Latin American Economic Outlook 2015: Education, skills and innovation for development

The Latin American Economic Outlook analyses issues related to Latin America’s economic and social development. Since 2011, the report has been published in conjunction with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and has tied in with the economic theme of the annual Ibero-American Summit organised by the Ibero- American governments and Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB). In 2013, CAF – development bank of Latin America (CAF) joined the team of authors. This edition focuses on education, skills and innovation as key inputs for more inclusive growth in the region. It provides in-depth analysis of Latin America’s education systems and the region’s capacity to increase enrolment in good-quality education, and looks at the development of skills training to improve economic competitiveness and labour-market integration. These inputs are analysed in association with innovation policies in the production system.

An ecologic comparison study of the impact of economic disadvantage on Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills performance, graduation rates, and readiness for higher education for students attending public and charter schools in Texas from 2004 to 2006

Purpose. No Child Left Behind aimed to "improve the academic achievement of the disadvantaged." The primary research question considered how academic achievement of those from economic disadvantage compared to those not from disadvantage? ^ Economically disadvantaged students can potentially have added academic disadvantage. Research shows low academic achievement can potentially result in drug abuse, youth violence, and teen pregnancy. ^ Methods. To compare the student populations, measures included TAKS results and academic indicator data collected by the Texas Education Agency. ^ Results. T-test analyses showed a significant difference between the economically and non-economically disadvantaged student populations in meeting the TAKS passing standard, graduation, and preparation for higher education.^ Conclusions. The achievement gap between students remained as indicated by the Texas testing program. More research and time are needed to observe if the desired impact on those from economic disadvantage will be reflected by academic achievement data.^

Individual returns to education in the Spanish tourism sector during the economic crisis

This paper analyses individual returns to education in the Spanish tourism sector. The results, which are robust to different specifications of Mincer earnings regressions, show that the earnings returns to schooling for tourism workers are only half those for all other sectors, and that the difference in returns between these two groups has increased significantly during the economic crisis. This has happened at a time when the earnings range between those with lower and higher qualifications has narrowed in tourism while it has remained stable in other sectors, and when tourism has been capable of retaining most of its workforce while the rest of the economy has experienced a sharp decrease in employment.

Education, migration, and job satisfaction: The regional returns of human capital in the EU. Bruges European Economic Research (BEER) Papers 1/November 2004

The paper looks at the link between human capital and regional economic performance in the EU. Using indicators of educational stock, the matching of educational supply and labour demand, and migration extracted from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), it identifies that the economic performance of European regions over the last few years is generally associated with differences in human capital endowment. However, and in contrast to previous studies, the results highlight that factors such as the matching of educational supply and local labour needs, job satisfaction, and migration may have a stronger connection to economic performance than the traditional measures of educational stock.