Gemma Abío

On the Optimality of PAYG Pension Systems in an Endogenous Fertility Setting

In order to help in designing an accurate pension reform, we determine the resource allocation in an endogenous fertility model that generates an endogenous demographic transition by means of distinguishing between female and male labor. We analyze the problem of the optimal solution and characterize the decentralization of the first best. We show that a pension policy linking pension benefits to the number of children acts as a corrective tax system able to restore both the optimal capital stock and the optimal rate of population growth as a single instrument. We also show that neither a Beveridgean pension scheme nor a Bismarckian one can decentralize the first best.

Mètodes d'aprenentatge actiu en grups grans d'estudiants repetidors

//Abstract INTRODUCTION. Students who are required to repeat a subject at university are often not only low achieving, but also unmotivated and lacking in self-confidence. METHOD. In this study, we evaluate the effect of implementing a combination of three innovative techniques (flipped classroom, team-based learning and frequent testing) in groups of students who are repeating a subject. We assess the impact of the new teaching strategy on the final course grade through econometric analysis. Our sample consists of more than a thousand students who were repeating a subject in the Bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration or Economics of the University of Barcelona. RESULTS. We find that students benefit from guided autonomous study, continuous feedback and teamwork. The benefits are reflected primarily in higher final grades and an increase in the number of students who sat the final exam. The results hold up even after controlling for age, gender and average overall grade. DISCUSSION. Although the study was carried out with groups of students who were repeating a subject in economic theory, their success suggests that the new teaching approach could be successfully applied to other subject areas and among groups of students who are taking a subject for the first time.

L'aula invertida i l'aprenentatge en equip: dues metodologies per estimular l'alumnat repetidor

Este articulo propone el uso del aula invertida y el aprendizaje en equipo para mejorar las actitudes de aprendizaje del estudiante en los Grupos de Intensificacion de Estudio (GIE). Los GIE estan disenados para aquel estudiante que repite una asignatura en alguno de los grados impartidos en la Facultad de Economia y Empresa de la Universitat de Barcelona. Hemos implementado ambas metodologias en tres GIE impartidos por la seccion de Teoria Economica del Departamento de Economia de la Universitat de Barcelona. Los resultados obtenidos en los anos academicos 2013-2014 y 2014-15 revelan mejoras significativas en el rendimiento de los estudiantes que siguieron estas metodologias.

Retaking a course in economics: Innovative teaching strategies to improve academic performance in groups of low-performing students

Abstract Students who have to retake courses at university are often not only low achieving, but also unmotivated and lacking in self-confidence. In this study, we present the first report of a teaching strategy based on the implementation of the flipped classroom model, team-based learning, and frequent testing strategies in groups of students retaking a subject. A sample of seven groups of an average of 68 students followed the new teaching approach. The groups are distributed across four subjects and three semesters. By comparing the average performance across groups that apply different teaching strategies – traditional versus innovative – we find a significant increase in the academic performance of the students following the new approach.