The aim of this paper is to analyze, using a hierarchical linear model, the degree to which a system of choice, as the one implemented in Chile since the beginning of the 80’s, can promote student achievement and equity in the social distribution of achievement. Using data from a...

This paper explores the role of life expectancy as a determinant of educational attainment and fertility, both during the demographic transition and after its completion. Two main points distinguish our analysis from the previous ones. First, together with the investments of parents in the human...

This paper exploits a policy-induced natural experiment that occurred in South Australia in the mid-1980s to generate a 'causal' estimate of the effect of schooling on the literacy and numeracy performance of school students in their middle years of secondary school (in Year 9 for most...

The consumption value of education is an important, but rather ignored factor behind the individual's educational choice. This paper suggests a method for measuring the consumption value of education in a compensating differentials framework when the ability bias is corrected for. As an example,...

This paper analyzes the impact of juvenile arrest, charge, conviction, and incarceration on an individual's propensity to graduate high school before the age of 20. The analysis is conducted using data from the NLSY97. I control for a large set of observable characteristics, including...

I develop and structurally estimate a sequential model of school attendance, employment and marital choices of young women to investigate the determinants of women’s college attendance decisions. The environment that individuals in this model face is rich. Investments in schooling and...

American students work less than East Asian students in high school, but work more in college. We propose an explanation for this puzzle, using a two-stage-signaling model. Signaling can occur over time both in high school and college. We show that main signaling stage may be high school or...

Unlike previous studies on major choice of university students, this study considers a university's prestige in their choice of a major field. This study sets up an estimation model for a joint decision about where to go to university (prestigious or non-prestigious) and what major field to...

This paper examines the impact of vouchers in general, and voucher design in particular, on public school performance. It argues that all voucher programs are not created equal. There are often fundamental differences in voucher designs that affect public school incentives differently and induce...

The social and academic reputation of private universities in Japan is generally far behind the national universities. We argue that heavy subsidy and the low tuition of national universities determined by the central government are both responsible for making the production of high academic...