PISA 2015: student achievement in Norway: a comparison between native and immigrant students

Student achievement is often considered a product of student background, school variables, and institutional setting. Literature also indicates that these educational inputs have varying effects on students. This dissertation performs an in-depth analysis of student achievement in Norway, using the data from PISA 2015, to see which educational inputs contributed to the fact that Norway performed better than the OECD average. The persisting achievement gap between native and immigrant students was also thoroughly researched. Student achievement was measured through two main channels: 1) characteristic effects, and 2) return effects, and these were elaborated using descriptive statistics, t-tests, educational production functions, and Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions. Results indicate that home possessions such as cultural items and books at home, student motivation and expectations, and parental background had significant positive impacts on student achievement, while significant negative effects were found for wealth items, study time outside of class, emotional support, student anxiety, and absenteeism. The school variables were not found very relevant for student achievement. Furthermore, immigrant students experienced significantly worse endowments, particularly for language, home possessions, and parental background, and this, together with experiencing worse returns than native students, helped to explain the negative differences between the groups.O desempenho dos alunos é frequentemente considerado um produto da formação do aluno, recursos escolares e do ambiente institucional. A literatura também indica que esses fatores têm efeitos variados nos alunos. Esta dissertação realiza uma análise aprofundada do desempenho dos alunos na Noruega, usando os dados do PISA 2015, para ver quais fatores educacionais contribuíram para o fato de a Noruega ter tido um melhor resultado do que a média da OCDE. A lacuna persistente entre estudantes nativos e imigrantes também foi investigado. O desempenho dos alunos foi medido através de dois canais principais: 1) efeitos característicos, e 2) efeitos de retorno, e estes foram elaborados usando estatística descritiva, testes t, funções de produção educacional e decomposiçãos de Blinder-Oaxaca. Os resultados indicam que bens domésticos como posses culturais e livros em casa, motivação e expectativas dos alunos, e o trabalho e a educação dos pais tiveram um impacto significativamente positivo no desempenho do aluno, enquanto efeitos negativos foram encontrados para posses de riqueza, tempo de estudo fora da aula, apoio emocional dos pais, ansiedade estudantil e absenteísmo. Por outro lado, as características das escolas não parecem ter um efeito importante para o desempenho dos alunos. Além disso, estudantes imigrantes tinham dotações significativamente piores, particularmente para linguagem, posses em casa, e o trabalho e a educação dos pais, e isso, juntamente com piores retornos do que os estudantes nativos, ajudou a explicar as diferenças negativas entre os grupos

Colonial lives of the carceral archipelago: rethinking the neoliberal security state

Mass incarceration, police brutality, and border controls are part and parcel of the everyday experiences of marginalized and racialized communities across the world. Recent scholarship in international relations, sociology, and geography has examined the prevalence of these coercive practices through the prism of “disciplinary,” “penal,” or “authoritarian” neoliberalism. In this collective discussion, we argue that although this literature has brought to the fore neoliberalism's reliance on state violence, it has yet to interrogate how these carceral measures are linked to previous forms of global racial ordering. To rectify this moment of “colonial unknowing,” the collective discussion draws on decolonial approaches, Indigenous studies, and theories of racial capitalism. It demonstrates that “new” and “neoliberal” forms of domestic control must be situated within the global longue durée of racialized and colonial accumulation by dispossession. By mapping contemporary modes of policing, incarceration, migration control, and surveillance onto earlier forms of racial–colonial subjugation, we argue that countering the violence of neoliberalism requires more than nostalgic appeals for a return to Keynesianism. What is needed is abolition—not just of the carceral archipelago, but of the very system of racial capitalism that produces and depends on these global vectors of organized violence and abandonment. L'incarcération de masse, la brutalité policière et les contrôles aux frontières constituent une partie intégrante des expériences quotidiennes des communautés marginalisées et racialisées du monde entier. Des études récentes en relations internationales, en sociologie et en géographie ont examiné la prévalence de ces pratiques coercitives par le prisme du néolibéralisme « disciplinaire », « pénal » ou « autoritaire ». Dans cet article, nous soutenons que bien que cette littérature ait mis en évidence la dépendance du néolibéralisme à la violence étatique, elle ne s'est pas encore interrogée sur le lien entre ces mesures carcérales et les formes précédentes d'ordre racial mondial. Cet article s'appuie sur le féminisme noir, les approches décoloniales, les études indigènes et les théories de capitalisme racial pour rectifier cette « ignorance coloniale » marquante. Il démontre que les formes « nouvelles » et « néolibérales » de contrôle national doivent se situer dans la longue durée globale de l'accumulation racialisée et coloniale par dépossession. Nous associons les modes contemporains de maintien de l'ordre, d'incarcération, de contrôle migratoire et de surveillance à des formes antérieures d'assujettissement racial/colonial pour soutenir que contrer la violence du néolibéralisme exige davantage que des appels nostalgiques au retour du keynésianisme. Ce qu'il faut, c'est une abolition : non seulement de l'archipel carcéral, mais aussi du système de capitalisme racial en lui-même qui produit et dépend de ces vecteurs globaux de violence organisée et d'abandon. El encarcelamiento masivo, la brutalidad policial y los controles fronterizos forman parte de las experiencias cotidianas de las comunidades marginadas y racializadas de todo el mundo. Estudios recientes en RI, Sociología y Geografía han examinado la prevalencia de estas prácticas coercitivas a través del prisma del neoliberalismo “disciplinario,” “penal” o “autoritario.” En este artículo, sostenemos que, si bien esta literatura puso en primer plano la dependencia del neoliberalismo de la violencia estatal, aún tiene que cuestionar la manera en que estas medidas carcelarias se vinculan a formas anteriores de ordenamiento racial global. Para rectificar este momento de “desconocimiento colonial,” el artículo recurre al feminismo negro, a los abordajes descoloniales, a los estudios indígenas y a las teorías del capitalismo racial. Demuestra que las formas “nuevas” y “neoliberales” de control interno se deben situar dentro de la longue durée global de la acumulación por desposesión racializada y colonial. Al trazar un mapa de los modos contemporáneos de vigilancia policial, encarcelamiento, control de la migración y vigilancia sobre las formas anteriores de subyugación racial-colonial, sostenemos que contrarrestar la violencia del neoliberalismo requiere algo más que apelaciones nostálgicas de retorno al keynesianismo. Lo que se necesita es la abolición, no solo del archipiélago carcelario, sino también del propio sistema de capitalismo racial que produce y depende de estos vectores globales de violencia y abandono organizados

Value strategies : do stocks with low prices relative to fundamental measures of value outperform the market?

This paper investigates weak-form market efficiency of the U.S. equity market by identifying market anomalies related to value strategies for portfolios formed on price-earnings, price-dividends, price-cash flow and five-year past sales rank. Value strategies are investment strategies based on buying stocks that have low prices relative to measures of value for the firms, such as earnings and dividends. We apply three asset pricing models to measure the performance of the strategies. The explanatory power of the models are evaluated and compared across subperiods. Our results indicate that three out of four value strategies outperform the market and that the more sophisticated asset pricing models capture variability in monthly stock returns to a greater extent. Furthermore, we show that the explanatory power of these models varies over time.nhhma

Contagion effects of the subprime crisis in the European NYSE Euronext markets

Financial contagion, Subprime crisis, Stock markets, Copula theory, F30, G14, G15,