflators to portray the economy of years following a year for which a complete data set input is possible. Using commonly available administrative data, the model not only allows for the calculation of monetary multipliers but also employment multipliers that play a major role in the educational sector. The study highlights the role of Higher Education in promoting economic development, even under difficult political, economic and security conditions, where lack of stability is the norm and aims to demonstrate that not only well‐known historically grounded universities have significant economic impact but also smaller emerging universities play an important role in the development of their national economies.     

信息技术对高校的影响及对策研究

随着信息技术的高速发展,互联网已渗透到现实社会的各个领域。网络在对现代大学生的成长起着积极作用的同时,也产生了不少负面的影响。文章针对这些影响进行了深入的研究和分析,并提出了相应的解决对策。     

论经济全球化对国家主权的影响

经济全球化打破了原有的国家界限 ,商品和生产要素在全球范围流动 ,资源配置可以在全球范围内实现。一方面 ,经济全球化对原有的国家主权观念造成严重的冲击 ,导致国家主权弱化。另一方面 ,在经济全球化条件下 ,国家和政府的作用将进一步加强。在全球贸易、金融国际化、生产国际化等诸多方面 ,国家和政府将会发挥更大的作用。发展中国家在经济全球化中处于不平等的地位 ,因此 ,一方面要积极参加经济全球化 ,另一方面要注意维护国家的经济安全     

The research orientation of British universities

British universities differ considerably in the strength of their research orientation. Those of higher prestige tend to have a stronger orientation towards research, while those of lower prestige have a weaker research orientation, A university that is strongly research oriented in one group of subjects is likely to be so in the others it teaches too. It is the conventional wisdom that a good researcher is likely to be a good teacher at undergraduate level, and the negative relationship between the degree of research orientation and undergraduate wastage rates provides some slight support for this. The relationship between research and teaching seems to be more an indirect one (that anyone with the ability to do good research is likely to have the ability to teach well at university level) than a direct one (research makes a university teacher a better teacher).     

经济全球化对国家经济主权的影响及对策

国家经济主权作为国家主权在经济领域的延伸,是国家最高的经济利益。经济全球化使国家经济主权受到了来自国家经济组织、跨国公司等的限制,主权国家能否正确应对变化了的经济主权,这对于坚守国家经济利益并使其最大化、实现国家的经济稳定发展与民族崛起是极其重要的。     

高等教育大众化进程中地方高校发展对策研究

在高等教育大众化进程中,地方高校面临着生源、就业、经费、师资等方面的危机和压力.地方高校应通过借鉴成功经验、加强区域融合、提高师资质量、优化专业结构、参与农村人力资源开发等措施,体现区域特色,实现可持续发展目标.     

The universities and the research councils in Britain

The British government supports five semi-independent research councils covering agriculture, medicine, science, social science and the environment. These councils do not follow the same procedure but are an important element in the support of research in universities and in the maintenance of postgraduate students. It is possible that some of these research councils may be brought to an end and this would mean that universities would have to deal directly with the government departments concerned. Their budgets have not expanded at the same rate as the universities; if the same proportion of undergraduates stays on to undertake research and if this increasing number continues to be maintained from council funds, the expenditure on research will decline.

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Résumé Le gouvernement brittannique entretient cing conseils de recherche, relativement autonomes, qui couvrent l'agriculture, la médicine, la science, les sciences sociales et l'environnement. Ces conseils n'utilisent pas les mêmes procédures, mais ils aident puissament la recherche dans les universités ainsi que l'entretien des étudiants de troisième cycle. On envisage de mettre fin à l'existence de certains de ces conseils de recherche et, en ce cas, les universités auraient directement affaire aux départements gouvernementaux qui les concernent. Leurs budgets ne se sont pas étendus au même degré que les universités; si la même proportion d'étudiants reste à l'université pour faire de la recherche et si l'on continue à entretenir sur les fonds des conseils une population croissante, il est évident que les dépenses de recherche iront en diminuant.

     

The impact of short-term economic fluctuations on kindergarten enrollment

For some 5-year-olds, delayed kindergarten enrollment may result in long-term academic benefits. Although waiting an additional year allows for further development prior to the start of formal education, the economic costs of the next best alternatives can be significant. This study examines the impact of short-term economic fluctuations on a household's kindergarten enrollment decision. I find that during economic downturns kindergarten enrollment increases. To explore a potential mechanism through which this effect may arise, I propose an instrumental variables approach to identify the causal effect of fluctuations in household resources due to the business cycle on the timing of kindergarten enrollment.     

高校排行榜的若干影响因素

近年来出现许多“中国高校排行榜”，特别是在互联网上传播，产生了较大的社会反响，同时也有一定的负面效应，因此应该引起关注，并能正确认识和估价高校排行的若干影响因素，作出适当调控。     

中国加入WTO对高校德育的影响及对策

中国加入WTO使我国高等教育面临新的情况 ,尤其给高校德育带来了前所未有的挑战。全面、科学地分析中国加入WTO对高校德育的影响 ,及时制定正确的对策 ,调整学校德育的目标、内容和方法 ,帮助学生在主体参与中建立牢固的、符合我国社会期望的价值观念体系。     

The impact of economic recession on UPE in Nigeria

The article reports on the impact of economic recession on the demand for primary education in Nigeria where the free Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme was launched nationwide in 1976. Towards this purpose time series data on primary school age (6–11 years) population and primary school enrolment in Imo State of Nigeria were analysed for the period 1976 to 1990. The findings are: (i) the economic recession which hit Nigeria severely in the 1980s caused a corresponding decline in primary school enrolment in the country; and (ii) the decline was more pronounced for the girls. The situation could be explained by the fiscal austerity measures introduced to stabilize the ailing economy which raised the private costs of schooling thereby curtailing the demand for primary education by the poor especially for the girls. To mitigate the situation which retards the progress towards UPE and Education For All (EFA) especially for the girls, it is concluded that there is the need for internationally assisted relief programmes that substantially reduce the private cost of primary schooling in a poor adjusting country like Nigeria.     

The research function of universities in Japan

Japan has long led the trend towards privatization of Research andDevelopment (R&D). With the recent establishment of corporate R&Dfacilities overseas, this has become more international in character. Therelative impoverishment of Japanese academic science has only recently begunto be addressed by the government. Despite the neglect, there appears to bea gradual increase in Japanese academic research, but international researchcollaborations are still quite limited in number. There are growing tieswith industry, but industry has been slow to recognize the value of graduateschool training. Stronger links may promote greater research activity, butwithout reforms to the structure of the education system and Ministry ofEducation policies, Japan will not be prepared to meet the challenge of the21st century, and the need for a highly-skilled, innovative workforce.