Academic literature on the topic 'Education Economic aspects Spain'

The article aims to examine aspects that help to better understand the General Education Act of 1970 by analyzing the factors that made it a Law for the modernization of Spain. The defining feature of the Law was the ambition with which it sought to modernize the educational system; hence, we focus on the concept of «modernization» as well as its precedents and the modernizing axes contained in the Law. We also look at the socio-economic and political context that help to explain its creation. Given the law’s importance, the article pays special attention to the obstacles and resistance that made its genesis and application so difficult, as well as the controversies that have arisen from the reform it promoted. Finally, by way of discussion, an assessment of the law is made taking into account the aspects that make up the concept of “modernization”.

Olive groves are representative of the landscape and culture of Spain. They occupy 2.5 M ha (1.5 M ha in Andalusia) and are characterised by their multifunctionality. In recent years, socio-economic and environmental factors (i.e., erosion) have compromised their sustainability, leading farmers to abandon their farms or intensify their management. The main objective/purpose of this research was to study the drivers and concerns that condition farmers’ choice of a given olive grove management model. Taking the Estepa region as a case study (Andalusia, Spain), surveys were conducted among farmers with integrated and organic managed olive groves. The socio-economic aspects were the main objectives and concerns of the farmers with integrated olive groves. In the case of farmers with organic management, conservation objectives prevailed, and their concerns were oriented to environmental threats. The education level was a key factor in the adoption of given farm management, as it increased the level of environmental awareness. In the context of multifunctional agriculture, it would be desirable to increase this awareness of the environmental threats against olive groves, in order to provide incentives for the implementation of agri-environmental practices that would enhance the sustainability of these systems.

Education as a fundamental human right and the foundation of a more just and egalitarian society has traditionally been the object of attention of public policies of various kinds. The promotion of equal opportunities between men and women in different social spheres has been a principle, intended by all nations, materialized in inclusive education and social justice as guarantors for a society built upon the foundations of equity and equality. Accordingly, an approach to public policies in Costa Rica and Spain has been made to analyze their treatment of equal educational and gender opportunities. Both countries have developed educational and social policies to guarantee education for all, prevent segregation and social exclusion, and strengthen the role of women in all areas. Despite this historical trajectory in pursuit of a just, democratic, and egalitarian society, the new world scenario brought about by COVID-19 forces us to rethink crucial educational and social aspects to overcome the current crisis we are facing. The educational and social challenges are today of significant importance for society. The world needs political, economic, labor, and social approaches to address this present situation, and education is the fundamental weapon capable of offering productive answers in the current scenario.

This article presents a portion of the results obtained through a survey and about different aspects related to quality in higher education conducted with University lecturers in Spain specialized in the areas of Economics and Business during the period February-April 2008. After providing a brief description of the main features of our research this article examines the ideas about quality in higher education as well as who are the agents involved in it. This article includes a brief analysis of some of the most relevant results about the impact of actions aimed at the improvement of quality of higher education, and it analyses the opinions about different ways to understand quality.

In 2019, Spanish economy maintained the post-crisis growth rates of the 2010s’ second half, although they were slightly lower than the average for the last period due to both, political and economic factors. The political uncertainty fueled by the necessity in holding four general elections in 2018–2019 has slowed down the search for consensus on reforming the country’s financial system. The decline in domestic demand reflected the evolution of personal consumption and investment, while the contribution of external demand was attributable to a slowdown in imports and slightly stronger exports. Low inflation and almost zero interest rates in banks also provided a favorable situation. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, the generally positive economic outlook was largely undermined by the global economic crisis caused by the COVID 19 pandemic which affected humanity in all socio-economic aspects. In the short term, the decline in Spain’s GDP and overall business activity is unprecedented since the country’s democratic transition that started on 20 November 1975. Even the vibrant Spanish foreign economic sector was tied: both external and internal demand for almost any economy in the world was in an equal crisis state with the start of the pandemic. Many factors analyzed point to a more precarious position in Spain compared to other countries. The Bank of Spain expects the Spanish GDP to fall by double digits in 2020 and it looks like the most realistic scenario. The article analyzes the economic situation in Spain by the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic, examines the reaction of the national economy to the coronavirus, the individual measures of the Spanish government and the supranational institutions of the EU to combat the pandemic are analyzed, as well as a forecast regarding the post-crisis future of the country’s economy is given. Acknowledgements. The article was prepared within the project “Post-crisis world order: challenges and technologies, competition and cooperation” supported by the grant from Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation program for research projects in priority areas of scientific and technological development (Agreement № 075-15-2020-783).

On 27 June 2017, the Court of Justice handed down a judgment in another fiscal State aid case concerning a tax exemption granted by Spain to a religious congregation performing educational services (Case C-74/16 Congregación de Escuelas Pías Provincia Betania). The Court of Justice’s judgment is interesting – and relevant for future fiscal state aid cases – for a number of reasons, which are discussed in the present article. Firstly, the case adds to the growing body of case law regarding the interpretation of the selectivity requirement in tax matters. Secondly and more importantly, the case provides insight into what constitutes an ‘economic activity’ and an ‘undertaking’ for state aid purposes, and specifically deals with the role played by the receipt of remuneration in this respect. Finally, the case may shed light on an issue of growing importance, i.e. the interaction between an instrument of public international law (a treaty) and various aspects of EU state aid law.

As we enter the 21st century, the social dimension of Higher Education is one of the key elements in university policies. Among measures aimed at retaining students, scholarship and study grant policies help to ensure equality. In Spain, the establishment of the Study Aid Programme (PAE) for degree studies is an outstanding innovative initiative. This study is aimed at assessing the importance of the PAE as an economic factor in equity, access and academic performance in the first year at university. The data used is that available on all students who began degree studies at Abat Oliba CEU University from the 2009-10 academic years to the 2015-16 academic years. The results confirm that obtaining a scholarship becomes an incentive that influences key aspects for persistence, such as the degree of effort and educational commitment with positive results on students’ performance.

Objective The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Spanish business sector’s economic exposure to currency risk in Latin America between 2010 and 2016, testing the effectiveness of hedging with derivatives for the reduction of this risk. Methodology Economic exposure is tested with the Jorion model (1990) using both a currency basket and an individualised analysis for the main currencies sustaining business activities between Spain and Latin America: the Mexican peso, Brazilian real, Argentine peso, Chilean peso, and Colombian peso. For the hedging analysis, dynamic panel data models were estimated using a generalised method of moments. Results The results reveal that the number of firms with significant economic exposure is sensitive to the temporal frequency of the observations. The evidence denotes that the firms’ export profile is predominant, both when considering a basket of Latin American currencies and when individually considering the five main pairs of currencies. The only exception is the Argentine peso, where firms’ import profile is slightly higher. The Chilean peso stands out as the currency with the greatest number of firms with significant exposure. Originality This work provides unpublished evidence on economic exposure to currency risk in Latin America in a recent period characterised by two main aspects: an important devaluation of some Latin American currencies with respect to the euro; and an enhancement of Spanish business activities in the region to favour growth during the recent recession of the Spanish economy.

This review search aims to show the positive and negative impact of COVID-19 on the all aspects of life such as environment, education, economy, politics, social life, and social media, and most importantly global human health and health services. particularly in the most affected countries such as China, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Iraq. In terms of the environment our search shows that there is a positive impact associated between measures and improvement in air quality, reduction of fossil fuel traffic pollutes, reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) generation, clean beaches, and environmental noise reduction due to air traffic suspension. The negative impact was associated with aspects such as the reduction in recycling and the increase in waste, which was endangering the contamination of natural resources (water and land), in addition to air. Other negative impacts on reduction global economic activity. In terms of education, COVID-19 had a big effect in changing the education system from classroom to electronic learning. The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching economic consequences beyond the spread of the disease itself and efforts to quarantine it. As this virus has spread around the globe, concerns have shifted from supply-side manufacturing issues to decreased business in the services sector. The pandemic caused the largest global recession in history, with more than a third of the global population at the time being placed on lockdown. ((Anon., April-2020) Health-wise it was the reason for the reduction of the world population due to the high mortality and death rate. This is expected to be carried on for unpredicted months perhaps a year until the right vaccine is in reach of every person in the world.

Street food markets are important for local economic development, but they must also meet visitors’ demands while operating. Since consumers’ trust is based on their perception on different aspects of these markets, the aim of this work was to study which factors most affected their purchase decision criteria. A total of 950 surveys were collected in 21 street markets (Canary Islands, Spain), recording data from the consumers’ estimation on food safety-related items (i.e., hygiene conditions of market installations, products, and food handlers) as well as other categories (i.e., prices and staff professionalism). The gathered data let us determine whether sociodemographic consumers variables like age, gender, or education level influenced their perceptions. The scores showed a strong correlation, the subsequent principal components analysis explained 81% of variability only with the first two components. The level of tolerance toward all items underlies in the first component, which was significantly higher for those aged 60 and older, but no significant correlation was found for gender or level of education. The youngest participants were more demanding about food safety-related aspects, while the middle-aged group was more critical of prices. This was especially true of females, who demanded better quality:price ratios. Knowing these preferences could facilitate the development of more effective marketing strategies, helping make street markets more competitive.

Around the world, knowledge and technology transfer have moved to the forefront of attention in economic, social and industrial policy. As the origins of future development increasingly derives from innovation, attention is paid more and more to non-traditional sources that have the potential to become the basis for creation of new businesses or the catalyser for the rejuvenation of old ones. Among those sources, we find university. These last years, academic patents have been one of the emerging phenomena witnessing the growing evolvement of university in the innovation process. The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to analyse the transfer of technology from university to industry through the analysis of patents. This work pursuits a threefold approach. First, it intends to analyse which characteristics determine the propensity of a university to get involved in technology transfer and more specifically to apply for a patent. Second, it disentangles the underlining value determinants of the patents to decode the value of academic patents and to identify the research processes that are leading to the most valuable inventions. Finally, it investigates the relevancy of academic patenting for innovation in general and wonders if on the long run, such practices could put innovation at risk.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

National innovative performance is a key driver for sustainable growth (Pavitt, 1980). National innovative capacity may be improved by fostering industrial Research and Development (R&D), by funding academic research and by effectively supporting university-industry interactions in order to strengthen the linkage between R&D and product development. In a context of growing relevance of external sources of innovation, where the industry, rather than relying on internal R&D, increasingly engages in ‘open innovation’ (Chesbrough, 2006), the role played by universities is crucial. The essays presented in this thesis focus mainly on academic R&D and knowledge transfer mechanisms from the university viewpoint, as opposed to government or industry perspectives. These essays contribute to our understanding of how universities organise themselves to adapt to this changing context. In other words, the thesis looks at the ‘reflexivity’ norm of the system associated with the entrepreneurial university, as established by Etzkowitz (2004); or “a continuing renovation of the internal structure of the university as its relation to industry and government changes, and of industry and government as their relationship to the university is revised”.

Universities play a major role in the national innovative capacity of a country as producers and transmitters of new knowledge (see for instance, Adams, 1990; Mansfield, 1991; Klevorick et al. 1995; Zucker et al. 1998; Cohen et al. 2002; Arundel and Geuna, 2004; Guellec and van Pottelsberghe, 2004). While European countries play a leading global role in terms of scientific output, they lag behind in the ability to convert this strength into wealth-generating innovations (this is known as the ‘European paradox’, see for instance Tijssen and van Wijk, 1999; and Dosi et al. 2005). This level of innovation may be improved by different factors; for instance, by fostering an entrepreneurial culture, or by increasing industry’s willingness to develop new products, new processes. One of these factors relies on the notion of an ‘entrepreneurial university’. Universities, in addition to the two traditional missions of research and teaching, foster their third mission of contribution to society, by improving the transfer of knowledge to the industry. New tools and regulations have been established to support universities in this process. Since the early 80’s, academic technology transfer offices (TTOs) have been created, dedicated employees have been trained and hired, incubators for the launch of new academic ventures have been set up, academic or independent pre-seed investment funds have been founded and laws related to the ownerships by university of their invented-patents have been promulgated.

But what exactly stands behind the notion of ‘entrepreneurial university’? There exist more different descriptions of a similar concept or of a similar evolution than a general agreed definition. Indeed, "(…) There is high heterogeneity, there is no such thing as a typical university, and there is no typical way to be or become an entrepreneurial university" (Martinelli et al. 2008, p.260). However some similar patterns of what is or should be an entrepreneurial university may be identified.

First, there is this notion of a revolution experienced by universities that now have to integrate a third mission of contributing to economic development aside of their traditional academic missions. “(…) But in the most advanced segments of the worldwide university system, a ‘second revolution’ takes off. The entrepreneurial university integrates economic development into the university as an academic function along with teaching and research. It is this ‘capitalisation of knowledge’ that is the heart of a new mission for the university, linking universities to users of knowledge more tightly and establishing the university as an economic actor in its own right” (Etzkowitz, 1998, p.833).

This revolution finds its origin in a necessary adaptation of universities to an external changing environment where modern societies put a strong emphasis on knowledge. “The concept of the entrepreneurial university envisions an academic structure and function that is revised through the alignment of economic development with research and teaching as academic missions. The transformation of academia from a ‘secondary’ to a ‘primary’ institution is a heretofore unexpected outcome of the institutional development of modern society (Mills, 1958). In consequence, the knowledge industry in modern societies is no longer a minor affair run by an intellectual elite, an activity that might be considered by pragmatic leaders as expendable; it is a mammoth enterprise on a par with heavy industry, and just as necessary to the country in which it is situated (Graham, 1998, p.129)”, quoted by Etzkowitz et al. (2000, p.329).

The notion of an ‘entrepreneurial university’ also exceeds the simple idea of the protection of academic intellectual property by patents owned by universities and their out-licensing as well as the launch of new ventures. It encompasses an overall change of how the university is organised. “In the gruesome and heady world of changing external environments, organizations – including universities – will need to seek opportunities beyond their existing competences (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989, 1994), which suggests the need for an entrepreneurial orientation (Lumpkin and Dess, 1996)”, quoted by Glassman et al. (2003, p.356). This entrepreneurial orientation will only be possible if the overall organisation of the university changes. “An entrepreneurial university, on its own, actively seeks to innovate how it goes about its business. It seeks to work out a substantial shift in organizational character so as to arrive at a more promising posture for the future. Entrepreneurial universities seek to become 'stand-up' universities that are significant actors on their own terms” (Clark, 1998, p.4).

The notion of entrepreneurial university also encompasses the concept of academic entrepreneurship in its broad sense. For a university to become entrepreneurial, individual academics also have to adapt and to behave in an entrepreneurial way. This concept is not solely conceived here as the launching of new ventures by academics (a view embraced by Shane, 2004, for instance). It relates more to the view of Stevenson, Roberts and Grousbeck (1989), referenced by Glassman et al. (2003, p.354) or “the process of creating and seizing an opportunity and pursuing it to create something of value regardless of current available resources.”

The difficulty facing universities is then to adapt to their external environment while preserving the integrity of their two traditional academic missions. However, some conceive this challenge as precisely an ability that characterise the very intrinsic university’s nature. "The uniqueness of the university,(…) lies in its protean capacity to change its shape and function to suit its temporal and sociopolitical environment while retaining enough continuity to deserve its unchanging name” (Perkin, 1984, p.18).

Furthermore, others perceive this challenge as a tension that has always been at the root of the university’s character. “The cherished view of some academics that higher education started out on the Acropolis of scholarship and was desecrated by descent into the Agora of materialistic pursuit led by ungodly commercial interests and scheming public officials and venal academic leaders is just not true for the university systems that have developed at least since 1200 A.D. If anything, higher education started in the Agora, the market place, at the bottom of the hill and ascended to the Acropolis on the top of the hill… Mostly it has lived in tension, at one and the same time at the bottom of the hill, at the top of the hill, and on many paths in between” (Kerr, 1988, p.4; quoted by Glassman, 2003, p.353).

Nevertheless, it appears that some institutions, the ones integrating the best their different missions and being the most ‘complete’ in terms of the activities they perform, will be better positioned to overcome this second revolution than other institutions. “Since science-based innovations increasingly have a multidisciplinary character and build on "difficult-to-codify" people-centred interactions, university-based systems of industry science links, which combine basic and applied research with a broader education mission, are seen as enjoying a comparative advantage relative to research institutes” (OECD, 2001 quoted by Debackere and Veugeleers, 2005, p.324). Or as stated by Geuna (1998, p.266), in his analysis of the way the different historical trajectories of European universities are influencing their ability to adapt to the current changing environment, “ (…) the renowned institutions of Cluster IV (pre-war institutions, large in size, with high research output and productivity) are in a strong position both scientifically and politically, and can exercise bargaining power in their relations with government and industry. (…) On the other side, universities in the other two clusters (new postwar universities, characterised by small size, low research output and low research orientation and productivity, whether involved in technological research or in teaching), with very low research grants from government, are pushed to rely more heavily on industrial funding. Being in a weak financial position, they may find themselves in an asymmetric bargaining relationship with industry that they may be unable to manage effectively.”

To summarize, one could attempt to define the broad notion of an ‘entrepreneurial university’ as follows. An entrepreneurial university is a university that adapts to the current changing environment that puts a stronger emphasis on knowledge, by properly integrating the third mission or the capitalisation of knowledge aside of its two traditional missions. This adaptation requires a radical change in the way the university is organised. It will require important strategic reorientation from the top but also, and mainly, it will require from the individual academics to better seize new opportunities to generate value (not only financial but also scientific or academic) given scarcer resources. Renowned and complete universities (with teaching, basic and applied research) have an edge over other institutions to overcome this second revolution.

This notion of ‘entrepreneurial university’ has drawn criticisms. For example, academics’ interactions with industry could impact negatively on research activities by reorienting fundamental research towards more applied research projects (Cohen and Randazzese, 1996; David, 2000), by restricting academic freedom (Cohen et al. 1994; Blumenthal et al. 1996; Blumenthal et al. 1997), or by potentially reducing scientific productivity (see for instance van Zeebroeck et al. 2008 for a review on this issue). The present work does not address the issue of the impact of increased interactions with the business sector on traditional academic missions nor the question of whether universities should become entrepreneurial or not. Instead, the essays start from the idea that the ‘entrepreneurial university’ notion is part of the intrinsic nature of modern universities, or at least, is a part of its evolution. Industry-university relationships are not a new phenomenon; it can be traced at least to the mid- to late-1800s in Europe and to at least the industrial revolution in the USA (Hall et al. 2001). What is evolving is the nature of such relationships that become more formal. The present analysis starts then from the general observation that some universities (and researchers) are more entrepreneurially-oriented and better accept this mission than others. From that stems the primary research question addressed in this thesis: are there characteristics or conditions leading to a smooth coexistence of traditional and new academic missions inside an entrepreneurial university? And if so, what are they?

Existing work on the entrepreneurial university is a nascent but already well developed field of research. The aimed contribution of this thesis is to analyse the topic under three specific but complementary angles. These three perspectives are explored into the four main chapters of this work, structured as follows. Chapter 1 is titled “Turning science into business: A case study of a traditional European research university”. It introduces the topic by investigating the dynamics at play that may explain the propensity of a traditional, research-oriented university to start generate entrepreneurial outputs, while being not full-fledge entrepreneurially organised. Exploring the importance of “new” entrepreneurial outputs, as defined as patents and spin-off companies, compared to other ways of transferring new knowledge to the industry, Chapter 2 reviews the literature on the variety of knowledge transfer mechanisms (KTMs) used in university-industry interactions. It is titled “University-Industry interactions and knowledge transfer mechanisms: a critical survey”. Given scarcer structural funds for academic research and increasing pressure on academics to diversify their activities in terms of being involved in patenting or spin-off launching, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 investigate the role played by individual characteristics of researchers in attracting competitive, external funding. Chapter 3 presents stylised facts related to external fundraising at ULB and characteristics of researchers who attracted these funds over the period 1998-2008. The empirical analysis on associations between individual characteristics of researchers (intrinsic, scientific and entrepreneurial) and the extent of funds attracted from different sources (national, regional and business) is presented in Chapter 4, titled “The determinants of academic fundraising.” Chapter 5 concludes and suggests ideas for future investigation on this topic. Chapter 6, in appendix of the present work, titled “A note on the drivers of R&D intensity”, is not directly linked to the issue of the entrepreneurial university. It has been included to complement the studied topic and to put in perspective the present work. Academic research and university-industry interactions constitute important drivers of a national R&D and innovation system. Other factors are at play as well. Looking at this issue at the macroeconomic level, Chapter 6 investigates to what extent the industrial structure of a country influences the observed R&D intensity, and hence would bias the well-known country rankings based on aggregate R&D intensity.

Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Leading theme in this master’s thesis is adaptation and preparation to ever changing requirements of skills and knowledge in the working life. These changes of requirements in the working life are implied by the changes in the occupational structure in Finland that is presented in the thesis. The data used in thesis to show the changes in the occupational structure in Finland Finnish Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data, FLEED, which is gathered by Statistics Finland and it shows changes in occupational structure of Finland between years 1995 and 2007. Education is considered in this thesis so that its object is to prepare children and future generations for working life with suitable skills and knowledge. The variety of other, equally important, objects that education has and possibly contradictions as well as problems that might arise in the course of achieving all the objects is beyond of this study. Changing occupational structure arises a question that how education prepares itself to the unknown changes? To answer the question asked, I will introduce Economics of education and Educational planning and how these two relate to each other, especially how economics of education has affected education and educational planning. Therefore I will first take historical review of the economics of education and introduce two main theories; human capital theory and screening theory. The main difference of these two will be explained and also what kind of difference it would make to education if either one could be proved right. It would also have an effect on how education should be arranged in the society. Educational planning has had, in its course, different approaches to analyze and predict future. I will review those approaches; also these approaches have been influenced by economics of education. In the last part of the thesis I bring up studies in Finland has tried to prepare and project changing work life. Also I discuss about can education bring something new to economics of education
Tämän Pro gradu-tutkielman johtava teema on mukautuminen ja valmistautuminen muuttuviin vaatimuksiin tiedoista ja taidoista työelämässä. Ammattirakenteen muutos Suomessa viittaa siihen että vaatimukset erilaisille tiedoille ja taidoille työelämässä on tapahtumassa. Aineisto ammattirakenteen muutoksesta on Tilastokeskuksen yhdistetty työntekijä-työnantaja-aineisto (Finnish Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data FLEED). Ammattirakenteen muutos ajoittuu vuosien 1995 ja 2007 välille. Koulutus mielletään tässä Pro gradu-tutkielmassa sellaiseksi toiminnaksi jonka tavoite on valmistaa lapsia sekä tulevia sukupolvia työelämään oikeanlaisilla taidoilla ja tiedoilla. Yhtälailla tärkeät muut tavoitteet, mitä koulutukselle ja kasvatukselle on annettu, sekä mahdollisesti syntyviä ristiriitoja tavoitteita saavuttamisessa ovat tämän tutkielman ulkopuolella. Muutokset ammattirakenteessa luo kysymyksen, että miten koulutus on valmistautunut tällaisiin tuntemattomiin muutoksiin? Vastatakseni kysymykseen esittelen koulutusekonomian ja koulutussuunnittelun, sekä erityisesti miten koulutusekonomia on vaikuttanut koulutussuunnitteluun. Aluksi käyn läpi koulutusekonomian ja esittelen sen kaksi pääteoriaa: inhimillisen pääoman teorian ja siiviläteorian. Selitän millä tavoin nämä teoriat eroavat toisistaan ja mikäli jompikumpi voidaan todistaa oikeaksi millainen vaikutus sillä olisi koulutukseen. Koulutussuunnittelussa on käytetty monenlaisia analysointivälineitä tulevaisuuden ennakoimiseksi. Esittelen nämä eri tavat ja työkalut, sekä miten koulutussuunnittelu on historiansa aikana muuttunut ja miten taloudellinen ajattelu on muuttanut koulutussuunnittelua. Viimeisessä osassa tuon esille tutkimuksia siitä miten Suomessa pyritään ennakoimaan ja valmistautumaan muutoksiin työelämässä. Käyn myös keskustelua siitä voiko kasvatustiede tuoda jotain uutta koulutusekonomiaan

This thesis examines non-formal settings for development education by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). I focus on teaching and learning methodologies and on the attitudes and actions generated in learners. The study is informed by transformative learning theory, particularly as developed by Jack Mezirow (2000) and by Paulo Freire (1970). I look at opportunities for non-formal transformative learning in both Britain and in Spain and the use of participative methodologies to develop knowledge and understanding of and attitudes towards global development issues. I consider how such personal transformations might lead to social change and how a postcolonial analysis might affect the way issues are presented. This is a qualitative study informed by interviews with staff from seven organisations in the UK and seven in Spain. Illustrative cases are also provided based on observations of three non-formal educational activities in each country and interviews with learners attending these courses. I found that the extent to which participative critical dialogue was generated by such development education activities varied and depended on a number of factors, including the length of the course and pedagogical styles of the facilitators. Learners showed signs of transformation through the activities. Many talked about increased self-esteem and changes in understanding and attitudes. This had consequential influences on behaviour, particularly relating to more sustainable consumer behaviour and other lifestyle or career choices. I note that, through opportunities for transformative learning, participants also formed networks that could contribute to social as well as personal transformations; this relates to the stated aims and objectives of the NGOs and thus has important policy implications.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in the Transatlantic Masters (TAM) Program in the Department of Political Science." Discipline: Political Science; Department/School: Political Science.

This thesis examines three different aspects of education policy to ascertain their effects on individual outcomes, both in the classroom and in the labour market. The goal is to provide new empirical evidence using robust identification strategies that can inform better policy. The first chapter looks at the role of pre-primary education in Germany using the German Socio-Economic Panel data set (GSOEP) to determine if attending an early education programme for longer increases the probability of attending a higher-level secondary school at age fourteen. I employ family fixed effects estimation and quasi-experimental analysis to control for selection. The results of the family fixed effects estimation show a small and negative impact of attending early education for more years. In the quasi-experimental analysis, based upon a federal law change in 1996, I find no impact of more years of early education on later schooling outcomes. In the second chapter of this thesis, I again use the GSOEP to examine the recent German reform to extend the length of the primary school day. I exploit the quasi-experimental roll-out of reform to assign treatment to women and look at whether increasing school hours increases the likelihood that mothers enter into employment or extend their hours if already working. I find that the policy has an effect at the extensive margin, drawing more women into the labour market, but that there is no significant impact of the policy at the intensive margin. In the final chapter I turn my attention to how peers' non-cognitive traits impact an individual's learning outcomes. Using an educational panel from Flanders, Belgium, I use the linear-in- means model of peer effects as well as several non-linear models to see how peers' personalities in a classroom affect Dutch and math scores. The results show that having more conscientious peers on average positively impacts Dutch and math scores, but that a greater dispersion of conscientiousness hurts Dutch outcomes. I also find that having more extroverted peers on average hurts math performance.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Constant and aggressive change is a characteristic that has shaped our present day life and occurs at all levels of society. In a new South Africa, an entrepreneurial approach has become a means of survival. Modern day South Africans have been compelled to adopt an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in order to function optimally. For the higher education sector, this has meant the commercialisation of many aspects of their operations due to yearly cuts in subsidy allocations. Stellenbosch University is not exempt from this and is also affected by these cuts. The goal of this study is therefore to provide an internationally researched conceptual model and process for commercialising academic research at Stellenbosch University. This will require the adoption of an entrepreneurial mindset which views research differently from its traditional mode. By moving away from an academic view of research, new partnerships, opportunities and outcomes become possible, from which new revenue avenues could be opened. The question arises as to what technological innovations are likely to result in commercial success and what route should a university then take to successfully commercialise their research findings? Finding practical answers to these questions could provide a platform from which a university can make accurate and timely decisions with regards to the commercialisation of its academic research. Accurate decision-making is therefore an essential tool in the management of this process. Commercialisation is not viable without first creating an innovative mindset and platform. These cannot be created without first understanding the concept of newness. Consistent newness requires continuous innovation, from which academic entrepreneurship then stems. The successful commercialisation of this entrepreneurship can then be understood by considering the various concepts and basic components involved in commercialisation. A broad look at literature provided the basis for this platform from which a model could then be constructed. In constructing the model, the key components were first identified. Secondly, a brief look at four different commercialsiation models provided an overview of the thought pattems involved in such a process. The synthesis of these components and models culminated in a conceptual model for commercialisation within the Stellenbosch University environment. This model included the tangible and intangible side of commercialisation, incorporating organisational mindset, attitudes and culture.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Konstante en omvattende verandering is 'n kenmerk van die eietydse samelewing en raak alle sosiale vlakke. 'n Entrepreneuriese benadering het in die nuwe Suid-Afrika 'n middel tot oorlewing geword. Eietydse Suid-Afrikaners word genoodsaak om innoverend en ondernemend te wees ten einde optimaal te kan funksioneer. Dit impliseer dat tersiere instellings byvoorbeeld baie van hul bedrywighede moet kommersialiseer, weens toenemende besnoeiings in subsidiering. Die Universiteit van Stellenbosch word insgelyks deur hierdie besnoeiings geraak. Die doel van hierdie studie is die ontwerp van 'n konsepsuele model en proses vir kommersialisering van akademiese navorsing vir die Universiteit van Stellenbosch, gebaseer op internasionale navorsing. Dit vereis 'n entrepreneuriese denkwyse wat navorsing anders benader as in die verlede. Deur weg te beweeg van 'n suiwer akademiese siening van navorsing, word nuwe vennootskappe, geleenthede en uitkomste moontlik, en skep sodoende ook nuwe bronne van inkomste. Tegniese innoverings wat prakties en uitvoerbaar is kan moontlik as platform dien vir hierdie kommersialisering. Dit veronderstel toepaslike besluitneming as noodsaaklike middel in die bestuur van die proses. 'n Nadere deurskouing van konsepte onderliggend aan suksesvolle kommersialisering van entrepreneurskap, tesame met 'n bree oorsig van navorsing in hierdie verband, het die basis gevorm vir die ontwerp van 'n model. Kernkomponente is eerstens identifiseer. Bestaande modelle het tweedens 'n oorsig van denkpatrone oor die ontwerp van so 'n proses gebied. 'n Sintese van hierdie komponente en modelle het kulmineer in 'n konsepsuele model vir kommersialisering binne die Universiteit van Stellenbosch omgewing. Hierdie model sluit die praktiese deel van kommersialisering, sowel as die ontasbare deel, naamlik organisatoriese denkwyses, houdings en kultuur in.

AbstractThis chapter makes a literature review based on the Grant and Booth qualitative systematic methodology of the studies about the educational situation of the Roma in Spain, with an wider, extended scope that allows to compare the findings with those conducted on other countries’ Roma populations. Studies on the Roma educational situation in Spain are hindered by the lack of official, periodical statistics, having to rely on sample-based surveys and ethnographic studies. In spite of the inaccuracy of the studies all of them show, as a general picture, a staggering educational gap between the Roma and the rest of society which is common to all Western countries. Most of the studies on Roma education have concentrated in this negative aspect. Numerous theoretical frameworks have been developed to explain this staggering education gap. All them acknowledge the phenomenon as a multidimensional one but for heuristic purposes they can be ordered along an endogenous/exogenous factors continuum depending on how much they stress the weight of factors stemming from characteristics of the Roma ethnic group itself or, on the contrary, of the majority non-Roma society. The literature review has also identified an emergent critical current that sees this studies focused on educational underachievement as a sharing a common essentialist bias that helps to reinforce the stigmatization of Roma and have turned to focus, instead, on the study of academic success among the Roma. Although this emerging field is very promising, our review has identify several significant research gaps in this regard: a lack of longitudinal studies, a lack of studies on the Roma upper and middle classes and a lack of studies on Roma students in post-compulsory education, particularly the university level. This article encourages researchers to fill this gaps with the conviction that the knowledge obtained can help combat the negative stereotypes and the self-fulfilling prophecy effect that approaches focused on Roma underachievement may have.

AbstractSocial inequalities are one of the structural problem areas of Western capitalist societies, and are of particular relevance both in Europe and in Latin America. Sociological studies on the issue account for the complexity of the phenomenon by presenting their constitution and consolidation based on the analysis of institutional and subjective aspects, which include the particularities, on the one hand, of the socio-economic systems of countries and regions; and, on the other hand, the representations, dispositions and actions deployed by individuals in order to deal with and live in an unequal world.This chapter forms part of these discussions on social inequalities by developing a theoretical-methodological analysis that helps to generate critical views of the phenomenon in a context in which there is a need to design public policies that will foster equality. In particular, social inequalities are studied from the perspective of life courses, which involves multidimensional analyses over time; and a theoretical-methodological model that deepens our current knowledge of the Comparative Biographical Perspective is developed. In order to show how this approach can be used empirically, we then present an analysis of the career paths of workers with different levels of education in Argentina and Spain.

AbstractIn this paper we present different initiatives carried out by Spanish universities for the incorporation of the gender perspective in STEM disciplines. One of these initiatives is the collection of guides of the Vives University Network for university teaching. These guides cover the sections of objectives, contents, evaluation, learning environment, organizational modalities, teaching methods, and didactic resources with the aim of making women scientists visible in the discipline and eliminating the androcentric vision that predominates in science and engineering. In particular, we analyze the fields of engineering, mathematics, and physics. With the aim of being more than just a review of different initiatives, the paper unifies the fundamentals on which these initiatives are based. Thus, the general principles are well defined, and those aspects more related to each university and discipline particular cultures are identified. The comparison between initiatives will allow us to identify both successful strategies and resistances. Sometimes, the confluence of different events allows an action to become relevant or not. As a result, the paper can be used to effectively define the implementation strategy of the incorporation of gender perspective in STEM teaching at university level.

The labour migration in Europe is a phenomenon with multiple effects, both positive and negative. Money sent by emigrants to their families is increasing their quality of life and has positive effects on the family relations; therefore it can be identified an increasing interest in the literature in studying such aspects. The purpose of the paper is to conduct a comparative analysis of the migrants’ propensity to sending money to the origin country. The study is based on data coming from the National Immigrant Survey of Spain (in Spanish: Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes – 2007). A total of 15,475 interviews were carried out. Moroccans, Romanians, and Ecuadorians represent 30% of the total number of immigrants resident in Spain. We employ a binary logistic regression model in order to identify the impact of socio-demographical factors on the probability of sending money abroad from Spain. Our aim is to identify cultural discrepancies in remittances sending, according to origin of migrants. We are mainly focusing on two large groups of respondents, which are North African and South Eastern Europe migrants. The variables employed are age of respondent, education, Intention to return in the country of origin, The period spent in Spain, gender of respondent, and the relation with the country of origin defined by the frequency of visits in the country. We identified similar patterns and also significant differences among the two groups.

The article considers three aspects of modeling network processes in general education - subject, quasi-organizational and institutional. since they define a finite set of properties and relationships in the processes of organizing network interactions, the following processes are presented in a meaningful way: production, organizational and regulatory.

The article substantiates the relevance of digitalization of education. The economic, technological and psychological reasons for this process in modern society are given in the article. The main types of training using digital technologies are considered. One of the ways to digitalize education, which is gamification, is presented in the article in detail.

This Emerging Issues Report explores the relationship between education, conflict, and (in)stability in South Sudan, drawing on a wide range of academic, policy, and programming literature. There is a growing body of research on the ways in which education can both exacerbate conflict and contribute to peace. The 4Rs framework (focusing on aspects of Redistribution, Recognition, Representation, and Reconciliation) provides a holistic way to explore and address the education system’s relationship to economic, social, cultural and political development processes; and its role in producing or exacerbating inequalities that fuel grievances and ultimately conflict (Novelli et al., 2019, 2016). The 4Rs framework is adopted throughout this report, at the start of each main section, providing summaries of key issues in the delivery of education and outcomes in South Sudan. These summaries are also presented in this overview. The report also looks at the interaction of donor interventions in education with conflict and stability in South Sudan, focusing on the Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) programme (see below), but also drawing on a few other interventions. While there is a range of donor reports and other literature that outline and discuss these initiatives and their impacts, there is limited research that makes explicit connections to their interactions with conflict and (in)stability.

After analysis of scientific literature, we defined that concept of “augmented reality” has following synonyms: “advanced reality”, “improved reality”, “enriched reality”, “mixed reality” and “hybrid reality”. Analysis of scientific literature and own practical experience of the use of augmented reality technologies application in educational practices allowed to state next: augmented reality technologies have a great potential for application in education; there are some cases of augmented reality use for school education; positive aspects of augmented reality technologies application in higher education institutions are confirmed by experiments (isolated cases); only few universities in Ukraine apply augmented reality technologies to educate students; only few universities in Ukraine have special subjects or modules in schedule to teach students to develop augmented reality technologies; various scientific events, mass events, competitions are held in Ukraine, and specialized training on the augmentation of augmented reality technologies is carried out, but this is non-systematic and does not have special state orientation and support. Features of introduction of virtual and augmented reality technologies at Sumy State University (Ukraine) are identified: “e-learning ecosystems” was created; in 2019, augmented and virtual reality research laboratory was established. Advantages and disadvantages of project activity in education are described: project activity is one of the most important components of educational process; it promotes creative self-development and self-realization of project implementers and forms various life competencies. It is determined that augmented reality application for implementation of educational projects will help: to increase students’ interest for educational material; formation of new competences; increase of students’ motivation for independent educational and cognitive activity; activation of educational activities; formation of positive motivation for personal and professional growth; conditions creation for development of personal qualities (creativity, teamwork, etc.). Current trends in implementation of educational projects were identified: most of the winner projects were implemented using augmented reality technology; augmented reality technologies were used in projects to teach different disciplines in higher education institutions. Augmented reality technology application for project activity has positive impact on learning outcomes and competitiveness of the national workforce; it will enhance the country’s position in the global economic space.

The purpose of this review is to assist FCDO in understanding the evidence of impact and any valuable lessons regarding the effect equitable quality education can have on ‘open society’. The search revealed that there is a considerable volume of evidence which focuses on education’s ability to reduce poverty, increase economic growth, boost employability and achieve better health outcomes. There is less which focuses on the aspects of ‘open society’ as defined in this paper. The scope of this review was narrowed to focus upon areas of the ‘open society’ definition where the most evidence does exist, given the timeframe for the review. The scope was narrowed to focus on: democracy, civic engagement, and social cohesion. The review of the literature found strong evidence that equitable quality education can have a range of positive impacts on democracy (specifically, its institutions and processes), civic engagement and social cohesion. There is a considerable body of evidence which indicates that there is a correlation between equitable quality education and benefits to societies (more peaceful, higher levels of trust, greater participation in politics, etc). However, there was no clear evidence that investment in equitable quality education directly leads to positive societal outcomes. This is because there are so many other factors to account for in attempting to prove causation. The lack of rigorous studies which attempt to attribute causation demonstrates a clear evidence gap. It is important to note that education systems themselves are politicised and cannot be divorced from the political process. The extent to which education can impact positively on open society depends a great deal on the value education has within the political system in which it is operating.

Figure. Distributed Ledger Token Accounting System. Figure. Subjects of Social Relations Based on the Decentralized Information Platform. Figure. Derivativeness of a Digital Asset. Figure. Semantic Features of the Concept of a “Digital Asset” in Economic and Legal Aspects. Figure. Derivativeness of Polyassets and Monoassets. Figure. Types of Tokenized Assets Derived from Property. Figure. Visual Representation of the Methods of Financial and Management Accounting of Property Using Various Types of Tokenized Assets. Figure. Visual Representation of the Classification of Virtual Assets Based on the Complexity of Their Nature. Table. Comparison of Properties of Various Types of Virtual Assets of the Distributed Ledger Derivative of the Original Asset. Table. Main Properties and Parameters of Types of Tokenized Assets. Table. Classification of Virtual Assets as Tools for Implementing the Methods of Financial and Management Accounting of Property.

This rapid review synthesises evidence on key aspects of mainstreaming institutional resilience and systems strengthening in donor policies and programming in FCAS (Fragile and Conflict-affect States) contexts, particularly in nutrition (food security), health, WASH and the economic sector. Institutional resilience is the ability of a social system (society, community, organisation) to absorb and recover from external shocks, while positively adapting and transforming to address long-term changes and uncertainty. Investing in strong, well-functioning and adaptable social systems, such as health, education and social protection systems, can build resilience, as this help to cushion the negative economic and social effects of crises. While development actors have established guidance on how institutions can be made more effective, inclusive and accountable, there is much less literature on institutional resilience and how development actors can help to foster it. Much of the literature notes a lack of systematic evidence on applying the concept of resilience. These gaps extend to a dearth of guidance on how development actors can mainstream institutional resilience and systems strengthening into their policies and programmes. This rapid review draws on common factors discussed in the literature that are considered important to the strengthening of resilience and particular systems. These may, in turn, provide an indication of ways in which to mainstream institutional resilience and systems strengthening into development policy and programming

This article demonstrates that mathematics in the system of higher education has outgrown the status of the general education subject and should become an integral part of the professional training of future bachelors, including economists, on the basis of intersubject connection with special subjects. Such aspects as the importance of improving the scientific and methodological support of mathematical training of students by means of digital technologies are revealed. It is specified that in order to implement the task of qualified training of students learning econometrics and economic and mathematical modeling, it is necessary to use digital technologies in two directions: for the organization of electronic educational space and in the process of solving applied problems at the junction of the branches of economics and mathematics. The advantages of using e-learning courses in the educational process are presented (such as providing individualization of the educational process in accordance with the needs, characteristics and capabilities of students; improving the quality and efficiency of the educational process; ensuring systematic monitoring of the educational quality). The unified structures of “Econometrics”, “Economic and mathematical modeling” based on the Moodle platform are the following ones. The article presents the results of the pedagogical experiment on the attitude of students to the use of e-learning course (ELC) in the educational process of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University and Alfred Nobel University (Dnipro city). We found that the following metrics need improvement: availability of time-appropriate mathematical materials; individual approach in training; students’ self-expression and the development of their creativity in the e-learning process. The following opportunities are brought to light the possibilities of digital technologies for the construction and research of econometric models (based on the problem of dependence of the level of the Ukrainian population employment). Various stages of building and testing of the econometric model are characterized: identification of variables, specification of the model, parameterization and verification of the statistical significance of the obtained results.

Objectives: (1) Preparing panel data sets for both the United States and Israel that contain a rich set of farm attributes, such as size, specialization, and output composition, and farmers’ characteristics such as off-farm employment status, education, and family composition. (2) Developing an empirical framework for the joint analysis of all the endogenous variables of interest in a dynamic setting. (3) Estimating simultaneous equations of the endogenous variables using the panel data sets from both countries. (4) Analyzing, using the empirical results, the possible effects of economic policies and institutional changes on the dynamics of the farm sector. An added objective is analyzing structural changes in farm sectors in additional countries. Background: Farm sectors in developed countries, including the U.S. and Israel, have experienced a sharp decline in their size and importance during the second half of the 20th century. The overall trend is towards fewer and larger farms that rely less on family labor. These structural changes have been a reaction to changes in technology, in government policies, and in market conditions: decreasing terms of trade, increasing alternative opportunities, and urbanization pressures. As these factors continue to change, so does the structure of the agricultural sector. Conclusions: We have shown that all major dimensions of structural changes in agriculture are closely interlinked. These include farm efficiency, farm scale, farm scope (diversification), and off-farm labor. We have also shown that these conclusions hold and perhaps even become stronger whenever dynamic aspects of structural adjustments are explicitly modeled using longitudinal data. While the results vary somewhat in the different applications, several common features are observed for both the U.S. and Israel. First, the trend towards the concentration of farm production in a smaller number of larger farm enterprises is likely to continue. Second, at the micro level, increased farm size is negatively associated with increased off-farm labor, with the causality going both ways. Third, the increase in farm size is mostly achieved by diversifying farm production into additional activities (crops or livestock). All these imply that the farm sector converges towards a bi-modal farm distribution, with some farms becoming commercial while the remaining farm households either exit farming altogether or continue producing but rely heavily on off-farm income. Implications: The primary scientific implication of this project is that one should not analyze a specific farm attribute in isolation. We have shown that controlling for the joint determination of the various farm and household attributes is crucial for obtaining meaningful empirical results. The policy implications are to some extent general but could be different in the two countries. The general implication is that farm policy is an important determinant of structural changes in the farm sector. For the U.S., we have shown the different effects of coupled and decoupled (direct) farm payments on the various farm attributes, and also shown that it is important to take into account the joint farm-household decisions in order to conduct a meaningful policy analysis. Only this kind of analysis explains the indirect effect of direct farm payments on farm production decisions. For Israel, we concluded that farm policy (or lack of farm policy) has contributed to the fast structural changes we observed over the last 25 years. The sharp change of direction in farm policy that started in the early 1980s has accelerated structural changes that could have been smoother otherwise. These accelerated structural changes most likely lead to welfare losses in rural areas.

This report outlines in detail the situation of rural Youths Neither in Employment, nor in Education or Training (NEET) aged between 15 and 34 years old, over the last decade (2009-2019) in Spain. To do this, the report utilised indicators of: youth population; youth employment and unemployment; education; and, NEETs distribution. The characterisation of all indicators adopted the degree of urbanisation as a central criterion, enabling propor-tional comparisons between rural areas, towns and suburbs, cities and the whole country. These analyses are further divided into age subgroups and, where possible, into sex groups for greater detail.The statistical procedures adopted across the different selected dimensions involve: des-criptive longitudinal analysis; using graphical displays (e.g., overlay line charts); and, the calculation of proportional absolute and relative changes between 2009 and 2013, 2013 and 2019, and finally 2009 and 2019. These time ranges were chosen to capture the in-dicators evolution before and after the economic crisis which hit European countries. All data was extracted from Eurostat public datasets.In the last ten years (2009 - 2019) a significant portion of the Spanish youth population has migrated from rural areas to cities and towns. This migration trend could be explained by the economic crisis which impacted upon Spain from 2008 onwards. Data shown in this report makes visible the vulnerability of rural NEET youth to these downturns from 2009 to 2013. In line with this, Early-school leaving (ESLET) and unemployment rates in rural areas were more pronounced in 2013 and the following years for rural youth in comparison with youth living in urban areas and towns. However, in the last two years (2017-2019) there has been a sharp decrease in these indicators placing youth living rural areas, on average, in line with the rest (i.e., an average NEET youth rate in Spain 15% versus 16% for rural areas).