Attendance of pre-primary institutions is positively associated with PISA test scores inmost countries. Several indicators of structural quality of pre-primary education areidentified that can account for the variation in the estimated coefficients on pre-primaryattendance across countries,...

There exists substantial variation across countries as to whether and how students are grouped in classes according to ability. Economic analyses stress that there is joint production of human capital in schools, where output increases with mean ability in the class. Ability tracking may...

We provide a measure of equality of educational opportunity in 54 countries, estimated as the effect of family background on student performance in two international TIMSS tests. We then show how organizational features of the education system affect equality of educational opportunity. Our...

We provide a measure of equality of educational opportunity in 54 countries, estimated as the effect of family background on student performance in two international TIMSS tests. We then show how organizational features of the education system affect equality of educational opportunity. Our...

We estimate the relationship between computers and students’ educational achievement in the international student-level PISA database. Bivariate analyses show a positive correlation between achievement and computer availability both at home and at school. However, once we control extensively...

Even though some countries track students into differing-ability schools by age 10, others keep their entire secondary-school system comprehensive. To estimate the effects of such institutional differences in the face of country heterogeneity, we employ an international...

This paper develops empirical growth models suitable for dual economies, and studiesthe relationship between structural change and economic growth. Changes in the structureof employment will raise aggregate productivity when the marginal product of labourvaries across sectors. The models in the...

This study was prepared by Gabriela Schütz while she was working with the Ifo Institute for Economic Research. It was completed in September 2008 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Economics Department of the University of Munich (LMU). The topic of this study is an econometric analysis...

Attendance of pre-primary institutions is positively associated with PISA test scores in most countries. Several indicators of structural quality of pre-primary education are identified that can account for the variation in the estimated coefficients on pre-primary attendance across countries,...