IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/operea/v17y2017i1d10.1007_s12351-015-0220-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A distance learning university and its economic impact in a country’s peripheries: the case of Hellenic Open University

Author

Listed:
  • George Agiomirgianakis

    (Hellenic Open University)

  • Dimitrios Serenis

    (Coventry University)

  • Nicholas Tsounis

    (Hellenic Open University
    Technological Institute of Western Macedonia)

Abstract

Higher education institutions can contribute into regional growth via the services of teaching they provide, the research activity they develop and the administration spillover effects on the local markets they operate. This paper attempts to quantify the impact of university expenditures on the regionally produced product (GDP). More specifically, we focus on the expenditure effects of the Hellenic Open University on the GDP of the 13 Greek regions. In our analysis we distinguish between direct and indirect effects by identifying as direct effects all initial expenditures incurred by the HOU while we identify and subsequently calculate as indirect effects the increases in local output caused by the interactions of different sectors of the regional economy. For the calculation of indirect effects we use the input–output methodology. An input–output system shows the intermediate transactions between sectors and the primary inputs, as well as, the final demand of each sector. This is a general equilibrium system that records all the inter-sector transactions presenting a complete picture of the economy under examination and being the appropriate system to be used for calculating the total effect of university expenditure on regional GDP. Our results suggest that the economic impact of HOU is (a) significant to the Greek peripheries and its size varies across regions; (b) indirect regional effects boost the direct regional effects by 60 % creating an overall size of the HOU expenses GDP multiplier by 1.6 on average. Moreover, our findings may have two straightforward policy implications that could be useful to those exercising policy making: first, the quantification of HOU economic impact on all Greek peripheries is not only useful for assessing the economic role of HOU at regional level but it could also been seen as a benchmark in assessing the impact of other similar regional educational activities. Secondly, the economic impact of HOU in each periphery can be a useful tool in assessing alternative non-educational, regional projects, aiming to fight the high unemployment arisen due to economic crisis that bedevils Greece and its peripheries in the last 5 years.

Suggested Citation

  • George Agiomirgianakis & Dimitrios Serenis & Nicholas Tsounis, 2017. "A distance learning university and its economic impact in a country’s peripheries: the case of Hellenic Open University," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 165-186, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:operea:v:17:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s12351-015-0220-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s12351-015-0220-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12351-015-0220-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12351-015-0220-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rey, Elena Del, 2001. "Teaching versus Research: A Model of State University Competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 356-373, March.
    2. Swenson, David A., 2015. "The Economic Value of The University of Iowa," Staff General Research Papers Archive 38337, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    3. Swenson, David A., 2015. "The Economic Value of the University of Northern Iowa," Staff General Research Papers Archive 38338, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Tsounis, Nicholas, 2003. "The Validity of Bilateral Heckscher-Ohlin: Some Further Empirical Evidence," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 56(1), pages 119-136.
    5. Swenson, David A., 2015. "The Economic Value of Iowa State University," Staff General Research Papers Archive 38336, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Swenson, David A., 2015. "The Economic Value of The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics," Staff General Research Papers Archive 38339, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Pereira & Joaquim Mourato & João Alves & Miguel Serafim, 2021. "The Impact of Higher Education Institutions in Low-Density Territories," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-13, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christelle Khalaf & G. Jason Jolley & Candi Clouse, 2022. "The Economic Impact of Small Colleges on Local Economies: A Guide to Attainable Data and Best Practices," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 36(1), pages 17-32, February.
    2. Elias Carroni & Berardino Cesi & Dimitri Paolini, 2016. "Local University Supply and Distance: A Welfare Analysis with Centralized and Decentralized Tuition Fees," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 2(2), pages 239-252, July.
    3. Pier-Andre Bouchard St-Amant, 2013. "University Funding Policies: Buildings Or Citizens?," Working Paper 1302, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    4. Craig Andrea & Vierø Marie-Louise, 2013. "Academia or the Private Sector? Sorting of Agents into Institutions and an Outside Sector," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(1), pages 303-345, December.
    5. Marie-Laure Cabon-Dhersin & Jonas Didisse, 2017. "Inter-university competition and high tuition fees," Post-Print hal-02356872, HAL.
    6. Gary-Bobo, Robert J. & Trannoy, Alain, 2005. "Efficient Tuition & Fees, Examinations and Subsidies," CEPR Discussion Papers 5011, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Berardino Cesi & Dimitri Paolini, 2014. "Peer Group and Distance: When Widening University Participation is Better," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 82, pages 110-132, December.
    8. Jellal, Mohamed, 2014. "Gouvernance optimale moderne des universités [Modern optimal governance of universities]," MPRA Paper 57275, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Bisceglia, Michele & Cellini, Roberto & Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2020. "Optimal dynamic volume-based price regulation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Masahito Ambashi, 2021. "Theoretical Analysis of University Research and Teaching in the Presence of External Research Funding," KIER Working Papers 1069, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    11. Alexander Kemnitz, 2007. "University Funding Reform, Competition, and Teaching Quality," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 163(2), pages 356-378, June.
    12. Tania Oliveira, 2006. "Tuition fees and admission standards: how do public and private universities really compete for students?," Discussion Papers in Economics 06/6, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    13. Eisenkopf, Gerald & Wohlschlegel, Ansgar, 2012. "Regulation in the market for education and optimal choice of curriculum," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 53-65.
    14. Verboven, Frank & Kelchtermans, Stijn, 2007. "Reducing Product Diversity in Higher Education," CEPR Discussion Papers 6508, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. T Agasisti & G Johnes, 2009. "Cost Structure, Efficiency and Heterogeneity in US Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis," Working Papers 599308, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    16. Delpierre, Matthieu & Verheyden, Bertrand, 2014. "Student and worker mobility under university and government competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 26-41.
    17. repec:lan:wpaper:4487 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Michael Kaganovich & Xuejuan Su, 2019. "College curriculum, diverging selectivity, and enrollment expansion," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 67(4), pages 1019-1050, June.
    19. Kemnitz, Alexander, 2003. "Funding, Competition and Quality in Higher Education," Discussion Papers 610, Institut fuer Volkswirtschaftslehre und Statistik, Abteilung fuer Volkswirtschaftslehre.
    20. De Fraja, Gianni & Valbonesi, Paola, 2012. "The design of the university system," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 317-330.
    21. Cantner, Uwe & Grashof, Nils & Grebel, Thomas & Zhang, Xijie, 2023. "When Excellence is not Excellent: The Impact of the Excellence Initiative on the Relative Productivity of German Universities," MPRA Paper 118139, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional development; Higher education policy; Hellenic Open University;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R15 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Econometric and Input-Output Models; Other Methods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:operea:v:17:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s12351-015-0220-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.