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This paper combines the Australian Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) micro-level data with its longitudinal continuation, the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth data, to measure the association between individual PISA scores and early school dropouts. We use multilevel modelling to distinguish between student and school factors when estimating school dropout propensity for 15–18-year olds. We model attrition and deal with the possibility that PISA scores are endogenous in the dropout decision. We find that PISA scores predict well early dropout, especially so for bottom achievers, and that individual and social disadvantage plays a crucial role in this relationship, both directly and indirectly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper compares estimates of the social rate of return to education for Indigenous Australians with those for non-Indigenous Australians. The social rate of return measures the net benefits to society of educating its citizens. If education is treated as an investment by society in its people, then Australian society will be made better off by an increase in educational investment as long as the social rate of return is higher than that for other public investments. This paper provides a discussion of the concept of the social rate of return to education and some estimates for Indigenous Australians. Higher levels of education, in general, lead to an increased probability of finding employment and higher levels of income in employment. Hence, an increased level of education for an Indigenous person would be of advantage in economic terms; the private rate of return to education is likely to be quite high. In addition, we argue that increasing education has important social benefits (so-called 'externalities') for Indigenous people, and society in general: improved education would lead to better nutrition, to better living conditions, to better access to health services, and hence to a longer and healthier life. This means that productivity would be higher for Indigenous people and they would have higher incomes over a longer period of time. In addition, we argue that improved levels of education have the capacity to contribute to a decrease in the numbers of Indigenous people who are imprisoned, and thus lead to a direct reduction in the costs of imprisonment. Thus, increased education increases the earnings span, decreases prison costs and hence increases the social rate of return. We find that the social rate of return for education is generally higher for Indigenous Australians than for non-Indigenous Australians. This suggests, from a public policy perspective, that government should allocate increased funding for the education of Indigenous people since this social rate of return is greater than the Department of Finance recommended cut-off rates for government investment projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the 2001 Australian Census is used to estimate predicted net benefits of education at a small geographic level. These are then linked to youth in the areas to test the associations with high school participation. This is done separately for Indigenous youth, a population sub-group with historically low levels of education participation. The results confirm that, in general, localised predicted benefits of education do have a significant association with participation. For the Indigenous population, however, there is no significant association between the predicted income benefits of education and participation and only a weak association with the employment benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the extent of graduate overeducation in Australia utilising both the objective and mean methods. As well, the paper tests for non-linear returns to overeducation. It is found that the rates of graduate overeducation vary by both gender and with the methods utilised, and stand between 21% and 46%. Non-linear returns to overeducation were evident among some groups of graduates. Young male graduates seem to suffer no penalty for overeducation compared with their matched peers, but this may be a reflection of technological change altering workplace requirements faster than changes in occupational titles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to better understand the factors that affect the chances of re-engaging early school leavers in education, with a particular focus on the importance of time out from school (duration dependence) and school-related factors. Using data from three cohorts of the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth and duration models that control for unobserved heterogeneity, our results suggest that programmes that encourage an early return to study and those that develop post-school career plans may be more effective than programmes that concentrate on improving numeracy and literacy scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the differences in school (NAPLAN) outcomes between New South Wales and Queensland. It shows that there are pronounced differences in Year 3 NAPLAN results between these states, though these dissipate when later class years are considered. The reasons for these state effects in school outcomes are explored using an empirical framework grounded in the regression discontinuity literature. There is no systematic evidence of school-specific unobservables that are linearly related to the distance of schools from the New South Wales–Queensland border that account for this state effect. In other words, the lower outcomes of schools in Queensland relative to schools in New South Wales appear to be a pure institutional phenomenon. This conclusion carries over to the various sensitivity tests undertaken based on the partition of the sample by school sector and by distance from the border. Accordingly, the border effects are expected to be eroded by the recent reforms to the school starting age in Queensland and by the national curriculum currently proposed for implementation in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The decision to invest in education is influenced by a large number of economic, social, family, personal and institutional factors. Many of these changed in Australia during the 1970s and 1980s. Several of the more important of these changes, such as the Equal Pay for Equal Work decision of 1969, the Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value decision of 1972 and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984, are not expected to have impacted equally on the schooling decisions of males and females. The broader economic environment of this period also seems to have favoured females. Using the Youth in Transition Survey, this paper attempts to explain differences in the schooling decisions of two cohorts, namely individuals born in 1961 and 1970, which would have made their school-leaving decisions during the 1970s and 1980s. The aims are to establish whether the way in which education decisions are made differ across cohorts, and to assess whether any such differences can be related to the institutional reforms and labour market changes that occurred over the 1960-1980 period. The analyses show that females have a higher probability of completing year 12 than males and the gender difference in rates of year 12 completion widened over the decade under review. The increase in the probability of females completing year 12 relative to that of males is due almost entirely to differential rates of change in the characteristics of males and females. Changes in the estimated coefficients play a minor role in explaining the gender difference in school-leaving decisions. This suggests that major changes in the labour market with a focus on females per se during the 1970s and 1980s have had little impact on the difference in school-leaving decisions between males and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been significant increases in female participation in secondary and higher education in Australia over the past 39 years. To account for these changes, models of educational attainment were estimated for all individuals as well as for females from different age groups.The results reveal that family-related characteristics play a major role in the education decision. There is evidence of cohort effects in the process determining female educational attainment. The results suggest that changes in female educational attainment may be linked to the Equal Pay for Equal Work and Equal Pay for Work of EqualValue decisions of 1969 and 1972, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]