Does Expansion Cause Congestion? The Case of the Older British Universities, 1994 to 2004

This paper examines whether the rapid growth in the number of students in British universities in recent years has led to congestion, in the sense that certain universities’ output could have been higher if this expansion had been less rapid. The focus of the paper is on 45 older universities that were in existence prior to 1992. The analysis covers the period 1994/5 to 2003/4. Several alternative methods of measuring congestion are examined and, to check the sensitivity of the results to different specifications, three alternative DEA models are formulated. The results indicate that congestion was present throughout the decade under review, and in a wide range of universities, but whether it rose or fell is uncertain, as this depends on which congestion model is used. A crucial point here is whether one assumes constant or variable returns to scale. Nonetheless, all models point to a rise in congestion between 2001/2 and 2003/4, and this may well be a result of the rapid growth that occurred in this period. All models also record a sharp drop in mean technical efficiency in 2003/4. A possible explanation of the absence of a clear-cut trend in congestion is that the student : staff ratio in these universities was relatively stable in the decade under review, rising only gently from 2000/1 onwards.British universities; congestion; DEA

Does it matter How We Measure Congestion?

This paper examines three alternative methods of measuring congestion, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. These methods are the conventional approach of Färe and Grosskopf, the alternative proposed by Cooper et al., and a new method developed by Tone and Sahoo. Each method is found to have merits and demerits. The properties of the different methods are examined using data for 41 ‘new’ British universities in the period 1995/6 to 2003/4. Contrary to expectations, Färe and Grosskopf’s approach generally indicates substantially more congestion than do the other procedures. The main reason for this is identified as being its use of CRS rather than VRS as the assumed technology. While the alternative measures of congestion are found to be positively correlated, the correlations are not strong enough for them to be regarded as substitutes. All methods suggest the existence of a widespread problem of congestion in the new universities, although they differ noticeably as regards its severity.Length: 37 pagesData envelopment analysis; Education; Congestion;

Attendance and Exam Performance at University

Marburger (2006) explored the link between absenteeism and exam performance by assessing the impact on absenteeism of removing a university wide policy of mandatory attendance for a single class. His results indicate that while an attendance policy has a strong impact on reducing absenteeism the link between absenteeism and exam performance is weak.This paper presents an alternative exploration into the link between absenteeism and exam performance by assessing the impact of implementing a module-specific attendance policy. Our results suggest the link between absenteeism and exam performance is strong, and that student-specific factors are important, including revision strategies and peer group effects. These results question the uniformity of the relationship between attendance and exam performance.absenteeism, attendance, exam performance, undergraduate, peer groups

Environmental Kuznets Curves: Mess or Meaning?

The shape of the relationship between the rate of environmental degradation and income per capita has been the subject of much empirical examination. When test results based around this so-called ‘environmental Kuznets curve’ are compared, the empirical evidence is neither consistently supportive of its traditional inverted-U shape nor uniform across pollutants. A deeper understanding of the characteristics of pollutants and of the derived demand and derived supply of pollutants needs to be achieved if environmental Kuznets curves are to be useful.Environmental Kuznets Curves, Empirical Evidence

Convergence across Spanish Provinces:Cross-section and Pairwise Evidence

Distribution free statistics are employed to investigate biennial income per capita convergence across 52 Spanish provinces over the period 1955-1997. Based upon ideas of concordance and discordance that capture convergence and divergence properties, the paper presents results that suggest convergence is dominant for the full sample over the entire period, swings in this trend between convergence and divergence are present and switching in rank does take place. When provinces are analysed in pairs some show strong evidence of divergence.Convergence; Steady state; Average UK regional male wages

Tip position modulation and lock-in detection in scanning electrochemical microscopy

Small amplitude tip-position modulation (TPM) in combination with lock-in detection of the modulated current signal is applied to a scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM) to improve signal-to-noise ratio and to enhance image resolution. Phase shift information from the alternating current TPM signal and the bipolar response of TPM over insulators and conductors make TPM-SECM superior to conventional SECM imaging methods as well as useful for measuring substrate conductivity.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Attendance and exam performance at university: A case study

The link between absenteeism and students' academic performance at university is perpetually a hot topic for teaching academics. Most studies suggest the effect is negative, although the strength of this effect is in dispute. The issue is complicated further when researchers draw their inferences from different angles, such as the removal of a mandatory attendance policy or the implementation of a module-specific attendance policy. Although previous studies have suggested the effect on exam performance of removing a mandatory attendance policy is weak, this study investigates the effect of implementing a module-specific attendance policy and finds a strong effect on exam performance. We also identify that student-specific factors are important, including revision strategies and peer-group effects and that not taking account of these factors will result in biased estimates of the effect of an attendance policy on exam performance. Furthermore, this paper suggests that the effect of absenteeism on exam performance is non-linear and further research is needed to identify when attendance policy is a justifiable tool. © 2010 Further Education Research Association

Decrease in health-related quality of life associated with awareness of hepatitis C virus infection among people who inject drugs in Scotland

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can significantly reduce health-related quality of life (QoL), but it is not clear if reduction is associated with the infection or with being aware of one's infection status. Understanding the impact of a HCV diagnosis on QoL is essential to inform decision-making regarding screening/testing and treatment. Using a cross-sectional design, we assessed QoL in 2898 people who inject drugs (PWID), surveyed in Scotland during 2010 using EQ-5D. Multifactorial regression compared self-reported QoL between PWID who were (i) chronically HCV-infected and aware of their infected status, (ii) chronically HCV-infected but unaware, and (iii) not chronically infected. Median time since onset of injecting was 10years; not chronically infected PWID were younger and had shorter injecting careers than chronically infected PWID. Median EQ-5D was highest for the not chronically infected and the chronic/unaware groups (0.73) compared with the chronic/aware group (0.66). After adjustment for demographic and behavioural co-factors, QoL was significantly reduced in chronic/aware compared with chronic/unaware PWID (adjusted B=-0.09, p=0.005); there was no evidence for a difference in QoL between not chronically infected and chronic/unaware PWID (adjusted B=-0.03, p=0.13). Awareness of one's chronic HCV status was associated with reduced health-related QoL, but there was no evidence for further reduction attributable to chronic infection itself after adjusting for important covariate differences