Enrolment in higher education in The Netherlands

Summary In this paper we investigate the determinants of higher education enrolment in The Netherlands and estimate three different economic models referring to investment motives, consumption motives, and a combination of these two. By estimating these models for different years (1982 and 1991) we identify changes over time. The importance of financial variables appears to be vanishing. Moreover, we find that enrolment is no longer related to ability variables. We offer explanations for these findings. Finally, we employ the results to simulate some policy measures.     

Can Financial Incentives for Regional Education Authorities Reduce School Dropout?

This paper investigates the effect of a new type of financial incentive in education targeted at regional authorities. Previous studies have focused on financial incentives for students, teachers or schools. We identify the effect by exploiting the gradual introduction of a new policy aimed at reducing school dropout in the Netherlands. The introduction of the policy in 14 out of 39 regions and the use of a specific selection rule for the participating regions allow us to estimate local difference-in-differences models. Using administrative data for all Dutch students in the year before and the year after the introduction of the new policy we find no effect of the financial incentive scheme on school dropout. In addition, we find suggestive evidence for manipulation of outcomes in response to the program.     

Does reducing student support affect scholastic performance? Evidence from a Dutch reform

This paper investigates the impact of student support on performance and time allocation of students in Dutch higher education. In 1996 the maximum duration of grants was reduced by 1 year, and thereby limited to the nominal duration of the study program. This reform could have had substantial financial consequences for students. We evaluate the effects of the reform using a difference-in-differences approach. Our main findings are that after the reform, students early in their study (i) switched less to other programs, (ii) obtained higher grades, while (iii) they did not spend more time studying or working. In addition, for students not older than 20 years when they started their study we find larger effects on all performance variables (switching, percentage of completed courses, graduation in the first year and grade point averages). These findings are consistent with recent evidence on heterogeneous treatment effects for higher ability students.     

Causal Effects in Education

Abstract.  In recent years, a wave of new studies on the effects of educational interventions on student performance has emerged. The realization that inputs in the education process are endogenous is important for the validity of traditional findings. Because of ignoring endogeneity bias, all traditional estimates might be wrong. Recent studies exploit exogenous variation in interventions in education produced by controlled or natural experiments. Results generated by this methodological innovation differ substantially from the traditional findings. This article reviews this new literature, illustrates new methods for identifying causal effects of interventions in education and compares the findings with the traditional literature.     

Is There a Hidden Technical Potential?

This paper analyzes the determinants of choosing a technical study at university level and of staying in it. We find that – in The Netherlands – there is little correlation between the probability of a student choosing a technical study and the probability of completing it. This implies that a substantial number of technically talented people choose non-technical studies. Especially female students and students from high income families are unlikely to attent a technical study but these students are relatively successful in such studies. A large part of these technically talented students are attracted to medical studies and law schools, where they are no more likely to persist than other medical and law students. This finding is predicted by the tournament model in which rewards are based on relative performance instead of absolute performance.     

Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Sample of Dutch Twins

This paper examines the causal link that runs from classroom quality to student achievement using data on twin pairs who entered the same school but were allocated to different classrooms in an exogenous way. In particular, we apply twin fixed‐effects estimation to assess the effect of teacher quality on student test scores from second through eighth grade of primary education, arguing that a change in teacher quality is probably the most important classroom intervention within a twin context. In a series of estimations using measurable teacher characteristics, we find that (a) the test performance of all students improves with teacher experience; (b) teacher experience also matters for student performance after the initial years in the profession; (c) the teacher experience effect is most prominent in earlier grades; (d) the teacher experience effects are robust to the inclusion of other classroom quality measures, such as peer group composition and class size; and (e) an increase in teacher experience also matters for career stages with less labor market mobility, which suggests positive returns to on‐the‐job learning of teachers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effects of a Dutch High School Curriculum Reform on Performance in and After Higher Education

This paper investigates the effect of a major reform in the final years of the two highest levels of Dutch secondary education. The reform focused on increasing active and independent learning and aimed to improve the match between secondary and higher education. We use data from six graduation cohorts from Dutch higher education and exploit the fact that two recent graduation cohorts contain both students that were treated with the new curriculum and students that were treated with the old curriculum. The effects of the curriculum change have been estimated by using a difference-in-differences approach for matched samples of treated and untreated graduates. We find that the reform had no effect on student performance and labour market outcomes.     

Compensation for Earnings Risk under Worker Heterogeneity

We use two large data sets to estimate the Risk Augmented Mincer equation and test for risk compensation in expected earnings. We replicate earlier findings of a positive premium for risk and a negative premium for skew and add confirmation of the key results if we control for individual ability. We compare risk compensation and risk distributions between some labor market groups and find that immigrants and natives do not differ in risk attitudes, that public sector workers are undercompensated for their risk, and that risk compensation by gender is not fully consistent with higher risk aversion for women. We express concern that a linear compensation model may be too simple.