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Spatial competition for students: what does (not) matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Diogo Lourenço

    (Faculdade de Economia Universidade do Porto)

  • Carla Sá

    (Escola de Economia e Gestão Universidade do Minho)

Abstract

Regional cohesion and competition for students has fostered interest in the decision-making process behind the selection of institution of higher education. We use a gravity model to estimate the impact of distance, socioeconomic profile of districts, and characteristics of higher education institutions on the migratory flows of candidates to undergraduate programmes in Portugal. Elasticity to distance is found to be close to -2, in line with the gravity equation. The characteristics of the district of destination are unimportant, contrasting with the characteristics of institutions. Indeed, we find a negative impact of graduate unemployment, a more than proportional impact of the number of vacancies, and a great advantage to universities when compared with polytechnics. Regarding the district of origin, outgoing flows are lower the greater the local supply of higher education and the larger the young population.

Suggested Citation

  • Diogo Lourenço & Carla Sá, 2018. "Spatial competition for students: what does (not) matter?," FEP Working Papers 604, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    • Handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:604
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gravity Models; Student Mobility; Institutional Competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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