The purpose of this article is to investigate whether family background and the choice of vocational field explain the observed gap in dropout rates from vocational upper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to investigate whether family background and the choice of vocational field explain the observed gap in dropout rates from vocational upper secondary education between natives and children of immigrants in Denmark and to investigate ethnic and gender differences in educational choices.
Design/methodology/approach
A parsimonious version of Cameron and Heckman's (2001) dynamic statistical model of educational progression is estimated. By parceling educational attainment out into a series of transitions by grade, the model is able to identify barriers to educational progression and to determine the effects of explanatory variables at different stages of the educational career. In addition, the model is able to accommodate the institutional structure of an educational system with parallel branches of study at the upper secondary level and to control for educational selection and unobserved heterogeneity.
Findings
The main findings are: that family background variables do not explain the gap in dropout rates between natives and children of immigrants; that the dropout rates from different vocational fields are significantly different but affect natives and children of immigrants equally; that girls do better than boys in immigrant families; and that intergenerational mobility is greater among children of immigrants than natives.
Research limitations/implications
The statistical model used is not available in any standard statistical package. For the purpose of this paper it was coded in GAUSS. Furthermore, the model demands fairly large data sets to be useful in empirical research.
Originality/value
The analysis provides more detailed information about differences in educational attainment between population groups than most previous studies.
Details
Keywords
Themistoklis Altintzoglou, Bjørg Helen Nøstvold, Mats Carlehög, Morten Heide, Jens Østli and Finn‐Arne Egeness
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of information on English consumers' evaluation of fresh and thawed cod fillets which in English retail stores is referred…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of information on English consumers' evaluation of fresh and thawed cod fillets which in English retail stores is referred to as “chilled” seafood.
Design/methodology/approach
After the exploration of consumers' impressions of thawed fish, this study followed a pair‐wise comparison approach in a central location consumer test. Fish fillets were evaluated on liking, smell and texture by means of a questionnaire with additional behavioural and attitudinal questions.
Findings
This study showed that consumers in England may prefer thawed over fresh cod fillets without information. However, consumers' evaluations increased for labelled fresh cod fillets and decreased for thawed. Finally, consumers reported positive expectations about fillets labelled “fresh” or “frozen at sea”.
Research limitation/implications
This study involved testing cod fillets in a central location test. Consumers do not usually evaluate cod fillets in this way in their daily life. The quality of the two types of fillets made especially for this test may vary compared to the ones usually sold and consumed.
Practical implications
This study can inform producers and retailers about what to expect by means of sales of fresh and thawed cod products with or without information.
Social implications
It was shown that consumers are positively influenced by information and are willing to consume more fish if they know that the fish is fresh or thawed properly.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to present English consumers' evaluations of thawed cod.