This paper evaluates a school reform in Bavaria that moved the timing of tracking in low- and middle-track schools from grade 6 to grade 4; students in high-track schools were not affected. To eliminate state specific and school-type-specific shocks, I estimate a triple-differences model using...

This paper estimates the causal effect of an additional year of parents' schooling on theirchildren's education, exploiting compulsory schooling reforms that were implemented inall West German states between 1946 and 1969. Although previous research indicatesthat these reforms had no effects on...

Theoretical work shows that grading on a curve, i.e., teachers assessing students relativeto their classmates, can negatively affect students' learning effort. However, little isknown about its empirical incidence. To overcome bias from non-random sorting andomitted variables like teachers'...

Does a high regional concentration of immigrants of the same ethnicity affect immigrant children's acquisition of host-country language skills and educational attainment? We exploit the exogenous placement of guest workers from five ethnicities across German regions during the 1960s and 1970s in...

Student performance differs greatly across countries, but little is known about the role of teacher quality in explaining these differences. New international data from the PIAAC survey of adult skills allow for the first time to quantify teacher skills in numeracy and literacy, providing...

Differences in teacher quality are commonly cited as a key determinant of the huge international student performance gaps. However, convincing evidence on this relationship is still lacking, in part because it is unclear how to measure teacher quality consistently across countries. We use unique...

Differences in teacher quality are commonly cited as a key determinant of the huge international student performance gaps. However, convincing evidence on this relationship is still lacking, in part because it is unclear how to measure teacher quality consistently across countries. We use unique...

Can policymakers hire more effective teachers by increasing the relative economic benefits of teaching? We investigate this question by exploiting business cycle conditions at career start as a source of exogenous variation in the outside labor market opportunities of potential teachers. Using...

How do alternative job opportunities affect teacher quality? We provide the first causal evidence on this question by exploiting business cycle conditions at career start as a source of exogenous variation in the outside options of potential teachers. Unlike prior research, we directly assess...

How do alternative job opportunities affect teacher quality? We provide the first causal evidence on this question by exploiting business cycle conditions at career start as a source of exogenous variation in the outside options of potential teachers. Unlike prior research, we directly assess...