The Effect of Charter Schools on Districts’ Student Composition, Costs, and Efficiency: The Case of New York State

Charter schools can influence a school district's costs by reducing economies of scale and by changing the share of high cost students a district serves, but might also increase the district's efficiency through competition. Utilizing data for New York State school districts from 1998/99 to 2013/14, we estimate difference-in-differences models to assess the effect of charter schools on enrollment and student composition. Then, we estimate an expenditure function, using data prior to the charter school program, to measure the costs associated with reaching a given performance standard for students in various need categories and different enrollments. Next, using the entire data set, we run a second expenditure function to determine changes in efficiency associated with charter school entry. We find that charter schools increase the cost of providing education, and that these cost increases are larger than short-run efficiency gains, but are offset by efficiency gains in the long term

Regional Dynamics of Innovation - Investigating the Co-Evolution of Patents, R&D, and Employment

We investigate the lead-lag relationship between growth of patent applications, growth of R&D, and growth of total sectoral employment for 270 German labour market regions over the period 1999-2005. Our unique panel dataset includes information on four two-digit industries, namely Chemistry, Transport equipment, Medical & Optical Equipment as well as Electrics & Electronics. The results obtained from a vector autoregression model show that an increased innovative activity is associated with subsequent growth of employment in the Medical & Optical Equipment industry as well as in the Electrics & Electronics sector. With respect to the latter growth of patent applications is also associated with subsequent growth of R&D employees indicating either a 'success-breeds-success' story or benefits due to agglomeration economies at the level of the region. However we do not find those effects for the other industries due to their idiosyncratic innovation and patenting behaviour.innovation, regional dynamics, r&d growth, employment growth, patent growth

An investigation of the relation between cooperation and the innovative success of German regions

Concepts like regional innovation systems, innovative milieu, and learning regions emphasize the positive contribution of intra-regional cooperation to firmsÕ innovation performance. Despite substantial numbers of case studies, the quantitative empirical evidence for this claim is thin. Using data on the co-application and co- invention of patents for 270 German labor market regions the study shows that intra- regional cooperation intensity and regional innovation efficiency are associated. In contrast to the negative influence of inter-regional cooperation, medium levels of intra-regional cooperation stimulate regional innovation efficiency.regional innovation efficiency, cooperation intensity, collaboration, regional cooperation

Algorithms: neither makers nor mirrors of reality

MSc Sociology graduand, Mira Buerger, offers a summary of the research she conducted for her dissertation exploring the role algorithms play in alternative credit scoring

Putting the T in sociology

This first in a series of blogs posts on the theme of Why Sociology? is from Mira Buerger, an MSc student in the Department of Sociology at LSE. I study sociology. And I did and will work in the business world. For many people this sounds like an oxymoron. But sociology provides me what is so often demanded by today’s recruiters: T shaped expertise. Both IBM and Ideo’s CEO Tim Brown called for the T-shaped employees already back in 2010

Evolution of genetic variability and the advantage of sex and recombination in changing environments

The role of recombination and sexual reproduction in enhancing adaptation and population persistence in temporally varying environments is investigated on the basis of a quantitative-genetic multilocus model. Populations are finite, subject to density-dependent regulation with a finite growth rate, diploid, and either asexual or randomly mating and sexual with or without recombination. A quantitative trait is determined by a finite number of loci at which mutation generates genetic variability. The trait is under stabilizing selection with an optimum that either changes at a constant rate in one direction, exhibits periodic cycling, or fluctuates randomly. It is shown by Monte Carlo simulations that if the directional-selection component prevails, then freely recombining populations gain a substantial evolutionary advantage over nonrecombining and asexual populations that goes far beyond that recognized in previous studies. The reason is that in such populations, the genetic variance can increase substantially and thus enhance the rate of adaptation. In nonrecombining and asexual populations, no or much less increase of variance occurs. It is explored by simulation and mathematical analysis when, why, and by how much genetic variance increases in response to environmental change. In particular, it is elucidated how this change in genetic variance depends on the reproductive system, the population size, and the selective regime, and what the consequences for population persistence are

Additive Genetic Variation under Intraspecific Competition and Stabilizing Selection: A Two-Locus Study [Revised June 2002]

A diallelic two-locus model is investigated in which the loci determine the genotypic value of a quantitative trait additively. Fitness has two components: stabilizing selection on the trait and a frequency-dependent component, as induced for instance if the ability to utilize different food resource depend on this trait. Since intraspecific competition induces disruptive selection, this model leads to a conflict of selective forces. We study how the underlying genetics (recombination rate and allelic effects) interacts with the selective forces, and explore the resulting equilibrium structure. For the special case of equal effects, global stability results are proved. Unless the locus effects are sufficiently different, the genetic variance maintained at equilibrium displays a threshold-like dependence on the strength of competition. For loci with equal effects, the equilibrium fitnesses of genotypic value exhibit disruptive selection if and only if competition is strong enough to maintain a stable two-locus polymorphism. For unequal effects, disruptive selection can be observed for weaker competition and in the absence of a stable polymorphism