Does the early bird catch the worm?

We estimate the effect of age of school entry on educational outcomes using two different data sets for Germany, sampling pupils at the end of primary school and in the middle of secondary school. Results are obtained based on instrumental variable estimation exploiting the exogenous variation in month of birth. We find robust and significant positive effects on educational outcomes for pupils who enter school at 7 instead of 6 years of age: test scores at the end of primary school increase by about 0.40 standard deviations and the probability to attend the highest secondary schooling track (Gymnasium) increases by about 12% points.     

Resource Utilization and Economies of Size in Secondary Schools

This paper identifies the determinants of costs per pupil in English secondary schools. A distinction is made between the short run and the long run in order to estimate the separate effects on costs per pupil of short‐run variations in school output and school size. A school’s capacity utilization rate is used to indicate short‐run deviations in output from pupil capacity, and pupil capacity is used as an indicator of school size to capture scale effects on costs per pupil. The statistical analysis uses both published and unpublished data for secondary schools in England. Two separate analyses are undertaken, one for grant‐maintained schools alone and the other for all schools. A separate analysis is undertaken for grant‐maintained schools since cost data are available only for schools in this sector. Staff hours per pupil is used as a proxy for costs per pupil for schools as a whole. The main finding is that costs per pupil and staff hours per pupil are both highly significantly negatively related to both school size and the capacity utilization rate of schools. A range of other variables are also estimated to have a significant effect on costs per pupil in secondary schools. The main finding is that there is scope for reducing the costs of schooling in the secondary schools sector in England.     

Evaluating the magnitude and the stakes of peer effects analysing science and math achievement across OECD

What follows is an exercise aimed at estimating peer effects' impact on science and math test scores of secondary school students surveyed in 1995 by the International Education Agency across OECD countries. It is also to discuss their importance for educational policy, particularly regarding the highly sensitive issue of ability-grouping. Using this unique international database. This study assesses the magnitude of the peer effect relative to more traditional inputs. Referring to education policy stakes, we control for the presence of increasing or decreasing return. This study also checks for cross effects in order to determine whether peer effects matter more to low or high SES pupils, and whether their final impact on achievement is affected by the underlying level of heterogeneity within the group. Using a methodology, which a priori accounts for the clustering of the data within countries and schools/classrooms - i.e. fixed/random effect or hierarchical model - our analysis indicates that peer effects are strong determinants of both math and science achievement relative to individual SES and other school inputs. The presence of increasing of decreasing returns is not obvious. But we find systematic evidence that low-ability pupils are more sensitive to peer group characteristics. By contrast, this study also find that - for a given level of the peer effect - higher heterogeneity comes at a certain cost. In brief, these results provide no systematic evidence regarding grouping policies.     

Examination performance in Scottish secondary schools: an ordered logit approach

This paper analyses the determinants of educational outcomes for Scottish secondary schools. Using an ordered logit model with data on school examination performance for pupils in the last year of compulsory education, separate equations are estimated for 1993–1994 and 1998–1999. The empirical results, in line with previous British studies, underline the importance of family, peer group and school influences in determining educational outcomes. They cast doubt, however, on suggestions that there is an ‘optimal’ size of school.     

Why Young Boys Stumble: Early Tracking,Age and Gender Bias in the German School System

Abstract. After primary school, German pupils are given a secondary school track recommendation. This recommendation and the actual track choice are strongly associated with later life outcomes. Using data from the German PISA 2000 extension study, we analyze the effect of relative age on track recommendations and actual choice. Younger pupils and boys are less likely to be recommended to and enrolled in the academic track (Gymnasium), the most attractive track in terms of later life outcomes. Flexible enrollment and grade retention partly offset these effects. We find no convincing evidence that postponing the recommendation by lengthening primary school by 2 years reduces the age or gender bias.     

The effects of cognitive ability and high school quality on college entry decisions: nonparametric estimation of parameters of interest

The decisions to attend college are analysed and nonparametric predictions compared to those obtained from the widely used logit model. The impacts of measured cognitive ability and proxies for high school quality on the decisions to attend college are examined for a sample of white and black males and females from the USA. Two different parameters of interest which isolate the effects of ability and high school quality on college entry decisions are described and estimated by ‘integrating out’ the effect of other covariates. It is found that measured cognitive ability is an extremely important determinant of college entry for all race and gender groups. At the same point in the ability distribution, blacks are more likely to select into college than whites, and females more likely than males of the same racial group. Proxies for high school quality such as teacher education, student teacher ratios, school enrolment and library size are shown to have little or no effects on the likelihood of college entry for all race and gender groups. Further, predictions obtained from the flexible nonparametric analysis are found to be quite similar to those obtained from the logit model, suggesting that simpler fully parametric binary choice models perform quite well as modelling college entry decisions.     

The effects of heavily indebted poor countries initiative (HIPC) on millennium development goals (MDGs) for education

In this study, we employ the difference in difference approach to estimate the impact of heavily indebted poor countries initiative on Millennium Development Goals for education in Africa. Using the World Bank data for the period 1990–2015, the studies further identifies other factors that contribute to the achievement of millennium development goals for education. For instance, because of HPIC, the level of the following education MDGs indicators increased: gross enrollment in primary school (21.69%), female-to-male ratio (8.68%) and primary completion rate (13.69). Our study also show that the probability to achieve the millennium development goals for education increases in: female primary education teachers; school enrollment in tertiary, private school enrollment; pupil–teacher ratio; control of corruption and political stability and decreases with increase in the rural population. In this perspective, government of African countries should promote governance, subsidy private schools and recruit female teachers.     

An Evaluation of Award-Winning Elementary Teaching Materials from the Kazanjian Program

In an unusual study, Professor Nappi attempts to measure the effectiveness of teacher-made materials in increasing the economic knowledge of elementary school pupils. In addition, he asks whether special training for teachers using the materials results in greater pupil learning as well. Finally, he seeks to determine the extent to which the teacher's understanding of economics (as measured by the Test of Economic Understanding published by Science Research Associates) brings about a change in pupil knowledge. Experimental and control groups were established for purposes of this study, and the pupil change scores were adjusted for differences in mental ability. It was found that, ceteris paribus, the materials, the special training for teachers, and teacher knowledge of economics all resulted in “comparative advantages” for experimental group pupils.     

Does development aid increase military expenditure?

Using a new instrumental variable strategy, we examine whether bilateral development aid increases military expenditure in recipient countries. The instrument is the interaction of donor government fractionalization and the probability of receiving aid. The dataset includes new data on military expenditure for 124 recipient countries over the 1975–2012 period. When accounting for outliers, our results do not suggest that development aid affects military expenditure in the full sample. However, the effect of aid on military expenditure varies across characteristics of recipient and donor countries, even after excluding outliers. First, aid increases military expenditure in countries that depend on aid and are prone to conflicts. Second, aid provided by coordinated market economies increases military expenditure.     

Gender Differences in Educational Attainment: Evidence on the Role of Tracking from a Finnish Quasi‐experiment

In this paper we study the relationship between the timing of tracking of pupils into vocational and academic secondary education and gender differences in educational attainment and income. It is argued that in a comprehensive system, where students are tracked into vocational and academic schools relatively late (age 15–16), girls are more likely to choose the academic track than boys. We exploit the Finnish comprehensive school reform of the 1970s to analyse this hypothesis. This changed the Finnish school system from a selective to a comprehensive structure and postponed tracking from the age of 10–11 to 15–16. Since the reform was not implemented at the same time throughout the country, we can observe members of the same cohorts under both systems. The shift to a comprehensive system was found to increase gender differences in the probability of choosing an academic secondary education and of continuing onto academic tertiary education. Moreover, the reform decreased the gender wage gap in adult income by four percentage points.     

The Value of Pole Position in Formula 1 History

In this article, we study the effect of the Pole Position in Formula 1 history on the outcome of the race. Using data for every race between 1950 and 2013, we use two approaches to quantify the effect of being on Pole. First, we estimate the effect on the probability of winning the race using a logit model. Second, we estimate a Poisson model to express the effect in terms of finishing positions. We find that the Pole sitter does have a significant advantage over the other drivers on the grid: two positions at the finish line or about a 10 percentage point higher probability of winning the race. These estimates capture the effect controlling for various confounding factors and a rich set of fixed effects, including driver ability, track characteristics and constructor performance. We also document that the effect varies over seasons.     

The curse of low expectations

We examine how a remedial education programme for primary school‐age children affects parental expectations about their children's future. Using original survey data we collected in Serbia, we investigate whether expectations on labour market prospects and educational attainment change as a consequence of exposure to the Roma Teaching Assistant programme. Our results show that parents of pupils in treated schools expect higher returns to education for their children and are more likely to expect them to achieve a secondary level of education. We also investigate the possible mechanisms in place due to the characteristics of the programme: remedial education and role model.     

Evaluating universal primary education in Uganda: School fee abolition and educational outcomes

This paper analyzes the effect of lifting primary school fees on educational attainment in Uganda. After the abolishment of school fees in 1997, the enrollment rate more than doubled. Two decades later, we know little about the effect of the policy on educational attainment. With recent data on eight cohorts exposed to free education, we analyze the impact of the policy on years of completed primary school, completion of primary school, and transitioning to secondary school. We use a straightforward regression analysis with cohort dummies and household fixed effects to control for unobserved heterogeneity. We find that lifting school fees had no effect on the years of primary school achievement and the likelihood of primary school completion. We find some weak evidence that the likelihood of those who completed primary education to start secondary school increased after Universal Primary Education.     

An empirical study of re-enrolement behaviour for male high-school dropouts

To understand further the behaviour of high-school dropouts during their periods away from school, this paper studied empirically the decisions of male dropouts on whether to return to school. We applied the bivariate probit, multinomial logit, and waiting-time models to analyse this issue. The estimation results from all three models indicate that the armed forces qualification test score, age, experience of using drugs, local labour-market situation and the duration of the period out of school had significant effects on a male dropout's return decision. Family background variables, contrary to what we expected, had little effect on this decision.     

Prices,infrastructure, household characteristics and child height

A Brazilian household survey, ENDEF, in 1974-75 and the 1974 Informacoes Basicas Municipais (IBM) provided data for the analysis of the impact of community services and infrastructure and household characteristics on the logarithm of child height, standardized for age and gender. The sample was comprised of 36,974 children stratified by residential location, the child's age, and the educational level of the mother. Variance and covariance matrices were estimated with the jackknife developed by Efron (1982). Household characteristics included the logarithm of per capita expenditure as a measure of household resource availability, income, and parental education. Community characteristics were local market price indices for 6 food groups (dairy products, beans, cereals, meat, fish, and sugar), level of urbanization, buildings with sewage, water, and electricity connections per capita, per capita number of buildings, and population density. Health services were measured as per capita number of hospitals and clinics and doctors and nurses, and the number of beds are hospital. Educational services include a measure of student teacher ratios, elementary school class size, and per capita number of teachers living in the community. the results show that expenditure had a positive, significant effect on the height of children 2 years and older. Expenditure was a significant determinant for literate and illiterate mothers, and not well educated mothers. The impact of maternal education was largest on the length of babies and declined with the age of the child. Father's education had not impact of length of babies. The effect of parents' education was complementary. The effect of father's education was largest when mothers had some education. Better educated parents had healthier children. Maternal rather than paternal height had an impact of the length of a baby. In the community models, prices had a significant effect on child height, in both urban and rural areas, in all age groups, and for all levels of maternal education. Higher prices were associated with shorter children. Joint price and expenditure interactions were significant. Children at the top of the expenditure distribution were more affected by some prices than by others. Capital building improvements alone and with expenditures were all positively associated with child height. Only nurses per capita impacted on child height.     

The effects of the high school curriculum on school dropout

High school dropouts and their lower employment prospects are a major concern for developed countries. This article answers the question whether the high school curriculum has the potential to affect students’ dropout decision. Focusing on the curriculum is also motivated by the manifold curriculum reforms or reform initiatives worldwide. Using a quasi-experimental evaluation design, we identify the effects of a curriculum reform on students’ probability to drop out of high school in the short run, i.e. for the first three cohorts graduating under the new curriculum requirements. The reform increased the curriculum requirements in high school, for instance, by reducing the freedom of choice in course selection. The results show that high school dropout rates increased for males and females alike.     

Is the high school dropout rate an increasing function of the proportion of the population in the US cities that is Hispanic? Exploratory evidence

This empirical note seeks to provide preliminary insights into factors that may have influenced the high school dropout rate in the US cities. For some 300-plus cities for the year 2011, OLS estimates reveal that the dropout rate is a decreasing function of both the per cent of the population that is Hispanic and per pupil public education spending at the elementary and secondary levels. In addition, the estimates find that the dropout rate is an increasing function of the per cent of the population that consisted of families with children and that was classified as being at or below the poverty level and the per cent of the population aged 25 years and older that did not have a high school diploma.     

Economies of scale in public education: an econometric analysis

This article investigates the sources of scale economies in the production of public education. The relationship between the average cost of producing educational output and school characteristics including school and district size is estimated using a neoclassical cost function. The empirical analysis used panel data from Utah school districts and estimates the function using the covariance and error component models after making necessary corrections for heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. The uncorrected fixed effects model generates a significant negative coefficient on district size in both the cost and expenditure functions; the coefficient on number of students has the hypothesized sign but is not significant in either equation. After making various corrections for autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity, the coefficients have the correct signs and are significant in all equations. Thus, it is concluded that scale economies arise from both sources but that the evidence is stronger for district size.     

Gender and household education expenditure in Pakistan

Pakistan has very large gender gaps in educational outcomes. One explanation could be that girls receive lower educational expenditure allocations than boys within the household, but this has never convincingly been tested. This article investigates whether the intra-household allocation of educational expenditure in Pakistan favours males over females. It also explores two different explanations for the failure of the extant ‘Engel curve’ studies to detect gender-differentiated treatment in education even where gender bias is strongly expected. Using individual level data from the latest household survey from Pakistan, we posit two potential channels of gender bias: bias in the decision whether to enrol/keep sons and daughters in school, and bias in the decision of education expenditure conditional on enrolling both sons and daughters in school. In middle and secondary school ages, evidence points to significant pro-male biases in both the enrolment decision as well as the decision of how much to spend conditional on enrolment. However, in the primary school age-group, only the former channel of bias applies. Results suggest that the observed strong gender difference in education expenditure is a within rather than an across household phenomenon.     

Macroeconomic shocks and the probability of being employed

Macroeconomic theories take polar views on the importance of choice versus chance. At the micro level, it seems realistic to assume that both dimensions play a role for individual employment outcomes, although it might be difficult to separate these two effects. Nevertheless the choice and chance dimension are seldom treated symmetrically in models that use micro data. We estimate a logistic model of the probability of being employed among married or cohabitating women that are in the labor force. Besides variables that measure individual characteristics (choice), we allow a full set of indicator variables for observation periods that represent potential effects of aggregate shocks (chance) on job probabilities. To reduce the number of redundant indicator variables automatic model selection is used, and we assess the economic interpretation of the statistically significant indicator variables with reference to a theoretical framework that allows for friction in the Norwegian labor market. In addition, we also estimate models that use female and male unemployment rates as ‘sufficient’ variables for the chance element in individual employment outcomes. Data are for Norway for the period 1988q2–2008q4.