This day is organised by the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs and the department of Economics (Faculty of Law). The conference will be held in Wijhaven, at the campus The Hague, Turfmarkt 99 in The Hague. During this day, researchers, policy makers, accountants and board members willl meet to debate on the social benefits of higher education, in the broad sense of the word.

Plenary discussions and policy sessions will be held on, amongst other topics, investment in higher education, financing, inequality, internationalisation and digitalisation. Besides, several academic sessions will be organised on topics that hold relevance in the broad interest of higher education for society.

Investments in (higher) education are known to have high returns, for individuals as well as society. The great importance of education as a form of human capital is, of course, no recent discovery. Education and research are regarded as important determinants of productivity. In the light of increasing productivity (among other advantages), Dutch government should develop policy on this pillar of the knowledge economy. In fact, they do. However, the possible policy instruments are numerous and their scope and aims diverse. When making choices, (quantitative) analysis of policy effects is, therefore, an absolute necessity. To which degree does use of specific policy instruments change the production level or welfare on long term, when welfare is defined in the broadest sense of the word?

Unfortunately, this type of analysis is relatively scarce. Therefore, besides wishes of the Second Chamber and the knowledge sector, calculation of long term effects of investment in education and research is not quite possible (yet) given the current state of science. Investments in higher education and research, therefore, do not automatically lead to an increase in economic growth in models of CPB Netherlands (Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis). 

When social benefit resulting from such investment is underestimated, a society can sell oneself short. Therefore, it is important to gain knowledge on several aspects of the social benefits (external effects) of higher education and research. 

The aim of the conference is to:
-    Assemble current knowledge on external effects and/or social benefits of higher education,
-    Gather policy makers, accountants, researchers and board members in the higher education to share experiences, 
-    Facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge exchange. 
 

Schedule: 

Example programme:

Debate session 1: towards a model for predicting returns on higher education.
What are the (im)possibilities of such model, what is the best approach?

Policy session 1: knowledge investments, public vs. private.
What is the role of the government, compared to private investments in scientific research. Focus on input as well as outcome of investments.

Policy session 2: financing higher education
The end of the student loan system? What are desirable alternatives? Return to provision of basic grants will cost 1 billion per year, what effects does this entail?

Policy session 3: digitalization of higher education.
Does this threaten quality and accessibility of higher education. Or could they possibly, either directly or indirectly, be improved through digitalization?

Policy session 4: inequality in higher education.  
Underrepresentation and success of certain groups, how can policy be designed to address this issue?

Policy session 5: internationalization of higher education.
Has it become too much, how do we deal with internationalization, what policy can be introduced to limit internationalization?

Please see the banner on the right for the complete call for papers.

If you wish to present scientific research during academic sessions, we kindly invite you to submit your paper before the (date to be discussed) 2022 via mbho@economie.leidenuniv.nl

You can choose to either submit a paper or an entire session. The scientific committee is looking for papers that hold relevance in the broad importance of higher education for society. Possible examples are: the returns to (higher) education (micro & macro), financing of higher education, admission policies, educational inequality, study choice, study success gender differences, quality of higher education, Covid-19 and higher education, and internationalization of higher education.

The scientific committee selects several of all submissions. Around the (date to be discussed), it will be communicated whether your submission has been selected or not. 

If you wish to organize panels or policy sessions, we kindly invite you to submit your paper before the (date to be discussed) via mbho@economie.leidenuniv.nl. The scientific committee is looking for themes that hold relevance in the broad importance of higher education for society. The scientific committee selects several of all submissions. Around the (date to be discussed), it will be communicated whether your submission has been selected or not. 
 

Please register via the button on the right. Billing will follow in a later stadium.

Costs for participation are as follows:

- Not connected to university: €80,-

- Connected to university: €40,-

- Presenters during sessions: €0,-