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Do school reforms shape study behavior at university? Evidence from an instructional time reform

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  • Jakob Schwerter
  • Nicolai Netz
  • Nicolas Hubner

Abstract

Early-life environments can have long-lasting developmental effects. Interestingly, research on how school reforms affect later-life study behavior has hardly adopted this perspective. Therefore, we investigated a staggered school reform that reduced the number of school years and increased weekly instructional time for secondary school students in most German federal states. We analyzed this quasi-experiment in a difference-in-differences framework using representative large-scale survey data on 71,426 students who attended university between 1998 and 2016. We found negative effects of reform exposure on hours spent attending classes and on self-study, and a larger time gap between school completion and higher education entry. Our results support the view that research should examine unintended long-term effects of school reforms on individual life courses.

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  • Jakob Schwerter & Nicolai Netz & Nicolas Hubner, 2022. "Do school reforms shape study behavior at university? Evidence from an instructional time reform," Papers 2207.09843, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2207.09843
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    7. repec:adr:anecst:y:2013:i:111-112:p:5 is not listed on IDEAS
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