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The Bologna Process and widening participation in university education: new evidence from Italy

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  • Giorgio Di Pietro

Abstract

This paper extends previous work on the effect of the Bologna reform on university enrolment in Italy. The analysis considers more recent data and also attempts to disentangle the effect of the reform from the influence on enrolment exerted by time-varying confounding factors. The empirical findings consistently show that the “Bologna Process” had a positive impact on university participation, though the magnitude of this impact is smaller than previously concluded. One main reason for our lower estimates lies in the use of a difference-in-differences methodology, which allows us to control for the influence on enrolment exerted by unobserved factors that could have changed coincidentally at the same time as the reform. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2012

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  • Giorgio Di Pietro, 2012. "The Bologna Process and widening participation in university education: new evidence from Italy," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 357-374, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:39:y:2012:i:3:p:357-374
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-011-9172-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Bernhard Enzi & Benedikt Siegler, 2016. "The Impact of the Bologna Reform on Student Outcomes – Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Regional Supply of Bachelor Programs in Germany," Working Papers 165, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    2. Laura Chies & Grazia Graziosi & Francesco Pauli, 2019. "The Impact of the Bologna Process on Graduation: New Evidence from Italy," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(2), pages 203-218, March.
    3. Kroher, Martina & Leuze, Kathrin & Thomsen, Stephan L. & Trunzer, Johannes, 2021. "Did the "Bologna Process" Achieve Its Goals? 20 Years of Empirical Evidence on Student Enrolment, Study Success and Labour Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 14757, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Loris Vergolini, 2016. "Social inequalities in higher education participation in a period of educational reforms and economic recession: Evidence from an Italian province," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2016-07, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    5. Lerche, Katharina, 2016. "The effect of the Bologna Process on the duration of studies," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 287, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    6. Bernhard Enzi & Benedikt Siegler, 2016. "The Impact of the Bologna Reform on Student Outcomes Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Regional Supply of Bachelor Programs in Germany," ifo Working Paper Series 225, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    7. Guccio, Calogero & Martorana, Marco & Monaco, Luisa, 2013. "Evaluating italian university teaching efficiency convergence: a non-parametric frontier approach," MPRA Paper 56673, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Thomsen, Stephan L. & Trunzer, Johannes, 2020. "Did the Bologna Process Challenge the German Apprenticeship System? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," GLO Discussion Paper Series 690, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Annika C. Froehlich, 2016. "Does the curricular structure affect doctoral enrolment?," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 86(9), pages 1067-1089, December.
    10. Iryna Kushnir & Nuve Yazgan, 2023. "The politics of higher education: the European Higher Education Area through the eyes of its stakeholders in France and Italy," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Benedikt Siegler, 2015. "Microeconometric Evaluations of Education Policies," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 57.
    12. Siegler, Benedikt & Enzi, Bernhard, 2016. "The Impact of the Bologna Reform on Student Outcomes," Discussion Papers in Economics 29635, University of Munich, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bologna Process; University enrolment; Difference-in-differences; I2;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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