Testing the role of screening with vocational skills: the case of post-secondary initial vocational training institutes in Greece

The paper examines whether post secondary initial vocational training acts as a filter in the private sector segment of the Greek labour market, using a sample consisting of post secondary initial vocational training graduates and secondary education graduates (control group). The results suggest that no screening is evident in the case of male employees, whereas the hypothesis of «weak» screening cannot be rejected in the case of female employees. (DIPF/Orig.

TOWARDS A LIFE LONG LEARNING AND A KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

The program Learning for Community Action in the Sector of for Life Learningwas for life enacted with the Decision of European Parliament and Council with fundamentalobjective to contribute in the growth of Community as a advanced society of knowledge, withsustainable economic growth, more and better places of work and bigger social cohesion,ensuring also the social and economic growth and the protection of environment for thefuture generations. More special objectives are the modernisation and the adaptation ofsystems of education and training of member states particularly in the line of strategicobjectives of Lisbon. The particular article aims to analyze the subjects of education and lifelong learning in E.U. in the context of knowledge and learning society.Life Long Learning, Education, Training, Knowledge, Socio-Economic Development.

Investigating the Efficiency of Senior Secondary Schools: Evidence from Schools in the Greek region of Central Macedonia

Purpose: This study examines the efficiency of Senior Secondary Schools, in the Region of Central Macedonia in Greece, using input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis, with three inputs and two outputs variables. Data concern schools in urban, semi-urban/rural, for the school years 2007-08 (before the economic crisis) and 2010-11 (during the economic crisis). Design/methodology/approach: In this study, Data Envelopment Analysis is applied under the Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) or Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) hypotheses. The study used a Senior Secondary Schools sample with stratified proportional sampling. This study’s data collection has been accomplished with the help of the information systems and the databases maintained in every school. Findings: The empirical analysis revealed that the majority of schools were inefficient. The technical efficiency under constant returns to scale varies in interval [0.510-1] and [0.511-1], with average score being 0.729 and 0.827, for the school years 2007-08 and 2010-11, respectively. Under variable returns to scale varies in interval [0.521-1] and [0.516-1], with average efficiency score being 0.815 and 0.834, for the school years 2007-08 and 2010-11, respectively. The scale efficiency for 2007-08 varies in interval [0.673-1], for 2010-11 varies in interval [0.939-1], with average efficiency score being 0.897 and 0.991, respectively. During the economic crisis the performance of schools improved. Additionally, the schools in semi-urban/rural areas had on average higher efficiency than those in urban areas. Research limitations/implications: Further research can extend this study. For instance, future studies could introduce additional input and output variables. Moreover, researchers might use a combination of available techniques such as bootstrapping to estimate the efficiency of schools over a longer period of time and after the economic crisis. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the aforementioned issue for a region on the European Union’s periphery one year before and one year during the economic crisis. The results are expected to provide insightful information for policymakers in order to better understand the performance of the schools and seek more appropriate solutions aiming at moving the sector forward. The proposal of this study is the establishment of an Observatory, authored by the Greek Ministry of Education, monitoring the diachronic data and measurements of the schools’ efficiency

Does R&D, human capital and FDI matter for TFP in OECD countries?

This study investigates the interplay between research and development (R&D), human capital (HC), foreign direct investment (FDI) and total factor productivity (TFP) in OECD countries. We divide the sample into two sub-groups; the European and the non-European states so as to account for underlying country heterogeneity. The analysis follows a panel data approach over the period 1995–2015, taking into account the modelling on non-stationarity, long-run relationships and short-run dynamics with a panel VAR. Both R&D and HC have a positive effect on TFP, whilst FDI has a positive and significant effect only in the case of non-European countries. Moreover, the contribution of R&D is higher than that of HC and FDI in all cases. Thus, based on these findings, policymakers should design and implement policies to increase resources invested in R&D, with a consistent ongoing spending review, to attract foreign direct investment, especially for the majority of the European and some of the non-European countries and to improve education system on a more productive innovation and research base