The Tax Returns of Public Spending on Universities: An Estimate with Monte Carlo Simulations

Pastor J. M. and Peraita C. The tax returns of public spending on universities: an estimate with Monte Carlo simulations, Regional Studies. This paper proposes a methodology based on counterfactual scenarios and the existence of uncertainty to estimate the tax returns of public spending of regional governments on their public universities. The introduction of differences in the time spent by the students at university and the proportion of the total public expenditure implies making assumptions about uncertainty. The paper applies Monte Carlo simulations incorporating stochastic elements to estimate the tax returns of public spending in the University of the Basque Country (Spain). The resu…

Indicators of banking efficiency: An international application

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND BANK PERFORMANCE: AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON FOR OECD COUNTRIES

Over the last few years the literature on social capital and bank efficiency analysis has expanded rapidly. We merge them by analysing how social capital affects bank efficiency in OECD countries. We use activity analysis techniques to measure efficiency, and social capital, which is related to the concept of generalized trust, is considered an environmental variable. Results suggest that the effect of social capital is more relevant for those financial institutions operating in low-social-capital environments. In these cases, inefficiencies are biased upwards, and controlling for social capital enables these banks to move up in the efficiency rankings.

Efficiency, endogenous and exogenous credit risk in the banking systems of the Euro area

The implantation of the Euro in 11 of the EU states has driven the big banks to expand their presence in other European countries, which may have negative consequences on their credit risk in view of the disadvantages involved in entering new markets. The aim of this study is to analyse the efficiency and the credit risk of the banks of the most important countries of the Euro area, using a one-stage parametric stochastic procedure that allows one to identify whether the behaviour towards risk of the banks analysed was more cautious or more reckless during the period analysed. The results indicate that adjustments for risk are important in the case of profit efficiency but not in the case o…

PERMANENT INCOME, CONVERGENCE AND INEQUALITY AMONG COUNTRIES

The literature on inequality has generally focused on the analysis of annual per capita income. This paper adopts a different approach by considering the life-cycle dimension of inequality and convergence between economies from 1960 to 2000. We analyze the present value of the set of incomes individuals obtain throughout their whole life (permanent income). On the basis of this approach, various simulations are made to determine the effect on inequality in permanent income of variables such as survival rates and the long-run growth rates in current income. The results indicate that survival rates are an important source of inequality. Inequality in permanent income is about one third higher…

The Real Effects of Bank Branch Deregulation at Various Stages of Economic Development: The European Experience

This paper provides evidence on the links between financial deregulation and economic performance in a European context. Specifically, we study the relaxation of bank branching restrictions in Spain which triggered off a remarkable inter-regional expansion of savings banks which was coincidental with an unprecedented period of sustained growth. Although related questions have been largely investigated for the US, the European experiences remain largely unexplored. An additional contribution is the use of quantile regression techniques which, unlike traditional OLS regression analysis, do not focus on the “average effect for the average province”. This change of focus helps to overcome the d…

European Integration and Inequality among Countries: A Lifecycle Income Analysis

We analyze the effects of the expansions of the European Union on inequality using an approach based on individuals' lifecycle incomes. This allows us to consider the effect of different rates of growth and survival rates. This differs form the usual analyses of inequality that focus on the evolution of current per capita income for the period. Our results show that inequality in terms of permanent income was substantially less than in current per capita income at the time of all the expansions except those of the last ten years. The results point to the key role of policies that stimulate growth in the less developed countries. With an annual β-convergence of 2% in current income, inequali…

Clickers y Exámenes Tipo Test, Herramientas Interactivas de Evaluación Contínua

[EN] In this article, clickers tool is presented as an educational device based on an Electrónic voting system that aims to foster interaction, debate and dynamism in the audience. Among its main advantages over other existing educational resources we can highlight its simplicity, variety of use and ease of implementation in PowerPoint® presentations. Through this experience the use of the clicker system is tested to be used in multiple-choice exams. This tool facilitates time optimization, allows students to obtain immediate assessment of their results and contrast their individual level of knowledge against the class . Likewise, throughout this paper it is assessed the speed and reliabili…

La aplicación TurningPoint como herramienta de aprendizaje transformacional en los procesos educativos

El proyecto de convergencia educativa impulsado por el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) ha generado nuevas metodologías docentes y procesos de evaluación en los sistemas de educación universitarios. Este nuevo planteamiento pedagógico genera una incuestionable oportunidad para que los distintos segmentos de la comunidad universitaria vean en las TIC una herramienta fundamental para la elaboración de contenidos docentes que faciliten el proceso enseñanza-aprendizaje. Este artículo presenta la herramienta TurningPoint, la cual se centra en favorecer la interacción docente-alumno, facilitando la participación y la evaluación continua. Esta herramienta presenta ventajas frente a otr…

A bootstrap approach to analyse productivity growth in European banking

This paper analyses productivity growth for European banks over the 1995–2001 period. In contrast to previous literature, our study covers the majority of current European Union (EU) countries—all except Greece and those joining the EU in 2004. We also use resampling methods so as to gain statistical precision, which turns out to be especially important due to the limitations of the database. In order to be consistent, we use additional nonparametric methods to disentangle why productivity differentials might exist. Results show that productivity growth has occurred in most countries, mainly due to improvements in production possibilities. The bootstrap analysis yields further evidence give…

Convergence in OECD countries: technical change, efficiency and productivity

The aim of this study is to analyze labor productivity convergence in the countries of the OECD over the period 1965-90. A non-parametric frontier approach is used to calculate the Malmquist productivity index. By breaking it down, the contribution to the growth of labor productivity of technical progress, of changes in efficiency, and of the accumulation of inputs per worker are quantified. Unlike other studies, the results obtained show that technical change has worked against labor productivity convergence, since it has always been greater in the countries with higher labor productivity. El trabajo tiene como objetivo básico analizar la contribución de las distintas fuentes del crecimien…

Evaluating European railway deregulation using different approaches

Abstract There has recently been a great deal of interest in the impacts of the deregulating and restructuring measures in the European railway sector. A vast amount of literature is devoted to analyzing the effects of these deregulation and restructuring measures on efficiency and productivity and the results are not totally unambiguous. However, while most of the papers show that the introduction of competition within the sector (in both passenger and freight markets) has had a positive impact in terms of efficiency and productivity, the impact of vertical separation has produced different results in the literature. The contribution of this paper to the existing literature is twofold. Fir…

Cost and profit efficiency in the Spanish banking sector (1985–1996): a non-parametric approach

The aim of this article is to analyse the efficiency in costs and in profits of the Spanish banking sector (SBS) in the period 1985–1996 using a non-parametric approach. The results obtained show the existence of profit efficiency levels well below those corresponding to cost efficiency, alternative profit efficiency being below standard profit efficiency. These results imply the existence of market power in the setting of prices and/or the existence of differences in the quality of bank output reflected in the differences in prices. With regard to the immediate future, of full economic and monetary integration, the reduction of profit levels associated with higher competitive pressure may …

The Effect of Specialisation on Banks' Efficiency: An International Comparison

Abstract This study analyses the effects of specialisation on the cost efficiency of a set of banking systems of the European Union over the period 1992–1998. Unlike in the established literature in which specialisation differences are not considered, in this paper cost inefficiencies are decomposed into two different components: the first is related to the inefficiency associated with the composition of specialisations in each banking system and the second is related to specific inefficiencies of banks within their specialisation. The results show the existence of high cost inefficiencies. However, the intra‐specialisation inefficiencies indicate that the inefficiencies of the European ban…

Cost and profit efficiency in European banks

El analisis de ratios contables como indicadores de competitividad ha sido completado y ocasionalmente revisado por la creciente utilizacion de indicadores mas sofisticados de eficiencia. En los ultimos anos, mas de un centenar de trabajos han analizado la eficiencia de las instituciones financieras, centrandose mayoritariamente en la vertiente de los costes. Sin embargo, los escasos estudios que estiman funciones frontera de beneficios obtienen niveles de eficiencia en beneficios mucho menores que en costes, lo que implica la existencia de importantes ineficiencias en la vertiente de los ingresos. Ademas, son pocos los estudios que realizan comparaciones a nivel internacional, y ninguno de…

Higher Education as Modulator of Gender Inequalities: Evidence of the Spanish Case

Raising educational levels may help to reduce inequalities between men and women in certain social and economic aspects. Using statistics for Spain, we analyse labour market behaviours such as the rates of activity and unemployment by sex according to the educational level. The results reveal that the differences between men and women decrease as the educational level increases. In particular, the modulator effect of education is very important at the higher level, where differences in labour market behaviour between men and women with an university education almost disappear, except in terms of salaries. Nevertheless, it can be seen that the current economic crisis has reduced the modulato…

Los formularios en línea como herramienta telemática para interactuar con los estudiantes

El proceso de adaptacion al Espacio Europeo de Educacion Superior afecta tanto a la metodologia de ensenanza-aprendizaje como a su evaluacion, razon por la que puede ser la oportunidad perfecta para que profesores y alumnos saquen el maximo partido a las TICs. Este articulo presenta una herramienta basada en la aplicacion Google Docs que permite interactuar con los estudiantes e incluso realizar examenes online de forma rapida y sencilla y que ya ha sido usada con exito en la asignatura de Introduccion a la Microeconomia de la Diplomatura de Ciencias Empresariales de la Universidad de Valencia. La herramienta presentada presenta como principales ventajas frente al uso del Aula Virtual la fa…

Supply and Use of Human Capital in the Spanish Regions

Besides enrichment at personal level entailed by the increase in the cognitive and intellectual levels of the person associated with education, a large number of studies have verified the greater the human capital of a person, the greater is his employability, his participation in the labour market, his functional and geographical mobility and, thereby, his productivity. This results in higher wages and less likelihood of unemployment for individuals with more schooling. From the social point of view, the accumulation of resources associated to higher educational attainment levels permits societies to make sustained progress towards higher levels of welfare. It makes possible to adapt to gl…

Estimating the long-term economic impacts of Spanish universities on the national economy

In contrast to previous studies on the economic impact of universities that focus on the demand side, this study centres on universities' effects on the supply side of the economy. Through a case study of the Spanish University System, this paper proposes a methodology based on counterfactual scenarios and growth accounting to estimate the long-term impacts of universities on their regional economies. Our study evaluates the stylized impacts of universities' activities on human capital, salaries and occupation of the working age population, on generation of technological capital and, finally, on the GDP growth of the Spanish economy in the period 1989–2010.

Total factor productivity measurement and human capital in OECD countries

Abstract This paper analyses the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) evolution in OECD countries by breaking down productivity gains into technical change and efficiency change. To avoid biases, Malmquist indices of productivity, including human capital, are estimated. The results indicate that, in fact, the inclusion of human capital has a significant effect on the accurate measurement of TFP.

Gender differences in the intergenerational transmission of education in Spain: the role of parents’ employment status and education

This article examines the influence of parents’ education and employment status on the attained educational level of their children with special reference to gender differences. Our study analysed ...

Efficiency and productive specialization: an application to Spanish regions

MAUDOS J., PASTOR J. M. and SERRANO L. (2000) Efficiency and productive specialization: an application to the Spanish regions, Reg. Studies 34, 829-842. This paper shows the importance of the composition of production (productive specialization) and sector inefficiencies when evaluating efficiency in aggregate production. For this purpose, a new approach is proposed for obtaining efficiency scores which enables two components to be differentiated: one associated with the degree of efficiency within each sector (intra-sector efficiency); and another associated with the composition of production (composition efficiency). The application of this approach and its breakdown for the Spanish regio…

Human capital in OECD countries: Technical change, efficiency and productivity

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of human capital in the productivity gains of the OECD countries in the period 1965-90, breaking down the productivity gains into technical change and gains in efficiency. For this purpose we use both a stochastic frontier approach and a non-parametric approach (DEA) and calculate Malmquist indices of productivity. The results obtained indicate the existence of both a level effect (a higher level of human capital raises labour productivity) and a rate effect (a higher level of human capital affects positively the rate of technical change) associated with human capital. The differences among countries in endowments of human capital have worked aga…

Improving educational resilience in the OECD countries: Two convergent paths

Abstract While equality of opportunity in education has been studied, the literature mainly focuses on academic performance and its determinants. Thus, to help fill this gap, this paper identifies the factors that contribute to improving equality of opportunity and the policies that should be implemented to achieve it. This work is novel in various ways. First, it defines student resilience in a new way using multilevel models applied to two groups of countries. Second, it analyses the determinants of equality of opportunity in the OECD and makes economic policy recommendations. Using the PISA waves from 2003 to 2018, our results show that uniform economic policies should not be pursued acr…

Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain

Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain. Regional Studies. The links between financial deregulation and economic performance are evaluated in a European context. Specifically, the study analyses the relaxation of bank branching restrictions in Spain, which triggered a remarkable interregional expansion of savings banks that coincided with an unprecedented period of sustained economic expansion. Although related questions have been widely investigated for the United States, experiences in Europe have received far less research attention. An additional contribution of the paper lies in its use of quantile regression, which enables the investigation of the possibility …

Higher education institutions, economic growth and GDP per capita in European Union countries

This paper presents an estimation of the contribution of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to economic growth and the Gross Domestic Product per capita of the European (EU) countries over the pe...

Impact of the subprime crisis on bank ratings: The effect of the hardening of rating policies and worsening of solvency

Abstract This paper studies the impact of the subprime crisis on the ratings issued by the rating agencies in evaluating the solvency of banks. After ascertaining a significant worsening of ratings after the crisis, the paper hypothesises the possibility that this worsening is due not exclusively to a deterioration in the banks’ credit quality, but also to a change in the behaviour of the rating agencies. The study designs a methodology to separate the observed change in ratings into two multiplicative components: one associated with the deterioration of the banks’ solvency itself and another associated with the change in the agencies’ valuation criteria. The methodology is applied to the S…

Credit risk and efficiency in the European banking system: A three-stage analysis

Increased competition and the attempts of European banks to increase their presence in other markets may have affected the efficiency and credit risk in the banking system. The first aspect is the incentive in reducing costs in order to gain in competitiveness. The second is associated with their lack of knowledge of such markets and/ or acceptance of a higher risk in order to increase their market share. Despite the importance of these aspects, banking literature has usually analysed the effects of competition on the efficiency of banking systems without considering these aspects. The few studies that attempt to obtain risk adjusted efficiency measures do not consider that part of the risk…

The adjustment of bank ratings in the financial crisis: International evidence

Abstract This paper analyses the adjustment of bank ratings which occurred in the United States, some European countries and Japan as a result of the financial crisis. We use a methodology which allows us to decompose the observed change in the rating into an effect associated with the change in agency rating policies (understood in a broad sense) and into another effect associated with the situation of bank assets. The results obtained show that with the crisis there was a generalised fall in the ratings, caused by both a worsening of the bank asset situation and the hardening of rating policies. Specifically, we find that 39.95% and 19.25% of the fall in ratings in the United States and E…