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The Spanish or the German Apartment? Study Abroad and the Acquisition of Permanent Skills

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  • Giuseppe Sorrenti

Abstract

In Europe, more than 250; 000 university students spend one or two semesters abroad every year. This work aims to understand whether a short time experience abroad contributes to the acquisition of foreign language proficiency. We use a newly available dataset about almost the totality of Italian graduates and two alternative instruments to address the endogeneity of studying abroad. Both instruments display similar results. The effect of studying abroad on foreign language proficiency is remarkable, although extremely heterogeneous across languages. Languages more rewarded by the labour market are the ones which are harder to learn within a short time experience abroad.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Sorrenti, 2017. "The Spanish or the German Apartment? Study Abroad and the Acquisition of Permanent Skills," CHILD Working Papers Series 46 JEL Classification: I2, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
    • Handle: RePEc:cca:wchild:46
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    Cited by:

    1. Nocito, Samuel, 2021. "The effect of a university degree in english on international labor mobility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Mabel Sanchez-Barrioluengo & Sara Flisi, 2017. "Student Mobility in Tertiary Education: institutional factors and regional attractiveness," JRC Research Reports JRC108895, Joint Research Centre.
    3. DI PIETRO Giorgio, 2020. "Evidence on study abroad programmes: Data and indicators," JRC Research Reports JRC119964, Joint Research Centre.
    4. repec:hal:journl:hal-03383112 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Otavio Conceiçaõ & Rodrigo Oliveira & André Portela Souza, 2023. "The impacts of studying abroad: Evidence from a government-sponsored scholarship program in Brazil," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-49, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Di Pietro Giorgio & European Commission & IZA, 2022. "Studying abroad and earnings: A meta‐analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1096-1129, September.
    7. Giorgio Di Pietro, 2019. "University study abroad and graduates’ employability," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 109-109, May.
    8. Reinhard Weisser, 2021. "Run, graduate, run: Internationally mobile students’ reactions to changing political landscapes in Europe," Working Papers 2021.06, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1ta425q4ev9o6a76uep4hjlunc is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Weisser, Reinhard A., 2021. "Run, graduate, run: Internationally mobile students' reactions to changing political landscapes in Europe," GLO Discussion Paper Series 872, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Anne Boring & Jennifer Brown, 2021. "Gender and Choices in Higher Education," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03383112, HAL.
    12. Granato, Silvia & Havari, Enkelejda & Mazzarella, Gianluca & Schnepf, Sylke V., 2021. "Study Abroad Programmes and Students' Academic Performance: Evidence from Erasmus Applications," IZA Discussion Papers 14651, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Waibel, Stine & Rüger, Heiko & Ette, Andreas, 2020. "Who benefits? Heterogeneous effects of international student mobility on occupational attainment," WiSo-HH Working Paper Series 61, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Study abroad; permanent individual skills; foreign language proficiency; labour market assets.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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