Employment convergence of immigrants in the EU: Differences across genders, regions of origin and destination

In light of the importance of immigrants labour market integration in the host countries, this study examines the employment convergence between foreign-born and native-born in the European Union (EU) based on the EU Labour Force Survey (EU LFS). The evidence points to numerous differences in assimilation patterns across immigrant groups (EU-born versus third country immigrants), genders and receiving EU regions. Potential explanations for these differences, such as the occupational composition of immigrants are discussed. Furthermore, predictions of the family investment hypothesis in terms of the human capital investment of the partners are tested in light of the finding that the employment rate of females born outside the EU exceeds that of similar native-born in the Southern EU member states. --Immigrants,Employment,European Union

Adult education in the European Union - with a focus on Hungary

This paper examines adult education in Hungary for the years 1999, 2001 and 2003 along three dimensions: (a) the fraction of individuals participating in adult education, (b) their demographic and socio-economic characteristics and (c) the probability of participating in adult education / adult education lasting less than one year in the framework of a logit model. In a second step the paper focuses on a cross-country comparison of the three areas described above based on the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS). The international comparison covers nine EU Member States, namely, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.Analysis of education, adult education, logit model

The effect of school starting age on academic performance in Hungary

The study estimates the effect of school starting age on academic performance for Hungarian grade four students using the "Progress in International Reading Literacy Study" (PIRLS) and the "Trends in Mathematics and Science Study" (TIMMS). The study uses the control function approach, exploiting the exogenous variation in school starting age driven by the children's month of birth and the cut-off date regulation for enrolment. The results indicate a positive age effect on Reading, Mathematics and Science performance.Education, student test scores, enrolment age, identification

Employment convergence of immigrants in the European Union

In light of the importance of immigrants' labour market integration in the host countries, this study examines the employment convergence between foreign-born and native-born in the European Union (EU), by gender and broad region of origin - distinguishing between immigrants born within and outside the EU - based on data drawn from the European Labour Force Survey. The estimation results point to numerous differences across immigrant groups, genders and receiving EU regions - especially between the Southern EU member states and the rest of the EU15 and between the Eastern European countries admitted in 2004 and the 15 pre-enlargement member states.Immigrants, Employment, European Union

Whose Children Gain from Starting School Later? Evidence from Hungary

We look at the effect of school starting age on standardized test scores using data covering all grade four and grade eight students in Hungary. Instrumental variables estimates of the local average treatment effect suggest that children generally gain from starting school one year later and the effects are much stronger in the case of students coming from low-educated families. We test the robustness of the results by allowing for heterogeneity in the age effect, distinguishing between fields of testing, using discontinuity samples and relying on alternative data. The hypothesis that delayed entry has a stronger impact on low-status children is supported by the robustness checks. The observed patterns are most probably explained by the better performance of kindergartens, as opposed to schools, in developing the skills of low-status children.education, student test scores, enrolment age, identification

Comparative analysis of the returns to education in Germany and Hungary (2000)

In this study standard Mincer earnings equations are estimated using both ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression in order to give a comprehensive picture of the returns to education in Germany and Hungary for the year 2000. To make the cross-country comparison of the returns to education informative, six differentiated categories for formal education, rather than years of schooling, are generated and used in the empirical analysis. Moreover, the returns to three and eight field of study groups for Germany and Hungary respectively are estimated in order to shed more light on the valuation of specific university degree. Most importantly, the empirical results provide evidence for the fact that the OLS estimate is not an accurate estimate of the return to education for the population (more specifically for the selected samples). That is, the estimates of the quantile regressions point to the fact that differences in returns to education within educational groups contribute significantly to aggregate earnings inequality, especially in Hungary.Quantile regression, education systems, return to education, between-educational-levels earnings inequality, within-educational-levels earnings inequality