International large-scale assessments such as PISA are increasingly being used to benchmark the academic performance of young people across the world. Yet many of the technicalities underpinning these datasets are misunderstood by applied researchers, who sometimes fail to take their complex...

This paper examines the effects of increasing the compulsory school leaving (CSL) age from 16 to 18 in Hungary using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) identification strategy. The new CSL age was introduced for those entering their first year of elementary school in 1998. Identification is...

This paper examines the effects that an increase in compulsory school-leaving (CSL) age has on the teenage fertility (both motherhood and pregnancy) of Roma women, a disadvantaged ethnic minority in Hungary. We use a regression discontinuity design identification strategy based on exact date of...

Universities use 'first in family' or 'first generation' as an indicator to increase the diversity of their student intake, but little is known about whether it is a good indicator of disadvantage. We use nationally representative, longitudinal survey data linked to administrative data from...

The labor market returns to 'first in family' university graduates We examine how first in family (FiF) graduates (those whose parents do not have university degrees) fare on the labor market. We find that among women, FiF graduates earn 7.4% less on average than graduate women whose parents...

There is a large gender gap in the probability of being in a "top job" in mid-career. Top jobs bring higher earnings, and also have more job security and better career trajectories. Recent literature has raised the possibility that some of this gap may be attributable to women not "leaning in"...

While it has been shown that university attendance is strongly predicted by parental education, we know very little about why some potential 'first in family' or firstgeneration students make it to university and others do not. This paper looks at the role of non-cognitive skills in the...

While an extensive literature investigates the effects of longer schooling, we know very little about what happens when compulsory schooling is shortened. This paper looks at the effects of a reform in Hungary that decreased the school leaving age from 18 to 16. We show that the reform increased...

This paper investigates the relative importance of confidence in public institutions in explaining cross-country differences in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. We extend the related literature by employing regression and machine learning methods to identify the most critical predictors of...

We examine how first in family (FiF) graduates (those whose parents do not have university degrees) fare on the labor market in England. We find that among women, FiF graduates earn 7.4% less on average than graduate women whose parents have a university degree. For men, we do not find a FiF...