Unequal Access to Higher Education in the Czech Republic: The Role of Spatial Distribution of Universities

CERGE-EI Working Paper No. 350

61 Pages Posted: 30 Mar 2008 Last revised: 10 Nov 2016

See all articles by Martin Guzi

Martin Guzi

Masaryk University - Department of Public Economics; Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Michal Franta

Charles University, Prague; Czech National Bank (CNB)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 1, 2008

Abstract

The Czech Republic exhibits high geographical variation of both human capital and universities. We examine a potential source of human capital spatial disparities: the unequal access to tertiary education caused by the absence/presence of a local university. We model both a secondary school graduate's decision whether to apply to a university and a university's decision about admission. Two possible sources of unequal access to university study are distinguished: cost savings and informational advantages for those residing close to a university. Estimation results suggest that the local neighborhood having a highly educated population, rather than the presence of a university per se, has a positive effect on a secondary school graduate's decision to apply. Moreover, we find that heterogenous information plays a significant role in admission to university.

Keywords: human capital, spatial distribution, access to tertiary education

JEL Classification: I20, I21, J24

Suggested Citation

Guzi, Martin and Franta, Michal, Unequal Access to Higher Education in the Czech Republic: The Role of Spatial Distribution of Universities (March 1, 2008). CERGE-EI Working Paper No. 350, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1113784 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1113784

Martin Guzi (Contact Author)

Masaryk University - Department of Public Economics ( email )

Lipova 41a
KVE
Brno, 62400
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.muni.cz/en/people/233611-martin-guzi/cv

Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI)

Zvolenská 29
Bratislava, 82109
Slovakia

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://legacy.iza.org/en/webcontent/personnel/photos/index_html?key=5347

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences ( email )

Politickych veznu 7
Prague, 111 21
Czech Republic

Michal Franta

Charles University, Prague ( email )

Politickych veznu 7
Prague, 111 21
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.cerge-ei.cz

Czech National Bank (CNB) ( email )

Na Prikope 28
CZ-11503 Praha 1
Czech Republic

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
111
Abstract Views
897
Rank
261,591
PlumX Metrics