Suchergebnisse

In international comparisons, a high level of racial diversity is associated with a high level of income inequality. One hypothesis proposes that racial diversity leads to increased variance in intellectual ability, which leads to increased income inequality presumably through the action of market forces. A second hypothesis proposes that racially diverse societies are more unequal because they have less social solidarity and less redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. The present study investigates the first hypothesis with the results of international school assessment programs (TIMSS and PISA). High racial diversity is found to be related to a greater ability spread on these assessments, but ability variance is not independently related to the Gini index. The second hypothesis is tested with a measure of 'big government' that is derived from the economic freedom indices of the Fraser Institute and the Heritage Foundation. Big government is negatively related to both racial diversity and the Gini index. Adapted from the source document.

Using data from the World Values Survey covering the period from 1981 to 2008, this study examines trends in the strength of religious belief worldwide. At the country level, the most important predictors of current religiosity are high intelligence and a history of communist rule, both of which reduce religious belief. However, religiosity has been rising vigorously in the communist and ex-communist countries during the surveyed period although religion is declining in most countries of non-communist Europe and East Asia. In addition to a history of communist rule, other factors associated with rising religiosity, include high religiosity of young people relative to older people, high female relative to male religiosity, and a positive relationship between religiosity and fertility. In addition, religion tends to grow in countries in which less educated people are far more religious than those with higher education. Aside from the rebound of religion in the (ex)communist countries, the religiosity gap between the most advanced and the most backward nations has widened worldwide. The implications of these findings for the future of religion are discussed. Adapted from the source document.

SummaryDemographic trends in today's world are dominated by large fertility differentials between nations, with 'less developed' nations having higher fertility than the more advanced nations. The present study investigates whether these fertility differences are related primarily to indicators of economic development, the intellectual level of the population, or political modernity in the form of liberal democracy. Results obtained with multiple regression, path models and latent variable models are compared. Both log-transformed GDP and measures of intelligence independently reduce fertility across all methods, whereas the effects of liberal democracy are weak and inconsistent. At present rates of fertility and mortality and in the absence of changes within countries, the average IQ of the young world population would decline by 1.34 points per decade and the averageper capitaincome would decline by 0.79% per year.

A negative correlation between education and fertility has been described with great regularity in modern societies. The present investigation examines the strength of this relationship with data from the 1990, 1995 and 2000 waves of the World Values Survey covering 78 countries with a combined sample size of up to 181,728 respondents. The negative correlation is present in nearly all countries, is stronger in females than males, is greater for educational level than for length of schooling, and is not mediated by personal wealth. It is strongest at relatively low levels of economic, social and cognitive development and becomes weaker in the most advanced societies. However, it is also less than maximal in the least developed countries. The relationship is strongest in Latin America and the Middle East, where the typical correlations for cohorts with completed fertility are -.31 for females and -.24 for males, and weakest in Protestant Europe, where average correlations are -.10 for females and -.01 for males. The negative relationship persists in the younger generation of advanced societies, who are reproducing under conditions of sub-replacement fertility. Adapted from the source document.

In international comparisons, a high level of racial diversity is associated with a high level of income inequality. One hypothesis proposes that racial diversity leads to increased variance in intellectual ability, which leads to increased income inequality presumably through the action of market forces. A second hypothesis proposes that racially diverse societies are more unequal because they have less social solidarity and less redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. The present study investigates the first hypothesis with the results of international school assessment programs (TIMSS and PISA). High racial diversity is found to be related to a greater ability spread on these assessments, but ability variance is not independently related to the Gini index. The second hypothesis is tested with a measure of 'big government' that is derived from the economic freedom indices of the Fraser Institute and the Heritage Foundation. Big government is negatively related to both racial diversity and the Gini index. Adapted from the source document.

This study examines two key issues about the role of cognitive human capital (also known as intelligence) for economic growth between 1975 and 2009: (1) the measures of cognitive human capital that are most relevant to the prediction of economic growth; and (2) the proximate mechanisms through which this form of human capital promotes economic growth. We find that cognitive ability, measured as IQ or school achievement, robustly predicts economic growth on a worldwide scale. These two measures can be averaged into a single measure of "intelligence." In multivariate analyses that include a measure of cognitive ability, length of schooling is a poor predictor of economic growth. The growth-promoting effect of cognitive ability is mediated by multiple mechanisms, including lower fertility and greater technological competitiveness in developing countries, and increased domestic saving rate and reduced burden of infectious diseases in all countries. The main conclusion is that rising intelligence has been a major determinant of economic growth in the recent past. Adapted from the source document.

"Human capital" is a key requirement for the establishment and maintenance of effective institutions. It is the ultimate requirement for innovation, efficient use of resources, and economic growth. This contribution describes two measures of cognitive human capital: the average IQ of the population, and the performance of school children on international scholastic assessment tests in mathematics, science, and reading. These two measures are shown to be closely correlated at the country level, and distinct from traditional measures of education. A measure of human capital is described that is derived from IQ and school achievement. Data based on measured IQ and/or school achievement are given for 168 countries and territories, and estimates based on neighboring countries with similar population, culture and economy are provided for 28 additional countries. Adapted from the source document.

SummaryCognitive abilities of children in Costa Rica and Austria were compared using three age groups (N=385/366). Cognitive ability tests (mental speed, culture reduced/fluid intelligence, literacy/crystallized intelligence) were applied that differed in the extent to which they refer to school-related knowledge. Preschool children (kindergarten, 5–6 years old,NCR=80,NAu=51) were assessed with the Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM), primary school children (4th grade, 9–11 years old,NCR=71,NAu=71) with ZVT (a trail-making test), Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) and items from PIRLS-Reading and TIMSS-Mathematics, and secondary school students (15–16 years old,NCR=48,NAu=48) with ZVT, Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) and items from PISA-Reading and PISA-Mathematics. Additionally, parents and pupils were given questionnaires covering family characteristics and instruction. Average cognitive abilities were higher in Austria (Greenwich-IQMCR=87 andMAu=99,dIQ=12 points) and differences were smaller in preschool than in secondary school (dIQ=7 vs 20 points). Differences in crystallized intelligence were larger than in fluid intelligence (mental speed:dIQ=12, Raven:dIQ=10, student achievement tests:dIQ=17 IQ points). Differences were larger in comparisons at the level ofg-factors. Austrian children were also taller (6.80 cm,d=1.07 SD), but had lower body mass index (BMICR=19.35 vs BMIAu=17.59,d=−0.89 SD). Different causal hypotheses explaining these differences are compared.

SummaryThis paper examines the relationship of the national IQs reported by Lynn & Vanhanen (2002, 2006) to national achievement in mathematics and science among 8th graders in 67 countries. The correlation between the two is 0·92 and is interpreted as establishing the validity of the national IQs. The correlation is so high that national IQs and educational achievement appear to be measures of the same construct. National differences in educational achievement are greater than differences in IQ, suggesting an amplifier effect such that national differences in IQs amplify differences in educational achievement. Controlling for national differences in IQ, slight inverse relationships of educational achievement are observed with political freedom, subjective well-being, income inequality, and GDP. However, public expenditure on education (as % of GDP) was not a significant predictor of differences in educational achievement.