Geographical Differences in Italian Students' Mathematical Competencies: Evidence from Pisa 2003

In this paper we investigate the existence and the size of geographical differences in Italian students’ mathematical competencies. We analyze a novel data set that combines the 2003 wave of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with information about local economic conditions and school-level administrative data. We find there is significant positive correlation, across provinces, between mathematical literacy and school buildings maintenance and local employment probabilities. About 75% of the North-South differential in mathematical literacy is accounted for by resource differences, while geographical differences in school production functions account for the remaining fraction.