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on Education |
| By: | Bertocchi, Graziella; Bonacini, Luca; Joxhe, Majlinda; Pignataro, Giuseppe |
| Abstract: | We estimate the causal effect of exposure to math during high school on university major choice and performance, using a unique administrative dataset of 1, 396 twins extracted from the entire student population enrolled between 2011 and 2021 at an Italian university. We apply a Twin Fixed Effect (TFE) estimator to account for unobserved factors like shared family background. We find that attending a low-math high school reduces the likelihood of enrolling in STEM majors by 32.6 percentage points and improves university performance, by increasing the likelihood of on-time graduation by 11.7 percentage points and boosting grades by 0.139 standard deviations. Leveraging a high school reform that expanded the math content in traditionally low-math curricula, we show that the added math background further reduces STEM enrollment for treated students, while it drives their improvement in performance. Our results suggest that, while increased math exposure does not necessarily boost STEM enrollment, it equips students with skills that help them improve their university outcomes. Compared with TFE, Ordinary Least Squares estimates of the effect of math exhibit a downward bias. The same applies to Difference-in-Differences estimates of the effect of the reform obtained using the entire student population. |
| Keywords: | Math Exposure, Twins, Twin Fixed Effects, Major Choice, STEM, University Performance, High School Reform |
| JEL: | D10 I21 I23 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1567 |
| By: | Ulrika Ahrsjš (Stockholm School of Economics); Costas Meghir (Cowles Foundation, Yale University); MŒrten Palme (Stockholm University); Marieke Schnabel (University College London) |
| Abstract: | We study the intergenerational effect of education policy on crime. We use Swedish administrative data that links outcomes across generations with crime records, and we show that the comprehensive school reform, gradually implemented between 1949 and 1962, reduced conviction rates both for the generation directly affected by the reform and for their sons. The reduction in conviction rates occurred in many types of crime. The key mediators of this reduction in child generation are an increase in education and household income and a decrease in crime among their fathers. |
| Date: | 2025–02–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2356r1 |
| By: | Aucejo, Esteban; Perry, Spencer; Zafar, Basit |
| Abstract: | Balancing the demands of work and schooling is a challenging task for an increasing number of students who have to pay their way through college and for workers who intend to upgrade their skills. However, flexible learning and working environments could play an important role in easing many frictions associated with performing both activities simultaneously. Using detailed (work and study effort) data - from a partnership between Arizona State University and Uber that allows eligible drivers to enroll in online college courses for free - we analyze how labor supply and study efforts respond to changes in labor market conditions and college activities/tasks. Our findings indicate that a 10% increase in average weekly online college activities reduces weekly time spent on the Uber platform by about 1%, indicating a low 'short run' opportunity cost of studying when working. We also show that study time is not particularly sensitive to changes in labor market conditions, where a 10% increase in average weekly pay reduces study hours by only 2%. Consistent with these results, we find that workers take advantage of their flexible schedules by changing their usual working hours when their college courses are more demanding. We do not find adverse effects of work hours on academic performance in this context, or of study hours on workplace performance (as measured by driver ratings or tips). Finally, the (elicited) value assigned to flexible working and educational formats is high among the students in our sample, who view online education as an important vehicle for increasing expected future income. Overall, this study underscores that combining flexible working and learning formats could constitute a suitable path for many (low-SES) students who work to afford an increasingly expensive college education and for workers aiming to improve their skill set. |
| Keywords: | gig economy; education; flexible working |
| JEL: | I20 J01 |
| Date: | 2024–11–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:126752 |
| By: | Vargas, Juan F.; Rozo Villarraga, Sandra Viviana |
| Abstract: | About a third of the 7.7 million Venezuelans who have left their country due to political and economic turmoil have settled in neighboring Colombia. The extent to which the Colombian schooling system can absorb the massive demand for education of Venezuelan children is key for their future trajectory of human capital accumulation, as well as that of Colombian students in receiving communities. This paper estimates the effect of Venezuelan migration on educational outcomes of children living in settlement municipalities in Colombia, distinguish between the effect of the migration shock on native and migrant students. Specifically, it estimates the effect of the migration shock on school enrollment, dropout/promotion rates and standardized test scores. The identification relies on a plausibly exogenous measure of the predicted migration shock faced by each Colombian municipality every year. The findings show that the migration shock increased the enrollment of Venezuelan students in both public and private schools and in all school grades, but also generated negative spillovers related to failing promotion rates and increasing dropout. This paper documents that these negative effects are explained by the differential enrollment capacity of schools, as well as by the deterioration of key school inputs. |
| Date: | 2024–03–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10720 |
| By: | Srivastava, Bhavya; Hirfrfot, Kibrom Tafere; Behrer, Arnold Patrick |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from 2003–19 on 2.47 million test takers of a national high stakes university entrance exam in Ethiopia to study the impacts of temperature on learning outcomes. It finds that high temperatures during the school year leading up to the exam reduce test scores, controlling for temperatures when the exam is taken. The results suggest that the scores of female students are less impacted by higher temperatures compared to their male counterparts. Additionally, the analysis finds that the scores of students from schools located in hotter regions are less impacted by higher temperatures compared to their counterparts from cooler regions. The evidence suggests that the adverse effects of temperature are driven by impacts from within-classroom temperatures, rather than from indirect impacts on agriculture. |
| Date: | 2024–03–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10714 |