Steve Bradley

The effect of competition on the efficiency of secondary schools in England

Abstract In this paper we calculate the technical efficiencies, based upon multiple outputs – school exam performance and attendance rates – of all secondary schools in England over the period 1993–1998. We then estimate models to examine the determinants of efficiency in a particular year, and the determinants of the change in efficiency over the period. Our results suggest that the greater the degree of competition between schools the more efficient they are. The strength of this effect has also increased over time which is consistent with the evolution of the quasi-market in secondary education. Competition is also found to be an important determinant of the change in efficiency over time. There is, however, some evidence of conditional convergence between schools.

Unemployment in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Disparities in Germany, Italy and the UK

This paper investigates spatial disparities in unemployment in three member states of the European Union. It attempts to identify the factors responsible for the persistence of regional unemployment disparities in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom during 1984-94. The empirical results indicate that a substantial proportion of the variation in unemployment rates between NUTS2 level regions can be explained by regional disparities in three key variables: unit labor costs, the industry mix, and employment density. The findings are consistent with the view that regional unemployment disparities are explained primarily by regional disparities in economic competitiveness. Copyright 1997 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG

The Effect of School Size on Exam Performance in Secondary Schools

This paper investigates the relationship between school size and the exam performance of school pupils in their final year of compulsory education. Previous studies of this relationship have been seriously constrained by lack of appropriate data, but the publication of the School Performance Tables for all publicly-funded schools in England since 1992 permits the construction and testing of a multivariate model which includes school size as one of the explanatory variables. After controlling for factors such as type of school, teaching inputs, and eligibility for free school meals, the partial effects of school size on exam performance are estimated. The primary result is that there is a nonlinear relationship (in the form of an inverted-U) between school size that maximizes the exam performance of schools is estimated to be about 1,200 for 11-16 schools and 1,500 for 11-18 schools. These estimates are considerably higher than the current mean size of schools. Copyright 1998 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Testing for Quasi-Market Forces in Secondary Education

This paper investigates the effect of introducing quasi-market forces into secondary education on the allocation of pupils between schools and on the exam performance of pupils. A unique database is used which covers all publicly-funded secondary schools in England over the period 1992-98. We find several effects consistent with the operation of a quasi-market. Firstly, new admissions are found to be positively related to a schools own exam performance and negatively related to the exam performance of competing schools. Secondly, a schools growth in pupil numbers is positively related to its exam performance compared to its immediate competitors. Thirdly, there is strong evidence that schools experiencing an excess demand for places have responded by increasing their physical capacity. Fourthly, there is some evidence of an increase in the concentration of pupils from poor family backgrounds in those schools with the poorest exam performance of schools during 1992-98 can be attributed to the introduction of quasi-market forces.

Human Capital Formation and Local Economic Performance

BRADLEY S. and TAYLOR J. (1996) Human capital formation and local economic performance, Reg. Studies, 30, 1–14. This paper is concerned with the interaction between the vocational education and training system (VET) and local economic performance in Britain. After briefly discussing the shortcomings of Britains VET system, the paper examines the way in which the education and training system and the local economy interact. In particular, it is argued that the outputs from the local education and training system determine, and are determined by, the localitys stock of high-skill workers. These high-skill workers, in turn, help to determine the competitiveness, and hence the economic performance, of the local economy. This has feedback effects on the stock of high-skill workers through its effect on the occupational mix of in-migrants. Some empirical tests of the model are provided based on data relating to 107 local education authority areas in England. BRADLEY S. et TAYLOR J. (1996) La formation du capi...

Modelling the Transition from School and the Demand for Training in the United Kingdom

This paper analyses the choices made by school leavers and the demand for training in the youth labour market. Using a large cross-section database on all school leavers in Lancashire in 1991, we model, using a multinomial logit, their first destination six months after the end of compulsory schooling. We model six choices/outcomes: non-vocational continuing education, vocational continuing education, youth training, employment with on-the-job training, employment with general-skills training, and unemployment. Our results show that the first destination from school is affected by a range of individual, school and local labour market variables. In addition to academic ability, we report three effects that are not well known: a young person is more likely to leave school the bigger the school, the lower its academic performance, and the lower his or her expected lifetime earnings. Our results might be interpreted as evidence of a segmented youth labour market. It is also inappropriate to model the decision to stay on in continuing education as a simple binary choice.

Social exclusion and labour market transitions: a multi-state multi-spell analysis using the BHPS

In this empirical paper, we assess how social exclusion arises in the context of labour market transition behaviour. We estimate a multi-state multi-spell competing risks model and identify five states: high skilled employment, intermediate skilled employment, low skilled employment, unemployment and out-of-the-labour market. Using data from the first seven waves of the British Household Panel Survey, we show that a substantial number of workers were trapped in a vicious circle of low-skilled employment, unemployment and inactivity in the 1990s. Workers who are part of the so-called flexible workforce are more likely to suffer social exclusion.

Successful Employer Search? An Empirical Analysis of Vacancy Duration Using Micro Data

This paper provides the first estimates of the determinants of the duration of employer search in the UK. We model duration until a vacancy is either successfully filled or withdrawn from the market. The econometric techniques deal with multiple vacancies and unobserved heterogeneity (dependent risks), using flexible and parametric baseline hazards. The hazards to filling and withdrawing exhibit negative and positive duration dependence respectively, implying that the conditional probability of successful employer search decreases with duration. We also find that nonmanual vacancies are less likely to fill, consistent with there being skill shortages in the sample period.

Estimating the probability of a match using microeconomic data for the youth labour market

Abstract In this paper, we estimate the probability of a match for contacts between job seekers and vacancies. We relate the determinants of a match to the characteristics of the job seeker, the vacancy, and labour market conditions. Our main results are: ethnic minorities are discriminated against, but women are not; employers ‘cream’ the market and job seekers are ranked by their labour market state; high wage offers have a lower probability of a match; the probability of filling a job vacancy falls with vacancy duration, the higher stock of unemployed youths in a labour market, and the larger Careers Service; the probability of a match increases with job seeker duration.

Resource Utilization and Economies of Size in Secondary Schools

This paper identifies the determinants of costs per pupil in English secondary schools. A distinction is made between the short run and the long run in order to estimate the separate effects on costs per pupil of short-run variations in school output and school size. A schools capacity utilization rate is used to indicate short-run deviations in output from pupil capacity, and pupil capacity is used as an indicator of school size to capture scale effects on costs per pupil. The statistical analysis uses both published and unpublished data for secondary schools in England. Two separate analyses are undertaken, one for grant-maintained schools alone and the other for all schools. A separate analysis is undertaken for grant-maintained schools since cost data are available only for schools in this sector. Staff hours per pupil is used as a proxy for costs per pupil for schools as a whole. The main finding is that costs per pupil and staff hours per pupil are both highly significantly negatively related to both school size and the capacity utilization rate of schools. A range of other variables are also estimated to have a significant effect on costs per pupil in secondary schools. The main finding is that there is scope for reducing the costs of schooling in the secondary schools sector in England.