اهمیت ویژگی های جغرافیایی در تصمیم گیری برای حضور در دانشگاه

Studies of educational achievement have focused primarily on individual, family, and school-level influences. Yet, economic theory suggests that the expected economic returns to obtaining an education are also important. Two key determinants of these returns, the costs of obtaining an education and the employment opportunities available after receiving education, are often shaped at the local and regional levels. This paper examines the socio-economic correlates with the decision to attend college in Sweden in 1995. Data obtained from a unique geographically descriptive micro-database called TOtal Population of SWeden, INdividual and Geographical database (TOPSWING) make it possible to conduct analyses of the decision to attend college using numerous individual, family, neighborhood, and labor market region variables. This paper shows that few geographical variables are associated with college attendance. However, the proportion of college educated residents at both the neighborhood and labor market levels, as well as proximity to a college, increase the likelihood of attending college.

Human capital is recognized as an important input in modern economic growth and development [1], [2] and [3]. The social sciences have thus devoted increasing attention to the question of what affects human capital investment decisions. Ranking high among the variables thought to be important in these decisions are various individual, family, and school-level characteristics. Geographical attributes such as distance, neighborhood qualities, and characteristics of regional labor markets have received much less attention. The question of the role of geographical attributes in educational decisions is an important one. Much of the current education policy debate centers on the amount of financial aid received by school districts, the level of school quality, class size and school administrative practices. Yet, geographical variables may also be important. These variables may be ones that planners can affect (e.g., distance to educational institutions), or they may reflect deeper differences of economic structure (e.g., percentage of employment in agricultural or mining activities) that are difficult to change. If the latter is true, it is important to acknowledge same in order not to create unrealistic benchmarks and expectations for areas that, at first glance, appear to suffer from human capital deficits. This paper focuses on the effect of geographical attributes within a standard human capital investment model. Rather than attempt the formidable task of examining every educational decision in every country, this paper focuses on one aspect of education, entry to college, for one particular place, Sweden. Using data from a unique geographically descriptive micro-database called TOtal Population of SWeden, INdividual and Geographical database (TOPSWING) [4], the paper examines the decision to attend college using numerous individual, family, neighborhood, and labor market region variables. It must be recognized that the Swedish experience is much different from that of the US. Social and economic differences are relatively small in comparison, and public funding for education and related social services is relatively generous. On the other hand, the post-secondary educational services sector is smaller, with a much smaller percentage of the population receiving a post-secondary education. The differences may thus seem muted. However, if it can be demonstrated that individual, family, local, and regional attributes matter in Sweden, it may be reasonable to infer that the same holds elsewhere. This paper is divided into several sections. The first briefly reviews the literature concerning educational achievement, with special emphasis on understanding geographical determinants of educational entry. The second section discusses the micro-database that was used for estimation purposes. The third section introduces a model of educational entry and presents the variables used in the analysis. The fourth section discusses the results of the empirical analysis. The paper finishes with a summary and conclusion.

This paper focuses on the role of geographical variables in the individual decision to enter higher education. The results obtained here confirm the importance, even the predominance, of individual and family level covariates. However, there remains a role for local and regional influences; in particular, the educational achievement of residents and proximity to college or university appear to have measurable effects on individual decisions. These effects might be connected with the role of neighborhood peers, labor market demand, and the costs (out-of-pocket and informational) of attending college. These preliminary results may have certain implications for policy. For most colleges and universities, recruitment is a constant administrative concern. One might ordinarily think that the greatest opportunities for “harvesting” new recruits lie in areas with a relatively low ratio of current college graduates. However, the results here suggest that it may be easier to entice new students in places where there are already a proportionally high number of graduates. Second, for many colleges and universities, new university and state accountability guidelines require institutions to establish clear goals and benchmarks for recruitment and enrollment. The results here suggest that areas with relatively lower levels of educational achievement will, holding all else constant, have a more difficult time maintaining or expanding enrollment through recruitment. If institutions are rewarded based on their recruitment success, the effect could be to further aggravate geographical educational disparities. Third, the tendency to find lower rates of college attendance in rural areas should not be regarded as an aberrant phenomenon. It may merely be the outcome of a rational financial calculus undertaken by individuals in the region; where there is little latent demand for higher educational skills, there is less incentive for an immobile individual to invest the time in obtaining a degree. Fourth, this paper suggests one more reason that some areas might continue to lag behind other areas in average educational achievement—human capital externalities. Since the propensity to attend college is greater where the relative size of the college graduate pool is greater, those areas whose initial endowments are greater as well as those areas that receive an influx of college graduates from elsewhere will likely produce even more residents who choose college entry. The opposite will occur for areas with low levels of graduates and areas losing college graduates. Finally, educational planners might reasonably hope to counter tendencies toward geographical college attendance imbalance by adopting a policy of starting regional or community colleges in areas exhibiting lower educational achievement.