Cecilia Albert

- HIGHER EDUCATION DEMAND IN SPAIN: THE INFLUENCE OF LABOUR MARKET SIGNALS AND FAMILY BACKGROUND

Like many developed countries, Spain has experienced a growth in the demand for higher education over the last twenty years, despite diverse economic cycles. Since this demand does not slow down in the medium term, the objective of this study is to analyse, from statistical labour force sources since 1987, two potential influences: family characteristics and labour market signals.The theoretical framework used here is the human capital theory, which is tested through discrete choice models where the selection process of young people through the education system is considered. The chief results may be summarised as follows: firstly, family characteristics are important elements in the demand for higher education, especially the mother’s education attainment, which is even more determinant than that of the father. Secondly, the labour market signals in Spain have an influence on the demand for higher education: as a signal of both the opportunity cost of finding a job if not going to university and the employment expectations for each relevant education level.

Education is a key determinant of health in Europe: a comparative analysis of 11 countries

This paper has contributed to confirming the link between education and health in developed countries. The analysis is based on 11 European Union countries. We estimate country-specific health functions, where the dependent variable is self-reported health status and the education attainment is one of the main inputs. All eight waves (1994-2001) of the European Community Household Panel are deployed. A random effects ordered probit is estimated in order to control, to a given extent, for unobserved heterogeneity. Explanatory variables are both time invariant (education attainment and gender) and time varying (gross wages, hours of work, age and living alone). Results confirm the positive impact of secondary education on health in most cases and tertiary education in all cases, even after controlling for other inputs in the health function and taking unobserved heterogeneity into account. Secondary education has an impact on health in all countries in the sample except for The Netherlands and UK. The effect does not differ between secondary and tertiary education in France, Ireland and Greece. The correlation between education and health is interpreted in different but complementary ways by diverse approaches and we may not disentangle the precise mechanism that connects health with education from our results. Anyway, it seems clear that better coordination is needed between education and health policies to effectively improve health literacy. Other relevant results from our study are that women register poorer health than men, age contributes to worsening health status and wages contribute positively to health.

Pay Determination in the Spanish Public Sector

In 1977 the Spanish unemployment rate was below 5 per cent, public employment was less than 10 per cent of national employment, and the compensation of public sector employees, public consumption and total public expenditure amounted to 7.3, 10 and 25 per cent of GDP, respectively. At that time, the Spanish public sector was not only under-developed, but also heavily centralised, and the criteria for the selection and the promotion of public sector employees were mostly political rather than economic. The unemployment rate is now about 20 per cent, public employment is roughly 18 per cent of aggregate employment and the compensation of public sector employees, public consumption, and total public expenditure are roughly 11.6, 16 and 45 per cent of GDP, respectively. In 20 years, Spain has thus developed a public sector of similar size to that of the average European country. The Spanish public sector has also changed in other respects: it is more and more decentralised and human resource management relies more on economic than on political criteria, although there is much to be improved in this field.1

Job satisfaction amongst academics: the role of research productivity

ABSTRACT This article analyses the determinants of job satisfaction amongst Spanish academics, paying particular attention to the impact of research productivity and differences across graduation cohorts. Research productivity is a very relevant factor in explaining job satisfaction in academics in different stages of their career. Interesting differences across graduation cohorts are found as regards the impact of research productivity and other satisfaction drivers, such as other research outcomes – research stays abroad and cooperation with teams abroad – and teaching load, marital status and young children. Higher education institutions aiming to foster productivity and stability in their academic staff should adapt their incentive systems to the preferences and concerns of this particular type of worker and promote their internal motivation.