Demand for Higher Education Programs: The Impact of the Bologna Process
Abstract
The Bologna process aims at creating a European Higher Education Area where inter-country mobility of students and staff, as well as workers holding a degree, is facilitated. While several aspects of the process deserve wide public support, the reduction of the length of the first cycle of studies to three years, in several continental European countries where it used to last for four or five years, is less consensual. The paper checks the extent of public confidence in the restructuring of higher education currently underway, by looking at its implications on the demand for academic programs in Portugal. Precise quantification of the demand for each academic program is facilitated by the rules of access to higher education, in a nation-wide competition, where candidates must list up to six preferences of institution and program. We use regression analysis applied to count data, estimating negative binomial models. Results indicate that the programs that restructured to follow the Bologna principles were subject to higher demand than comparable programs that did not restructure, as if Bologna were understood as a quality stamp. This positive impact was reinforced if the institution was a leader, i.e. the single one in the country that restructured that program. Still an additional increase in demand was experienced by large programs that restructured to offer an integrated master degree, thus conforming to Bologna principles while not reducing the program duration.Download Info
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Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number 2081.Length:
Date of creation: 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2081
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Related research
Keywords: education policy; European Higher Education Area; economic; social and cultural integration; count data;Other versions of this item:
- Ana Rute Cardoso, 2008. "Demand for Higher Education Programs: The Impact of the Bologna Process," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 54(2), pages 229-247, June.
- Cardoso, Ana Rute & Portela, Miguel & Sá, Carla & Alexandre, Fernando, 2006. "Demand for Higher Education Programs: The Impact of the Bologna Process," IZA Discussion Papers 2532, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Ana Rute Cardoso & Miguel Portela & Fernando Alexandre & Carla Sá, 2007. "Demand for higher education programs: the impact of the Bologna process," NIPE Working Papers 4/2007, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
- I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
- I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
- F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Mizrahi, Shlomo & Mehrez, Abraham, 2002. "Managing quality in higher education systems via minimal quality requirements: signaling and control," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 53-62, February.
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Cappellari, Lorenzo & Lucifora, Claudio, 2008.
"The "Bologna Process" and College Enrolment Decisions,"
IZA Discussion Papers
3444, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Cappellari, Lorenzo & Lucifora, Claudio, 2009. "The "Bologna Process" and college enrollment decisions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 638-647, December.
- Lorenzo Cappellari & Claudio Lucifora, 2008. "The "Bologna Process" and College Enrolment Decisions," DISCE - Quaderni dell'Istituto di Economia dell'Impresa e del Lavoro ieil0051, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
- Bosio, Giulio & Leonardi, Marco, 2011. "The Impact of Bologna Process on the Graduate Labour Market: Demand and Supply," IZA Discussion Papers 5789, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Alexandre, Fernando & Portela, Miguel & Sá, Carla, 2008.
"Admission Conditions and Graduates' Employability,"
IZA Discussion Papers
3530, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Fernando Alexandre & Miguel Portela & Carla Sá, 2008. "Admission conditions and graduates' employability," NIPE Working Papers 16/2008, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
- Frederick van der Ploeg & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2007.
"Higher Education Reform and the Renewed Lisbon Strategy: Role of Member States and the European Commission,"
CESifo Working Paper Series
1901, CESifo Group Munich.
- Frederick van der Ploeg & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2007. "Higher Education Reform and the Renewed Lisbon Strategy: Role of Member States and the European Commission," Economics Working Papers ECO2007/33, European University Institute.
- Carlos Vieira & Isabel Vieira, 2011. "Determinants and projections of demand for higher education in Portugal," CEFAGE-UE Working Papers 2011_15, University of Evora, CEFAGE-UE (Portugal).
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