Purpose: The impact of agricultural knowledge transfer (KT) is related to the access to and the quality of services available. Within this context, the allocation of resources in terms of KT offices and the number of advisers are important considerations for understanding KT impact. This quantitative study evaluates the impact of KT resources on…

Drawing on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), this study examines change and stability in personal goal appraisals among German young adults aged 18-29 from 2008, the depth of the Great Recession, to 2012, into the recovery period (N = 3,292). Young adults in Germany, particularly young male workers, were greatly affected by the…

Scarce human and fiscal resources of high value are spent in the field of education. Thus, the concept of efficiency, and particularly technical efficiency, that refers to the maximization of outputs at a given set of inputs, can be a possible contribution to the design of education policy and administration; mostly at a time of economic crisis as…

Purpose: This paper seeks to discuss the impact of UK government austerity policies on learning in public service work, specifically youth support work. It also aims to argue that austerity policies intensify "ethics work", create emotional suffering, and obstruct workplace learning in a variety of ways. Design/methodology/approach: The…

The persistence of the Great Recession provides us with the opportunity to engage in a long overdue conversation about public investments in America's children. Less than ten percent of the Fiscal Year 2010 federal budget of $3.603 trillion is allocated to children and youth. This percentage is likely to decline in the next decade if current laws…

The system of financing postsecondary education in the Canadian provinces since the introduction, in 1977, of unconditional grants based on the gross national product rather than operating costs is examined. (MSE)

The rate of growth in government spending (particularly, slow growth or decline) has an important impact on the effectiveness of resource allocation. Data from 47 developing nations was used to test a model, based on public choice theory, of interest-group behavior and educational budget growth/decline. Government spending trends were related to…

This paper argues that research be recognised as a right of a special kind--that it be regarded as a more universal and elementary ability. It suggests that research is a specialised name for a generalised capacity to make disciplined inquires into those things we need to know, but do not know yet. I maintain that knowledge is both more valuable…

Zero-base budgeting (ZBB), a systematically structured approach to budgeting, has the potential to improve policy attainment, resource reallocation, program review, and information systems. Some 300 businesses, a dozen states, one municipality, and one school district in the United States have operationalized the concept. Many private and public…

Funding trends in Australian higher education are examined over a 12-year period, with analyses for the system as a whole and for 2 sectors: the old, established universities and the newer, emerging institutions. The effects of funding shifts on program emphases and student populations (undergraduate vs. graduate) are discussed. (MSE)

Budgeting and resource allocation systems that work for one institution may not work well for another. Each institution's procedures should meet its specific requirements and characteristics, even when that means adapting or drawing on other systems. (MSE)

This report reviews the literature on cost-benefit analysis of retraining and discusses possible approaches to conducting such an analysis. Exemplary programs in Sweden and the United States are described. Despite the existence of externalities which preclude exact calculation of costs and benefits, the report concludes that retraining is…

Resource allocation for higher education in England is addressed in 11 papers from a l982 Leverhulme seminar of the Society for Research into Higher Education. Major seminar questions include the following: whether higher education institutions should become less dependent upon public funds; the extent to which funds should flow through grants to…

This paper reviews responses of educational systems facing demographic and economic constraint, with particular reference to issues of migrant populations, decreased public spending, unemployment, expansion of vocational education, and common areas of future development. Education is concluded to be generally perceived as an instrument for social…

The relationship between higher education and the economy in India, the labor market for college graduates, and the role of the public sector in reducing unemployment of college graduates were assessed in three studies. A case study in the State of West Bengal related the development of higher education with the employment needs of the country…