Bom-mi Lee | Vanderbilt University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Bom-mi Lee
Education began to be included as a component of foreign assistance in the early 1960s as it is a... more Education began to be included as a component of foreign assistance in the early 1960s as it is a principal ingredient of development. A number of multilateral and bilateral agencies were established around this time to implement various types of aid programmes; however their effectiveness is constantly questioned and challenged due to a variety of problems. This paper reviews the past and current activities of bilateral, multilateral organizations and private donors in education aid, examines their effectiveness, discusses major problems in implementing educational programmes and suggests ways to improve aid in education.
School tracking is usually criticised as a mechanism for social and cultural reproduction. Eviden... more School tracking is usually criticised as a mechanism for social and cultural reproduction. Evidence from the literature shows a significant effect of early tracking on social inequality. Some studies also show that early tracking has a negative effect on the probability of completing higher education. This study uses PISA 2009 data and the propensity score matching technique to compare the effect of academic and vocational tracks on students' educational expectations and whether the effect varies across different socio-economic status in Austria, a country with an early tracking system, and Italy, a country with a later tracking system. The results show that students in Italy have significantly higher educational expectations for academic tertiary degrees than students in Austria. However, the findings do not show any evidence that the effect of tracking on expectations varies by students' socio-economic status in either country. The findings suggest that a later tracking system is associated with higher probabilities of having academic educational expectations; however, this finding should be interpreted with caution as the higher education and vocational education systems are different between the two countries, as well as the valuation of tertiary degrees in the labour market.
Thesis Chapters by Bom-mi Lee
Despite criticisms on foreign aid, empirical studies show mixed results on aid effectiveness. Si... more Despite criticisms on foreign aid, empirical studies show mixed results on aid effectiveness. Since past studies have limitations as they used an aggregate country-level approach, recent studies began to focus aid effectiveness in individual sector. However, there are very few studies examining aid effectiveness in the education sector. Education plays a fundamental role in poverty alleviation and economic growth. Considering that country level approach has limitations in explaining the large variation in success and failures of development projects, this study examined the factors that are associated with education project outcomes implemented by the World Bank.
This study used a mixed method design. Utilizing the World Bank project performance ratings data, I employed linear probability, logit and ordinal logit models with country and year fixed effects. Interviews with the World Bank staff were also conducted to complement the limitations of the quantitative data. The findings suggested that the role of borrower governments (government effectiveness and commitment) is significant for success of education projects, which supported Burnside and Dollar’s (1997) theory that aid works in a sound policy environment. Administrative factors such as project cost, duration, were not significant, while project design and staff quality were found to be significant for project outcomes. In addition, this study suggested evidence that challenged the validity of the World Bank evaluation ratings data. The findings of this study call for a closer examination of the role of borrower country’s government in project implementation, and suggest that donors should consider ways to deliver aid effectively and efficiently rather than providing more amount of aid.
Education began to be included as a component of foreign assistance in the early 1960s as it is a... more Education began to be included as a component of foreign assistance in the early 1960s as it is a principal ingredient of development. A number of multilateral and bilateral agencies were established around this time to implement various types of aid programmes; however their effectiveness is constantly questioned and challenged due to a variety of problems. This paper reviews the past and current activities of bilateral, multilateral organizations and private donors in education aid, examines their effectiveness, discusses major problems in implementing educational programmes and suggests ways to improve aid in education.
School tracking is usually criticised as a mechanism for social and cultural reproduction. Eviden... more School tracking is usually criticised as a mechanism for social and cultural reproduction. Evidence from the literature shows a significant effect of early tracking on social inequality. Some studies also show that early tracking has a negative effect on the probability of completing higher education. This study uses PISA 2009 data and the propensity score matching technique to compare the effect of academic and vocational tracks on students' educational expectations and whether the effect varies across different socio-economic status in Austria, a country with an early tracking system, and Italy, a country with a later tracking system. The results show that students in Italy have significantly higher educational expectations for academic tertiary degrees than students in Austria. However, the findings do not show any evidence that the effect of tracking on expectations varies by students' socio-economic status in either country. The findings suggest that a later tracking system is associated with higher probabilities of having academic educational expectations; however, this finding should be interpreted with caution as the higher education and vocational education systems are different between the two countries, as well as the valuation of tertiary degrees in the labour market.
Despite criticisms on foreign aid, empirical studies show mixed results on aid effectiveness. Si... more Despite criticisms on foreign aid, empirical studies show mixed results on aid effectiveness. Since past studies have limitations as they used an aggregate country-level approach, recent studies began to focus aid effectiveness in individual sector. However, there are very few studies examining aid effectiveness in the education sector. Education plays a fundamental role in poverty alleviation and economic growth. Considering that country level approach has limitations in explaining the large variation in success and failures of development projects, this study examined the factors that are associated with education project outcomes implemented by the World Bank.
This study used a mixed method design. Utilizing the World Bank project performance ratings data, I employed linear probability, logit and ordinal logit models with country and year fixed effects. Interviews with the World Bank staff were also conducted to complement the limitations of the quantitative data. The findings suggested that the role of borrower governments (government effectiveness and commitment) is significant for success of education projects, which supported Burnside and Dollar’s (1997) theory that aid works in a sound policy environment. Administrative factors such as project cost, duration, were not significant, while project design and staff quality were found to be significant for project outcomes. In addition, this study suggested evidence that challenged the validity of the World Bank evaluation ratings data. The findings of this study call for a closer examination of the role of borrower country’s government in project implementation, and suggest that donors should consider ways to deliver aid effectively and efficiently rather than providing more amount of aid.