This paper estimates how peers’ achievement gains are affected by the presence of potentially disruptive and emotionally sensitive children in the school-cohort. We exploit that some children move between schools and thus generate variation in peer composition in the receiving school-cohort....

Our study analyzes the impact of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a college-preparatory educational program designed for higher-achieving students, on high school academic achievement in Chicago Public Schools. We exploit exogenous variation in the offering of the program...

This paper investigates the relationship between attendance at pre-school school and children's outcomes into early adulthood. In particular, we are interested in: child cognitive development at ages 11, 14 and 16; intentions towards tertiary education; economic activity in early adulthood; a group...

The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity increased dramatically in the United States during the past three decades. This increase has adverse public health implications, but its implication for children's academic outcomes is less clear. This paper uses data from five waves of the...

This paper analyzes whether there exists a causal relationship between parental employment and children's educational attainment. We address potential endogeneity problems due to (i) selection of parents in the labor market by estimating a model on sibling differences and (ii) reverse causality...

This study uses a randomized controlled trial of a school-based anemia reduction program in rural China to examine how increased school emphasis on health promotion affects academic performance. Although education and health promotion are complementary functions of schools, they do compete for...

We investigate how the benefits of publicly financed higher education in Turkey are distributed among students with different socioeconomic backgrounds. We use a dataset from a nationally representative sample of university entrance exam takers together with data on government subsidies to...

This study uses household survey data to estimate determinants of schooling in Uganda, with a model that includes the price of school. Uganda's universal education policy offered free tuition, fees, and supplies to up to four children per family, including two daughters. The empirical method...

This paper takes a new look at the determinants of cognitive ability. Using the results of the 2006 PISA survey for five Latin American countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay) it adopts an efficiency analysis perspective. Rather than selecting as inputs a few variables, it...

We develop a theory of human capital investment to study the effects of school quality on student choices of education, and to understand its effect on economic growth. In a dynamic general equilibrium closed economy, primary education is mandatory but there is an opportunity to continue to...