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Education Policy and Equality of Opportunity

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Author Info
Gabriela Schütz () (Ifo Institute, University of Munich)
Heinrich W. Ursprung () (University of Konstanz and CESifo)
Ludger Woessmann () (Ifo Institute, University of Munich, CESifo and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

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 model predicts that late tracking and a long pre-school cycle are beneficial for equality, while pre-school enrollment is detrimental at low levels of enrollment and beneficial at higher levels. Using cross-country variations in education policies and their interaction with family background at the student level, we provide empirical evidence supportive of these predictions.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1906.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 43 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1906

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Postal: IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
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Related research
Keywords: equality of opportunity; educational production; family background; student performance; tracking; pre-school; efficiency-equity tradeoff;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Janet Currie, 2001. "Early Childhood Education Programs," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 213-238, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Costas Meghir & Mårten Palme, 2004. "Educational reform, ability and family background," IFS Working Papers W04/10, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Thomas Fuchs & Ludger Woessmann, 2004. "What Accounts for International Differences in Student Performance? A Re-examination using PISA Data," Econometric Society 2004 Australasian Meetings 274, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Anderson, Patricia M, 1993. "Linear Adjustment Costs and Seasonal Labor Demand: Evidence from Retail Trade Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 108(4), pages 1015-42, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Eliana Garces & Duncan Thomas & Janet Currie, 2002. "Longer-Term Effects of Head Start," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 999-1012, September. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2001. "Asymptotic Properties Of Weighted M-Estimators For Standard Stratified Samples," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(02), pages 451-470, April. [Downloadable!]
  7. Figlio, David N. & Page, Marianne E., 2002. "School Choice and the Distributional Effects of Ability Tracking: Does Separation Increase Inequality?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 497-514, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Katherine A. Magnuson & Christopher J. Ruhm & Jane Waldfogel, 2004. "Does Prekindergarten Improve School Preparation and Performance?," NBER Working Papers 10452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Moulton, Brent R., 1986. "Random group effects and the precision of regression estimates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 385-397, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Stephen Nickell, 2004. "Poverty And Worklessness In Britain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(494), pages C1-C25, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Barry Chiswick & Noyna DebBurman, 2004. "Pre-School Enrollment: An Analysis by Immigrant Generation," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0404, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Eric A. Hanushek & Ludger Wössmann, 2006. "Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences- in-Differences Evidence Across Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(510), pages C63-C76, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Dennis Epple & Elizabeth Newlon & Richard Romano, 2000. "Ability Tracking, School Competition, and the Distribution of Educational Benefits," NBER Working Papers 7854, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Arnaud Lefranc & Nicolas Pistolesi & Alain Trannoy, 2006. "Equality of Opportunity: Definitions and Testable Conditions with an Application to Income in France," IDEP Working Papers 0609, Institut d'economie publique (IDEP), Marseille, France, revised 27 Sep 2006. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Gernandt, Johannes & Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 2006. "Rising Wage Inequality in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-19, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Guido Heineck & Regina T. Riphahn, 2007. "Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment in Germany: The Last Five Decades," SOEPpapers 37, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Sandra Hanslin & Rainer Winkelmann, 2006. "The Apple Falls Increasingly Far: Parent-Child Correlation in Schooling and the Growth of Post-Secondary Education in Switzerland," Working Papers 0603, University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Ludger Woessmann, 2007. "Fundamental Determinants of School Efficiency and Equity: German States as a Microcosm for OECD Countries," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Ludger Woessmann, 2009. "International Evidence on School Tracking: A Review," CESifo DICE Report, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(1), pages 26-34, 04. [Downloadable!]
  7. Elizabeth Cascio & Damon Clark & Nora Gordon, 2008. "Education and the Age Profile of Literacy into Adulthood," NBER Working Papers 14073, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Ludger Wößmann, 2008. "Efficiency and equity of European education and training policies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 199-230, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo, 2009. "Tracking can be more equitable than mixing: peer effects and college attendance," Working Papers 09.04, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  10. Jan Werner & Anwar Shah, 2006. "Financing of Education: Some Experiences from ten European Countries," Working Papers 02-2006, Institute of Local Public Finance. [Downloadable!]
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