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on Education |
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Issue of 2026–05–25
nineteen papers chosen by João Carlos Correia Leitão, Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Joao R. Ferreira; Wayne Aaron Sandholtz |
| Abstract: | We use administrative data to measure sibling spillovers on academic performance before and after the introduction of Free Secondary Education (FSE) in Tanzania. Prior to FSE, students whose older siblings narrowly passed the secondary school entrance exam were less likely to go to secondary school themselves; with FSE, the effect became positive. A triple-differences analysis, using geographic variation in FSE exposure, shows that FSE caused the reversal. Mechanism analyses suggest that changes in parental investments were a more likely channel for this reversal than direct sibling interactions. By alleviating financial constraints, FSE allowed households to distribute educational investments more equitably rather than concentrating resources on high-performing children. |
| Keywords: | Sibling spillovers, Free secondary education, Intra-household allocation, Resource constraints, High-stakes exams, Tanzania |
| JEL: | I25 O15 D13 I24 J13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:novafr:wp2506 |
| By: | Arendt, Jacob (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Holm, Anders (Western University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of private school attendance on segregation and student achievement in compulsory school in Denmark. We show that increased private school attendance is driven by students from high socio-economic groups. Leveraging variation across municipalities, grade and calendar years and instrumental variables based on private school openings, we find that higher private school enrollment is associated with higher segregation of disadvantaged children. From event study models of the private school openings and a mover design that controls for student parental background, peer parental background, past achievement and non-cognitive scores, we find small achievement effects of private school attendance. |
| Keywords: | private schools, socio-economic and ethnic segregation, student achievement |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J15 R28 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18617 |
| By: | Jesse Rothstein (University of California, Berkeley); Ini Umosen (Ithaka S+R); Christopher R. Walters (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | We study the prospects for changes in school priorities to reduce income segregation in a context of centralized school assignment, accounting for behavioral responses to school offers. Promoting integration is a central objective for large urban school districts in the US, and reforms to school assignment priorities are a prominent means of pursuing this goal. Such efforts may be constrained by students' decisions to exit the public school system in response to less-preferred school offers. Using data on kindergarten applicants to the Oakland Unified SchoolDistrict (OUSD), we show that offers of spots at first-choice schools boost the likelihood that applicants remain in OUSD. Nevertheless, simulations show that policy reforms giving priority for low-income students at high-income schools can substantially reduce segregation with minimal impacts on retention in the district. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2026-38 |
| By: | Annalisa Loviglio; Veronica Rattini; Federico Stronati |
| Abstract: | Do high-stakes exams widen gender gaps in academic performance? We study this question in early adolescence using Italy's lower-secondary exit exam. A 2017 reform removed the national standardized test from the final grade while preserving the requirement to take the same test, reducing stakes without changing content. Using administrative data on the full population of students and a difference-in-differences design, we compare gender gaps before and after the reform. We find no evidence that higher stakes disadvantage girls. If anything, girls perform slightly better relative to boys when the test has exam stakes, suggesting gender differences under pressure emerge later in education. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1223 |
| By: | Atila Abdulkadiroglu (Duke University); Parag A. Pathak (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Christopher R. Walters (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | We examine two approaches to improving urban school systems: changing who gets to go to existing schools (reallocation) and restructuring school portfolios through closures and reconstitution (resource augmentation). Using data from New York City high schools, we estimate models of school effects allowing for both vertical school quality differences and horizontal student-specific match effects. While sophisticated reallocation policies that optimize student-school matches can generate modest educational gains, they are constrained by limited seats at highly effective schools. Simple resource-augmentation policies targeting replacement of low-performing schools achieve comparable improvements with less systemic disruption. Analysis ofNYC's school closures reveals that basic graduation rate metrics effectively identify struggling schools, suggesting complex value-added models may be unnecessary for targeting closure decisions. Our findings indicate that capacity constraints, rather than poor school matching. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2026-39 |
| By: | Léonard Moulin; Valeria Maria Urbano; Lorenzo Maraviglia |
| Abstract: | Congestion pricing policies have been implemented in several cities to reduce traffic congestion and mitigate environmental impacts in urban areas. However, the externalities of such policies may extend beyond traffic reduction, potentially generating indirect effects on health and, consequently, on children’s educational outcomes. This study examines the impact of the congestion policy Area C introduced in Milan in 2012 on the academic performance of primary school pupils. Using a differencein- differences design and individual-level data from academic years 2009/2010 to 2018/2019, we analyze students’ outcomes across grades and subjects based on standardized tests from INVALSI. Our findings show statistically significant positive effects for second-grade students in both Mathematics and Italian, while no significant effects emerge for fifth-grade students. Moreover, the effects are heterogeneous across parental occupational backgrounds, with the largest gains observed among children from lower occupational backgrounds. Our results show that environmental regulation can generate meaningful equity-enhancing effects, narrowing early academic inequalities that mirror the socioeconomic structure of the city. |
| Keywords: | Low-emission zones, congestion policy, air pollution, student achievement, educational inequality, difference-in-differences, Italy, REUSSITE SCOLAIRE / EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, POPULATION SCOLAIRE / SCHOOL POPULATION, ENSEIGNEMENT PRIMAIRE / PRIMARY EDUCATION, CIRCULATION URBAINE / URBAN TRAFFIC, POLITIQUE DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT / ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, POLLUTION ATMOSPHERIQUE / AIR POLLUTION, ITALIE / ITALY |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idg:wpaper:fbdrrp4bvb1v4zsxa0xr |
| By: | Abboud, Ali (American University of Beirut); Bazzi, Samuel (University of California San Diego); Canaan, Serena (Simon Fraser University); Deeb, Antoine (World Bank); Mouganie, Pierre (Simon Fraser University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how authority figures in higher education shape gender norms over the long run. We exploit the random assignment of first-year students to faculty advisors at an elite university in the Middle East, combining administrative records with an alumni survey measuring gender attitudes up to 24 years later. Women assigned to female advisors adopt more egalitarian views about politics and work, while men become more conservative. Effects are strongest among religious students and in male-dominated STEM fields, where female authority is especially counter-stereotypical, and may persist through reinforcement: women assigned to female advisors later sort toward female instructors and more gender-themed courses. Our results are not driven by generic exposure to successful women—randomized exposure to high-achieving female peers has little effect, while the largest impacts come from senior and high-value-added female advisors. A simple framework combining belief updating and identity-based status threat explains these patterns. Our findings reveal a progress paradox whereby gains in female representation in elite authority expand opportunities for women while intensifying backlash among men, deepening gender polarization. |
| Keywords: | gender norms, higher education, polarization, role models, backlash, religion |
| JEL: | I23 J16 J24 P00 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18611 |
| By: | Adrienne Lucas; Patrick McEwan |
| Abstract: | In 1965–1966, Chile built and staffed thousands of new primary classrooms in supply-constrained communities. Using a quasi-experimental design and large census samples, we show that childhood exposure to school construction substantially improved the schooling and labor market outcomes of adults and closed a persistent female disadvantage in school attainment. Women’s exposure to the policy had large intergenerational spillovers on their children’s on-time grade progression and completed schooling. The marginal value of public funds is 13, including direct effects on adults and intergenerational spillovers. |
| JEL: | H52 I24 I25 I28 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35042 |
| By: | Humlum, Maria (Aarhus University); Nielsen, Helena (Aarhus University); Simonsen, Marianne (Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses Danish register-based matched student–teacher data to characterize public school teachers and their working conditions. We document gender segregation across subjects and grades, with female teachers dominating Danish instruction and male teachers more common in upper-grade math. Teachers select into subjects based on subject-specific academic skills, yet a notable share has weak prerequisite skills. Teachers often specialize in student age groups but teach multiple subjects. Those with stronger skills tend to work in schools with similarly skilled colleagues. These findings provide new insights relevant for interpreting education research and designing policies to improve teacher retention and wellbeing. |
| Keywords: | teachers, teacher working conditions, teacher skills, teacher health |
| JEL: | I20 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18645 |
| By: | Maria Knoth Humlum; Helena Skyt Nielsen; Marianne Simonsen; Helena Skyt Nielsen |
| Abstract: | This paper uses Danish register-based matched student–teacher data to characterize public school teachers and their working conditions. We document gender segregation across subjects and grades, with female teachers dominating Danish instruction and male teachers more common in upper grade math. Teachers select into subjects based on subject specific academic skills, yet a notable share has weak prerequisite skills. Teachers often specialize in student age groups but teach multiple subjects. Those with stronger skills tend to work in schools with similarly skilled colleagues. These findings provide new insights relevant for interpreting education research and designing policies to improve teacher retention and wellbeing. |
| Keywords: | teachers, teacher working conditions, teacher skills, teacher health |
| JEL: | I20 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12668 |
| By: | Klokker, Rasmus (VIVE – The Danish Center for Social Science Research); Kristensen, Nicolai (VIVE – The Danish Center for Social Science Research) |
| Abstract: | Sorting among school teachers, whereby high-qualified school teachers often teach high-achieving students, is well documented, but relatively little is known about how this sorting arises. Based on Danish administrative records, we formulate and estimate a semi-structural dynamic model of career choice among 10 cohorts of teachers completing teacher college, whom we follow biannually up to 15 years. Among teachers initially in the public school, dynamic sorting results in high-qualified teachers moving towards teaching in high-achieving public schools or private schools, while the least-qualified teachers enter low-SES public schools and stay there. Teachers leaving the public or private school system are found to have certain time-constant unobserved characteristics that either immediately or over time make them choose other occupations. |
| Keywords: | teacher sorting, semi-structural estimation, dynamic model |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18604 |
| By: | Nick Huntington-Klein |
| Abstract: | In educational settings, AI can be used as a learning aid, but can also be used to avoid schoolwork, thereby passing classes while learning little. Many existing studies on the impact of AI on education focus on AI use in controlled settings or with specialized tools. In this paper, the dropoff in ChatGPT activity during non-school summer months in 2023 and 2024 is used to identify areas with heavy educational AI use and thus estimate the educational impact of AI as it is actually used. I find no meaningful impact of AI usage on high school test score averages in either direction. These results imply that, to the extent that high school students use AI to avoid learning, it either does not matter much for their test performance or is cancelled out by positive uses of AI in the aggregate. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2605.08812 |
| By: | Ylenia Brilli (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice); Elena Cottini (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart); Paolo Ghinetti (University of Eastern Piedmont); Gloria Moroni (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | University systems in many countries expanded by establishing new institutions in areas previously lacking higher education. We study Italy's postwar university expansion, which opened the first faculties in provinces that had never hosted one. Exploiting variation in the timing of these openings across provinces and birth cohorts in an event-study design, we find that local access increased graduation rates by 3.2 percentage points on average across treated cohorts (approximately 26 percent relative to the pre-treatment mean), with a sharp discontinuity of 1.2 percentage points at the enrollment-age threshold. The effect is significant across all urbanization levels and increasing in more urbanized provinces, consistent with complementarities between university access and local labour market conditions. Women benefited disproportionately, though gender gaps in labour market outcomes narrowed by less than those in education. Spillover effects to neighbouring provinces exist but are of secondary magnitude, with the local effect approximately twice the size of the neighbour effect. At the province level, these first openings reduced educational disparities between provinces that gained a university and those that remained unserved. |
| Keywords: | Tertiary education, Higher education expansion, Gender gap, spatial inequality |
| JEL: | I23 J16 J21 J24 H55 R12 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2026:17 |
| By: | Javier Valente |
| Abstract: | Since its creation in 2007, and particularly during the context of school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ceibal (Uruguay's state center for educational innovation with digital technologies) has established itself as a key actor in the national educational system. To promote the integration of technology into education, Ceibal has developed various learning platforms, most notably CREA. It is a learning management system (LMS) available to students and teachers in the public education system, offering a collaborative virtual environment that facilitates interaction, resource sharing, and educational content management. This study evaluates the effect of CREA usage on academic performance in reading and mathematics among public primary school students in Uruguay. Longitudinal data from Aristas standardized assessments are used, supplemented by administrative records of platform usage. The empirical strategy is based on the estimation of value-added and panel models, allowing for controls over individual characteristics, contextual factors, and students' prior academic performance. The results indicate that higher CREA usage is significantly associated with better academic performance in both assessed areas, suggesting that the platform can play a relevant role in improving learning outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Educational platforms, Learning, Primary education, Impact evaluation, Ceibal |
| JEL: | I21 I28 O33 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ude:wpaper:0226 |
| By: | Sixian Shu; Midori Wakabayashi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how changes in school admission rules affect housing market capitalization across urban neighborhoods in a deterministic public school assignment system. We study the 2020 Synchronous Enrollment Policy (SEP) in Guangzhou, China, which synchronized public and private school admissions and replaced selective private admissions with lottery allocation, thereby increasing uncertainty in private school enrollment while leaving public school catchments unchanged. Using transaction-level data on second-hand housing sales from 2018 to 2021 matched with official public primary school catchment maps, we implement a difference-in-differences strategy comparing price changes across neighborhoods inside and outside high-quality public school districts before and after the reform. We find that the policy increased the housing price premium associated with high- quality public school zones by approximately 4.2 percent. The capitalization effect exhibits systematic spatial heterogeneity: it is stronger in urban core districts, attenuates with residential distance to assigned schools, and is amplified in areas with greater exposure to elite private schools. These findings suggest that the housing market consequences of admission reforms depend critically on pre-existing educational competition structures and intra-urban spatial structure. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:tupdaa:85 |
| By: | Laaksonen, Jukka; Vaalavuo, Maria; Dobewall, Henrik |
| Abstract: | We study the causal effect of secondary school admission on adolescents’ mental health using extensive Finnish register data and a regression discontinuity design. Focusing on two separate margins among first-time applicants in 2008–2013—admission to vocational secondary education versus no admission, and admission to general versus vocational education —we examine short- and medium-term mental health impacts measured by health care utilization and psychotropic drug use. We find that admission to vocational education, relative to rejection by all applied secondary schools, reduces psychotropic drug use by 6.3 percentage points (-21%) within seven years of admission. While access to vocational education slightly increases health care visits in some areas, it substantially decreases visits for substance use. Moreover, we observe that admission to general rather than vocational education decreases specialized healthcare visits for mental health by 4.5 percentage points (-21%) within seven years of admission. The effects of admission to vocational education versus no admission emerge primarily after completing vocational education, possibly related to simultaneous labor market integration. Conversely, the effects of admission to general versus vocational education mostly appear already during the immediate years after admission, potentially driven by changes in peer characteristics and living arrangements. While causal mechanisms behind the mental health effects remain unclear, our results highlight important short and medium-term mental health benefits of secondary education. These findings point to the potential value of policies that ensure access to secondary education, such as extensions of compulsory education, and that support mental health during critical educational transitions. |
| Date: | 2026–05–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:b4a5r_v1 |
| By: | Rosche, Benjamin (New York University - Abu Dhabi) |
| Abstract: | Adolescent friendship networks exhibit limited interaction across socioeconomic and racial lines. Using Add Health data and a novel exponential random graph model, this study examines socioeconomic segregation in high school friendships and its relationship to racial segregation. Results show that networks are segregated less by socioeconomic status (SES) than by race, yet low-SES students are excluded from high-SES circles to a similar degree. Crucially, unlike racial segregation, which is mutual, socioeconomic segregation is unilateral: many ties from low-SES to high-SES peers go unreciprocated. A decomposition of determinants shows about 60 percent reflects differences in schools’ socioeconomic composition, while 40 percent arises from within-school friendship choices. Within schools, segregation arises less from SES-stratified courses and extracurriculars than from racial homophily, SES-based popularity differences, and triadic closure. Thus, while between-school compositional differences limit who can meet, within schools, segregation is shaped more by students’ preferences and network processes than by meeting opportunities. |
| Date: | 2026–05–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:pu2c4_v2 |
| By: | Ciccarelli , Carlo (University of Rome Tor Vergata); Marciante, Gianni (University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | The role of womens education in driving the historical fertility transition remains poorly understood. Existing studies have focused on France, an early outlier, or on Prussia before the onset of its demographic transition. Less is known about the context where this effect is expected to be strongest: the onset of the transition in late transitioning countries. This paper fills this gap by studying the impact of womens education on fertility in Italy (1881 to 1921). Using original district level panel data, we exploit the interaction between proximity to the first female teacher training colleges opened under the Casati Law of 1859 and time fixed effects as an instrumental variable. IV estimates confirm a negative effect of education on fertility, operating through health knowledge and the economic independence that female teachers embodied. |
| Keywords: | JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:804 |
| By: | Sunil Kanwar (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi) |
| Abstract: | Estimating a varying coefficients specification using an unbalanced panel of countries spanning the period 1997-2023, we find unambiguous support for the contention that educational attainment has a positive influence on innovation. The estimation results reveal that a one-year increase in mean years of education increases aggregate patent applications of a sample country by 1107, at the 50th percentile of the knowledge capital stock, or about 3.8% of the sample mean patent applications. Second, the innovation response to changes in education becomes stronger in the presence of larger stocks of knowledge capital. Thus, at the 95th percentile of the knowledge capital stock, we find that a one-year increase in the education level raises aggregate patent applications by 1264, or about 4.4% of the sample mean patent applications. This response to a unit-increase in the treatment variable is about 14.2% larger than what we found at the 50th percentile of the stock of knowledge capital, exemplifying the strengthening response at higher levels of the knowledge capital stock. Third, we find that the overall innovation-education response does not hinge upon any individual sector, but rather obtains across all the technology-intensive industry groups, namely, Chemicals, Electricals and Electronics, Machinery (non-electrical), Pharmaceuticals, and Professional and Scientific Equipment. Our results are robust to a number of sensitivity checks. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Education, Heterogeneity, Technology groups JEL codes: O34, O38, O43 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:362 |