There is a large literature on the infl uence of institutional characteristics on student academi... more There is a large literature on the infl uence of institutional characteristics on student academic achievement. In contrast, relatively little research focuses on student time allocation and its eff ects on student performance. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the eff ect of student time allocation on the average grade of undergraduate students, by gender, ability and fi eld of study. The results suggest that time spent on attending courses is positively associated with grades for females, high ability students and students of Social Sciences and Sciences/Engineering. Spending time on self-study, on other study-related activities or on working as a student assistant or tutor is positively correlated with grades for almost all students. Devoting time for attending tutorials or student work groups is negatively correlated with grades if the ability of the students is below average or if they study Sciences/ Engineering. Using a translog production function, th...
This chapter assesses the subsidies of the German student loan scheme for financing living expens... more This chapter assesses the subsidies of the German student loan scheme for financing living expenses, establishes hypothetical repayment burdens in the absence of subsidies, and discusses the costs and benefits of conventional and alternative income contingent loans (ICLs). We find that the underlying subsidies of the German student loan scheme range from 57 to 80 per cent, indicating that the current scheme could be replaced by student grants if the administrative costs of collecting the debt are sufficiently high. We further demonstrate that the current scheme would either entail very high repayment burdens or very long repayment durations in the absence of loan subsidies and explain why an ICL may be viewed as a reasonable alternative to the current student loan scheme.
This paper analyzes the effect of the introduction of performance-related funding in the German u... more This paper analyzes the effect of the introduction of performance-related funding in the German university sector. Starting in the 1990‘s, the federal states of Germany introduced incentive-based funding systems in order to increase universities‘ performance and efficiency. We estimate the effects of this reform on four common outcome indicators of the funding models: The number of students and graduates, which are supposed to measure teaching performance, and the number of PhD graduates and the amount of third-party funds, which quantify research output. Using a difference-in-differences estimator, our results suggest that for increasing the outcomes in teaching, a weak incentive is sufficient while the research outputs are only affected if the incentive is strong enough. We further identify different responses by university types, which shows that the results are mainly driven by technical colleges. According to our findings, it is crucial to design the funding models carefully to...
ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the eff ect of the introduction of performance-related funding in th... more ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the eff ect of the introduction of performance-related funding in the German university sector. Starting in the 1990‘s, the federal states of Germany introduced incentive-based funding systems in order to increase universities‘ performance and effi ciency. We estimate the eff ects of this reform on four common outcome indicators of the funding models: The number of students and graduates, which are supposed to measure teaching performance, and the number of PhD graduates and the amount of third-party funds, which quantify research output. Using a diff erence-in-diff erences estimator, our results suggest that for increasing the outcomes in teaching, a weak incentive is suffi cient while the research outputs are only aff ected if the incentive is strong enough. We further identify diff erent responses by university types, which shows that the results are mainly driven by technical colleges. According to our fi ndings, it is crucial to design the funding models carefully to provide the “right” incentives and hence to achieve the underlying goal of the reform.
There is a large literature on the infl uence of institutional characteristics on student academi... more There is a large literature on the infl uence of institutional characteristics on student academic achievement. In contrast, relatively little research focuses on student time allocation and its eff ects on student performance. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the eff ect of student time allocation on the average grade of undergraduate students, by gender, ability and fi eld of study. The results suggest that time spent on attending courses is positively associated with grades for females, high ability students and students of Social Sciences and Sciences/Engineering. Spending time on self-study, on other study-related activities or on working as a student assistant or tutor is positively correlated with grades for almost all students. Devoting time for attending tutorials or student work groups is negatively correlated with grades if the ability of the students is below average or if they study Sciences/ Engineering. Using a translog production function, th...
This chapter assesses the subsidies of the German student loan scheme for financing living expens... more This chapter assesses the subsidies of the German student loan scheme for financing living expenses, establishes hypothetical repayment burdens in the absence of subsidies, and discusses the costs and benefits of conventional and alternative income contingent loans (ICLs). We find that the underlying subsidies of the German student loan scheme range from 57 to 80 per cent, indicating that the current scheme could be replaced by student grants if the administrative costs of collecting the debt are sufficiently high. We further demonstrate that the current scheme would either entail very high repayment burdens or very long repayment durations in the absence of loan subsidies and explain why an ICL may be viewed as a reasonable alternative to the current student loan scheme.
This paper analyzes the effect of the introduction of performance-related funding in the German u... more This paper analyzes the effect of the introduction of performance-related funding in the German university sector. Starting in the 1990‘s, the federal states of Germany introduced incentive-based funding systems in order to increase universities‘ performance and efficiency. We estimate the effects of this reform on four common outcome indicators of the funding models: The number of students and graduates, which are supposed to measure teaching performance, and the number of PhD graduates and the amount of third-party funds, which quantify research output. Using a difference-in-differences estimator, our results suggest that for increasing the outcomes in teaching, a weak incentive is sufficient while the research outputs are only affected if the incentive is strong enough. We further identify different responses by university types, which shows that the results are mainly driven by technical colleges. According to our findings, it is crucial to design the funding models carefully to...
ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the eff ect of the introduction of performance-related funding in th... more ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the eff ect of the introduction of performance-related funding in the German university sector. Starting in the 1990‘s, the federal states of Germany introduced incentive-based funding systems in order to increase universities‘ performance and effi ciency. We estimate the eff ects of this reform on four common outcome indicators of the funding models: The number of students and graduates, which are supposed to measure teaching performance, and the number of PhD graduates and the amount of third-party funds, which quantify research output. Using a diff erence-in-diff erences estimator, our results suggest that for increasing the outcomes in teaching, a weak incentive is suffi cient while the research outputs are only aff ected if the incentive is strong enough. We further identify diff erent responses by university types, which shows that the results are mainly driven by technical colleges. According to our fi ndings, it is crucial to design the funding models carefully to provide the “right” incentives and hence to achieve the underlying goal of the reform.
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Papers by Barbara Grave