Nick Adnett

The growth of international students and economic development: friends or foes?

In recent years there has been a significant growth in the number of international students. In several developed countries the inflow of foreign tertiary students has become a significant source of income for higher education (HE) providers and the economy as a whole. This net inflow of foreign students has been indirectly and, more recently, directly encouraged by government policies in these countries. However, this ‘trade’ in HE is unbalanced, with low‐income countries being significant net ‘importers’ of HE. Here we review the theoretical and empirical literature to reassess the impact of this growth of international students on the extent and pattern of global income inequality. We conclude that the benefits from the growth of trade in HE accrue predominantly to developed countries, with the costs being disproportionately borne by the poorest countries. Analysis is presented explaining why national and pan‐national policies are unlikely to rectify this imbalance.

Market-based reforms of public schooling: some unpleasant dynamics

Abstract Reforms in many countries have attempted to increase the degree of competition in schooling markets. The partial implementation of market solutions has not always produced the uniform, system-wide rise in educational standards anticipated. In this paper we analyse schooling market outcomes utilizing a simple model of the type of local market created in England and Wales. Regulatory authorities and researchers have noted that within local schooling markets these reforms have been associated with an increase in the diversity of school performance. Pre-existing school hierarchies have often been reinforced rather than challenged. We show that both promotion of an indicator of school performance based upon unadjusted pupil attainment and the presence of peer group effects can generate these market outcomes.

Movers and stayers: determinants of post-16 educational choice

Abstract The authors develop an economic analysis of educational decision-making to investigate the determinants of post-16 educational choice in England and Wales. Concentrating upon the decision of whether to stay at their current school, they examine the nature of the costs and benefits of moving. They conclude that the existence of search and switching costs, together with the similarity of provision amongst providers in local schooling markets, should lead to a high degree of consumer inertia. The results from the questionnaire provide support for this proposition. Their data enables a detailed examination of the decision-making process. They show that the decision-maker is best viewed as a composite of student and parent, and that parents are still an active partner in decision-making. Movers predominately reject the A-level pathway, in favour of the more diverse curriculum available at their local further education college. However, they also find evidence that switching costs differ between movers and stayers. Consumption good aspects, such as social considerations and the ambience of the chosen provider, having an important and independent effect on choice at 16. These findings are used to explore the likely consequences of current changes in curriculum and in the focus and organisation of careers service companies.

The Acquired Rights Directive and Compulsory Competitive Tendering in the UK: An Economic Perspective

This paper considers neglected economic aspects of the conflict between the desire of EU Member States to extend competitive tendering in their public sectors and EC law which guarantees terms and conditions of employment for workers who are transferred to a new employer. Whilst the Acquired Rights Directive explicitly contains reference to economic considerations, the debate concerning its revision has largely neglected economic analysis. Concentrating upon UK experience, we show how differences in the interpretation of the term ‘economic’ in the Directive can give rise to a clash between principles of economic and legal decision-making.

Quasi‐market Reforms and Vocational Schooling in England: an economic analysis

Abstract The creation of a quasi‐market in England has changed pupil, parent and school behaviour in a way which has reinforced the dominance of traditional, academic schooling. We summarise the results of research into this quasi‐market behaviour, with particular emphasis upon the upper secondary age group. Whilst schools now face greater incentives to respond to consumer choice, we argue that only certain groups of consumers have been effectively empowered by these reforms. Schools thus respond only to the wishes of a sub‐sample of consumers. In effect, they receive a signal which is biased against the provision of quality vocational schooling. We link this analysis to changes in the structure of contemporary labour markets and the attempt to gain credibility for a national system of vocational qualifications. Our analysis concludes with proposals which seek to improve the quality of the information flows between parents, schools and the labour market.

Increasing within‐school competition: a case for department level performance indicators?

The authors investigate the size and stability of departmental effects in English secondary schooling during a period in which extensions to parental choice and annual publication of school performance tables had significantly increased competitive pressures on schools. Their database of nearly 450 English secondary schools enables them to investigate departments in terms of both their unadjusted and value‐added average students’ performance in national examinations. They are interested in the nature of within‐school competition and concentrate upon two subjects, geography and history, which were optional subjects in each of these schools. In general, they find that relative departmental performance varies significantly over time and that few departments manage to persistently out‐perform the other subject in their school. They conclude that given the instability of relative departmental performance, publication of department‐level performance indicators is unlikely to generate strong incentives for departments to raise their effort and effectiveness.

Technology, Training, and Transition

This study addresses the link between technological change and employer-provided training in the western Balkans. It is hypothesized that firms subject to technological change have an increased demand for skills and one mechanism to accommodate this demand is by providing additional training for their workforce. To test this proposition, data are extracted from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development-World Bank Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) from waves 2002 and 2005. Probit and tobit estimations are used to analyze the impact of technological change upon training incidence and intensity. The findings of this analysis suggest that firms that undergo technological change are indeed more likely to provide training and there is some evidence that the training is of greater intensity. This positive association between technological change and training suggests that one way to address underinvestment in training in the western Balkans is to enhance incentives for firms to undertake technological change.

Business transfers and contracting out

Compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) and market testing are central and controversial planks of government economic policy. Critics question the level of efficiency gains which flows from the process and point to the deterioration of workers′ terms and conditions of employment in the aftermath of contracting out exercises. Recent case law, in extending employment protection rights to workers caught up in contracting‐out exercises, may make CCT a much less attractive proposition to private contractors. Analyses recent developments and, in the context of the draft revised directive on business transfers, poses the question whether CCT is destined to become a failed economic experiment.

Human capital and international competitiveness in Europe, with special reference to transition economies

This article assesses the impact of human capital endowments on international competitiveness in Europe, with special reference to transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The analysis uses longitudinal data for twenty-seven European economies over the period 1995–2010. In line with orthodox theory, a positive relationship is found between the labor force’s level of educational attainment and competitiveness. While in the European Economic Area (EEA17), tertiary education is the only significant education-based determinant of the export market share, in CEECs; both the shares of the workforce with secondary and tertiary education are significant with the former having a greater impact. Some evidence is found for the hypothesized impact of the quality of education.