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on Education |
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Issue of 2026–02–02
thirteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Raffaele Lagravinese (University of Bari); Vito Peragine (University of Bari); Giorgia Zotti (University of Bari) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the disparities between official high school grades and standardized test scores (Invalsi) among Italian students, drawing on 2022 data from final-year high school students. The analysis reveals that official grades are consistently inflated and show less variability compared to standardized scores, which exhibit greater inequality. Socio-demographic factors such as gender, geographic location, and parental background play a significant role in shaping these disparities. Using a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, the study uncovers performance differences linked to gender, origin, and school type, highlighting a narrower grade-score gap among students in northern Italy and those attending Liceo. |
| Keywords: | Inequality of Opportunity, Education, Regions, Italy |
| JEL: | D63 I24 I28 O52 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bai:series:series_wp_07-2024 |
| By: | Klemick, Heather; Shadbegian, Ron; Guignet, Dennis; Bui, Linda T.; Hoang, Anh |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between childhood lead exposure and special education using data on over 800, 000 North Carolina 3rd-8th grade students. We use matching and panel data techniques to estimate the effect of lead exposure on the probability of having a learning disability that qualified students for special education and to estimate the effect of special education on lead-exposed students’ academic performance. We find that higher lead exposure significantly increased participation in special education, and special education significantly increased lead-exposed students’ test scores. These results indicate that special education can help mitigate academic deficits for lead-exposed students with learning disabilities. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nceewp:388973 |
| By: | Francisco J. Cabrera-Hernández; Andrew Dustan; Daniel Osuna Gomez; María Padilla-Romo |
| Abstract: | We estimate the long-run effects of marginal admission to elite public high schools on students' labor supply in the context of Mexico City's centralized high school admission system. Using a regression discontinuity approach, we compare students whose placement exam scores are just above and just below the elite admission threshold. We find that five and ten years after the admission exam, marginally admitted students are less likely to be employed in the formal private sector, and, if employed, they earn lower wages. However, these employment and wage gaps close after 15 years. Moreover, we find that marginal admission to elite high schools leads to delayed entry into the formal labor market, and, at least in the short run, students in elite high schools seem to sort into lower-productivity firms and industries. |
| JEL: | I25 I26 J24 O17 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34706 |
| By: | Maiti, Adwaita; Jana, Sebak |
| Abstract: | Higher education in India today is at the crossroads. There is a gradual shift from education being a government responsibility to its privatisation. The number of private unaided colleges and private universities has increased, share of enrolment in private institutions increases for most of the states in India. The study focuses on the status of private higher education enrolment of all states/regions in India and the factors influencing private higher education in India. There are considerable inter-state and inter-regional disparities in private higher education enrolment in India. As per AISHE report, in 2020-21, in India, 65 per cent of degree colleges are private unaided, only 21.4 percent colleges are fully public funded, 40.1 per cent of universities are private. Share of enrolment in private unaided college is 44.4 percent and in private aided college is 21.1 per cent; total share of private enrolment is 65.5 per cent. NSSO 71st round unit level data reveals that the private enrolment in higher education in India is about 58.4 percent. Privatisation in Southern and Western states is much higher than other states of India. Private enrolment in general courses is 42.2 per cent and in technical/professional courses it is 71.1 per cent. The picture is very clear that in professional and technical courses private enrolment is too high compared to general courses. Binary logistic regression results suggest that different socio-economic factors like religion, caste, gender, education level and occupation of household, type of courses are responsible for private enrolment of students in Higher education in India. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, Privatisation, India |
| JEL: | I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2025–10–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127223 |
| By: | Cavallo, Mariagrazia; Dhuey, Elizabeth; Fumarco, Luca; Halewyck, Levi; ter Meulen, Simon |
| Abstract: | This article reviews the growing literature on age at school entry (ASE) and its effects across the life course. ASE affects a wide range of outcomes, including education, labor-market performance, health, social relationships, and family formation. We synthesize the evidence using a conceptual framework that distinguishes four empirically intertwined ASE components: starting age, age at outcome, relative age, and time in school. While ASE effects are often substantial and persistent, many studies estimate bundled impacts without isolating specific components. A central lesson from the literature is that most estimated effects reflect bundled timing and institutional mechanisms rather than isolated maturity advantages, with interpretation depending on outcome construction and empirical design. We conclude by highlighting key gaps, particularly around relative age and long-run outcomes, and directions for future research. |
| Keywords: | age at school entry, starting age, age at outcome, relative age, time in school, institutional mechanisms, quasi-experimental methods |
| JEL: | I12 I21 I24 I31 J12 J13 J24 K42 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1707 |
| By: | Lixiong Li; Isma\"el Mourifi\'e |
| Abstract: | Counterfactual analysis is central to education market design and provides a foundation for credible policy recommendations. We develop a novel methodology for counterfactual analysis in Gale-Shapley deferred-acceptance (DA) assignment mechanisms under a weaker set of assumptions than those typically imposed in existing empirical works. Instead of fully specifying utility functions or students' beliefs about admission probabilities, we rely on interpretable restrictions on behavior that yield an incomplete but flexible model of preferences. This framework addresses the challenge of partial identification by delivering sharp bounds on counterfactual stable matching outcomes, which we compute efficiently using a combination of algorithmic techniques and integer programming. We illustrate the methodology by evaluating policies aimed at increasing female enrollment in STEM fields in Chile. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2512.08115 |
| By: | Dohmen, Thomas (University of Bonn and Maastricht University); Golsteyn, Bart (Maastricht University); Grönqvist, Hans (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Hertegård, Edvin (SOFI, Stockholm University); Pfann, Gerard (Maastricht University and University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This study examines how parenting styles predict children’s lifetime outcomes. Using a Swedish dataset which combines rich survey information on parenting styles with administrative records tracking children over five decades, we find that authoritarian parenting is negatively associated with children’s long-term success, especially regarding their educational attainment. The results for other parenting styles are more mixed. Authoritarian parenting remains a robust predictor of adverse outcomes even when accounting for ability and family background. We identify children’s knowledge accumulation and parental educational expectations as key mechanisms explaining these results. |
| Keywords: | Child Rearing; Human Capital; Skill Formation |
| JEL: | I24 J13 J24 R20 |
| Date: | 2026–01–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1551 |
| By: | Leonardo Bursztyn; Ewan Rawcliffe; Hans-Joachim Voth |
| Abstract: | We study the ability of a firm to elicit repeated effort from workers by creating a “rat race” of hierarchical status-based incentives. We examine performance using data on over 5, 000 German air force pilots during World War II. Pilots’ effort is hard to monitor; motivation is key to success. Fighter pilot performance increases markedly as they approach eligibility for a medal before falling off upon receipt of the award. The same effort path repeats itself as the pilot nears the next higher-prestige medal. Status-conscious pilots also exert more effort when new medals are introduced. We show that medals serve as substitutes for other forms of status. Medal cachet declines over time as lower-ability pilots receive them, making the introduction of new medals desirable. These results suggest that a tiered, expanding system of status-based incentives can repeatedly leverage worker status concerns to extract effort. |
| JEL: | D22 D91 M52 N44 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34707 |
| By: | Nadav Kunievsky; Pedro Pertusi |
| Abstract: | Students from different socioeconomic backgrounds exhibit persistent gaps in test scores, gaps that can translate into unequal educational and labor-market outcomes later in life. In many assessments, performance reflects not only what students know, but also how effectively they can communicate that knowledge. This distinction is especially salient in writing assessments, where scores jointly reward the substance of students' ideas and the way those ideas are expressed. As a result, observed score gaps may conflate differences in underlying content with differences in expressive skill. A central question, therefore, is how much of the socioeconomic-status (SES) gap in scores is driven by differences in what students say versus how they say it. We study this question using a large corpus of persuasive essays written by U.S. middle- and high-school students. We introduce a new measurement strategy that separates content from style by leveraging large language models to generate multiple stylistic variants of each essay. These rewrites preserve the underlying arguments while systematically altering surface expression, creating a "generated panel" that introduces controlled within-essay variation in style. This approach allows us to decompose SES gaps in writing scores into contributions from content and style. We find an SES gap of 0.67 points on a 1-6 scale. Approximately 69% of the gap is attributable to differences in essay content quality, Style differences account for 26% of the gap, and differences in evaluation standards across SES groups account for the remaining 5%. These patterns seems stable across demographic subgroups and writing tasks. More broadly, our approach shows how large language models can be used to generate controlled variation in observational data, enabling researchers to isolate and quantify the contributions of otherwise entangled factors. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.03469 |
| By: | Seunghyun Lee; Goeun Lee |
| Abstract: | Using data on school shooting incidents in U.S. K--12 schools from 1981 to 2022, we estimate the causal effects of high temperatures on school shootings and assess the implications of climate change. We find that days with maximum temperatures exceeding 90$^\circ$F lead to a 80\% increase in school shootings relative to days below 70$^\circ$F. Consistent with theories linking heat exposure to aggression, high temperatures increase homicidal and threat-related shootings but have no effect on accidental or suicidal shootings. Heat-induced shootings occur disproportionately during periods of greater student mobility and reduced supervision, including before and after school hours and lunch periods. Higher temperatures increase shootings involving both student and non-student perpetrators. We project that climate change will increase homicidal and threat-related school shootings in the U.S. by 8\% under SSP2--4.5 (moderate emissions) and by 14\% under SSP5--8.5 (high emissions) by 2091--2100, corresponding to approximately 23 and 39 additional shootings per decade, respectively. The present discounted value of the resulting social costs is \$343 million and \$592 million (2025 dollars), respectively. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.14094 |
| By: | Christopher Campos (University of Chicago Booth School of Business); Pablo Muñoz (Universidad de Chile, Department of Economics); Alonso Bucarey; Dante Contreras (Universidad de Chile, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how college major choices shape earnings and fertility outcomes. Using administrative data that link students’ preferences, random assignment to majors, and post-college outcomes, we estimate the causal pecuniary and nonpecuniary returns to different fields of study. We document substantial heterogeneity in these returns across majors and show that such variation helps explain gender gaps in labor market outcomes: women place greater weight on balancing career and family in their major choices, and these preference differences account for about 30% of the gender earnings gap among college graduates. Last, we use our causal estimates to evaluate the effects of counterfactual assignment rules that target representation gaps in settings with centralized assignment systems. We find that gender quotas in high-return fields can significantly reduce representation and earnings gaps with minimal impacts on efficiency and aggregate fertility. |
| Keywords: | preferences, returns to majors, gender gaps, centralized assignment |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J01 J16 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2026-19 |
| By: | De Marchi, Elisa |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:361191 |
| By: | Fabian Stephany; Ole Teutloff; Angelo Leone |
| Abstract: | The growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has heightened interest in the labour market value of AI-related skills, yet causal evidence on their role in hiring decisions remains scarce. This study examines whether AI skills serve as a positive hiring signal and whether they can offset conventional disadvantages such as older age or lower formal education. We conduct an experimental survey with 1, 700 recruiters from the United Kingdom and the United States. Using a paired conjoint design, recruiters evaluated hypothetical candidates represented by synthetically designed resumes. Across three occupations - graphic designer, office assistant, and software engineer - AI skills significantly increase interview invitation probabilities by approximately 8 to 15 percentage points. AI skills also partially or fully offset disadvantages related to age and lower education, with effects strongest for office assistants, where formal AI certification plays an additional compensatory role. Effects are weaker for graphic designers, consistent with more skeptical recruiter attitudes toward AI in creative work. Finally, recruiters' own background and AI usage significantly moderate these effects. Overall, the findings demonstrate that AI skills function as a powerful hiring signal and can mitigate traditional labour market disadvantages, with implications for workers' skill acquisition strategies and firms' recruitment practices. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2601.13286 |