The link between formative assessment and student performance is not entirely clear in the existing literature with some previous studies showing contradicting results. Although the debate is very old (since mid-1800s), previous research is almost exclusively based on elementary and secondary school students. This paper attempts to add to the existing literature by focusing on data from a large scale experiment (a class of 578 UK first year undergraduate students enrolled on Introduction to Statistics) to determine whether online, formative (non-compulsory) homework helps or hinders students. The results suggest that completing formative assessment tasks contributes to higher grades but only for good students. The result is robust to a variety of specifications and after controlling for a large number of student characteristics (including nationality, gender, ethnicity, whether a student has completed a Maths or Economics A-Level in Secondary School, amongst others) and the level of student ability/effort. This study shows, therefore, that formative homework might contribute to amplifying inequalities amongst students and that other strategies are needed to close the gap between the top and bottom performing students.

The arguments for and against lecture capture have been going for some time and the debate is far from being settled definitely either way. Most of the existing research about the impact of lecture capture on student attainment seems to show negligible or little effects while examples of a negative relationship between lecture capture and learning outcomes abound. The main purpose of this study is to add to the existing literature by conducting a large scale investigation (involving more than 2400 students in 26 modules offered by the economics department of a major British university) on whether lecture capture improves student performance. A secondary objective is to determine whether some groups of students use lecture capture more than others and whether lecture capture can lead to differing benefits for students in different types of subjects. The data shows, in line with previous studies, that certain groups of students use lecture recordings significantly more than their peers (e.g. female students, international students, students from a low socio-economic background and ethnic minorities). Other results were unexpected. Notably, disabled students (including the sub-group of dyslexic students) and mature students were found not to not use lecture recordings more than others. Also, students taking quantitative modules and students doing economics majors were found to use lecture recordings significantly less. The regression analysis showed that lecture recordings yielded (at most) a small positive effect on student performance.

This paper investigates, for the first time, the degree of exchange rate pass-through to domestic prices in all five founding members of ASEAN. For this purpose, a three-variable-recursive VAR model was applied that uses the Choleski decomposition method along the distribution chain of pricing, using data for the period 1968 to 2001. The results show that a strong case for entering a currency union can be made for the cases of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, as in these countries there appears to be the case of exchange rate disconnect. A case for common currency can also be made for Indonesia but for entirely different reasons. For this country, an independent monetary policy is a clear source of shock to the economy and therefore a currency union would tend to eliminate them. Finally, a weaker case for a common currency can be made for the Philippines as evidence of some exchange rate pass-through to inflation was found but not to import prices. © 2009 World Scientific Publishing Company.

A new resolve for both increased economic integration and monetary and exchange rate cooperation has started to emerge in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. According to the optimum currency area theory, the degree of trade integration is one of the most important criteria for joining a currency union. The large increase in intra-ASEAN trade in recent years raises the question of whether the ASEAN countries are becoming better prepared to form a currency union. This article sets to test whether the recorded increase in intra-ASEAN trade is leading the ASEAN members to closer economic integration and thus to better satisfy the criteria for a common currency. Two separate models are estimated for that purpose. First, a variation of the model of Frankel and Rose (1997) was estimated for the ASEAN members. Next, a new panel data methodology was conducted. The results with our own model were very significant and robust when four of the ASEAN5 countries were considered, and showed a clear positive correlation between intra-industry trade and business cycle synchronization in ASEAN. This result has important implications for the prospects of the creation of a common currency in the region.

A new resolve for both increased economic integration and monetary and exchange rate cooperation has started to emerge in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. According to the optimum currency area theory, the degree of trade integration is one of the most important criteria for joining a currency union. The large increase in intra-ASEAN trade in recent years raises the question of whether the ASEAN countries are becoming better prepared to form a currency union. This article sets to test whether the recorded increase in intra-ASEAN trade is leading the ASEAN members to closer economic integration and thus to better satisfy the criteria for a common currency. Two separate models are estimated for that purpose. First, a variation of the model of Frankel and Rose (1997) was estimated for the ASEAN members. Next, a new panel data methodology was conducted. The results with our own model were very significant and robust when four of the ASEAN5 countries were considered, and showed a clear positive correlation between intra-industry trade and business cycle synchronization in ASEAN. This result has important implications for the prospects of the creation of a common currency in the region.