The Tripartite Advisory Group (TAG) on higher education in Scotland has released a report evaluating the current state of knowledge on the overall impact of higher education in Scotland. The report was written by Professor Kim Swales and Kristinn Hermannsson of the Fraser of Allander Institute and the Department of Economics.
The report, entitled, "Capturing the Overall Economic Impact of HEIs" examines evidence from Scotland, the UK and international studies to draw conclusions about the impact of higher education on the Scottish economy.
The overall impact of education is a nascent research field, which draws on policy evaluation methods to utilise evidence from disparate sub-fields in a systematic Prof. Swalesestimation of impact from diverse sources. For this purpose, the report examines expenditure impacts, labour market impacts, wider non-monetary impacts, externalities and spatial impacts. Three approaches for summarising overall impacts are reviewed: macro-econometrics, cost benefit analysis, and computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling.
The report is one of three commissioned by the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC), the Scottish Government and Universities Scotland on behalf of the Tripartite Advisory Group (TAG) on higher education in Scotland. The other two reports analyse definitions of funding of higher education in Scotland and the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education institutions.
The reports can be accessed on the Scottish Government's website:
TAG Workstream 1 - Review of Definitions of Funding for Higher Education in Scotland - Scott Moncrieff
TAG Workstream 2 - Summary - Efficiency and Effectiveness of Higher Education Institutions
TAG Workstream 3 – Capturing The Overall Economic Impacts of HEIs – University of Strathclyde