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Does Distance Determine Who Attends a University in Germany?

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  • Spiess, C. Katharina

    () (DIW Berlin)

  • Wrohlich, Katharina

    () (DIW Berlin)

Abstract

We analyze the role of distance from a university in the decision to attend higher education in Germany. Students who live near a university can avoid moving and the increased living expenses by commuting. Thus, transaction cost arguments would suggest that the greater the distance to the nearest university, the lower the participation in higher education. We analyze this hypothesis by combining data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) with a database from the German Rectors’ Conference on university postal codes. Based on a discrete time hazard rate model we show that distance to the next university at the time of completing high school significantly affects the decision to enrol in tertiary education. Controlling for many other socio-economic and regional variables, we find that 1 kilometre distance decreases the probability to enrol in higher education by 0.2-0.3 percentage points.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 3615.

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Length: 31 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2008
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Economics of Education Review, 2010, 29 (3), 470-479
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3615

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Keywords: competing risk model; distance to university; higher education;

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References

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  1. Viktor Steiner & Katharina Wrohlich, 2012. "Financial Student Aid and Enrollment in Higher Education: New Evidence from Germany," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(1), pages 124-147, 03.
  2. Acemoglu, Daron & Pischke, Jorn-Steffen, 2001. "Changes in the wage structure, family income, and children's education," Open Access publications from London School of Economics and Political Science http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/, London School of Economics and Political Science.
  3. Marc Frenette, 2004. "Access to College and University: Does Distance to School Matter?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 30(4), pages 427-443, December.
  4. Ira N. Gang & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 1999. "Is Child Like Parent? Educational Attainment and Ethnic Origin," Departmental Working Papers 199614, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
  5. Marc Frenette, 2006. "Too Far to Go On? Distance to School and University Participation," Education Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 31-58.
  6. Gundi Knies & C. Katharina Spieß, 2007. "Regional Data in the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP)," Data Documentation 17, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  7. Michaela Sixt, 2007. "Die strukturelle und individuelle Dimension bei der Erklärung von regionaler Bildungsungleichheit," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 66, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  8. Shea, John, 2000. "Does parents' money matter?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 155-184, August.
  9. Frenette, Marc, 2009. "Do universities benefit local youth? Evidence from the creation of new universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 318-328, June.
  10. D. Vuri, 2008. "The effect of availability and distance to school on children's time allocation in Ghana and Guatemala," UCW Working Paper 40, Understanding Children's Work (UCW Programme).
  11. Stefan Denzler & Stefan C. Wolter, 2008. "Unsere zukünftigen Lehrerinnen und Lehrer – Institutionelle Faktoren bei der Wahl eines Studiums an einer Pädagogischen Hochschule," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0012, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
  12. Do, Chau, 2004. "The effects of local colleges on the quality of college attended," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 249-257, June.
  13. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
  14. Lauer, Charlotte, 2003. "Family background, cohort and education: A French-German comparison based on a multivariate ordered probit model of educational attainment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 231-251, April.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Herbst, Mikolaj & Rok, Jakub, 2011. "Equity in an educational boom: Lessons from the expansion and marketization of tertiary schooling in Poland," MPRA Paper 33795, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  2. Cullinan, John & Flannery, Darragh & Walsh, Sharon & McCoy, Selina, 2012. "Distance Effects, Social Class and the Decision to Participate in Higher Education in Ireland," Papers WP444, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
  3. CESI, Berardino & PAOLINI, dimitri, 2012. "Peer group and distance: when widening university participation is better," CORE Discussion Papers 2012042, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
  4. Steve Gibbons & Anna Vignoles, 2009. "Access, Choice and Participation in Higher Education," CEE Discussion Papers 0101, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.
  5. Ronny Freier & Johanna Storck, 2012. "The Treatment Effect of Attending a High-Quality School and the Influence of Unobservables," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 530, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  6. Stefano STAFFOLANI & Claudia PIGINI, 2012. "Enrolment Decision and University Choice;of Italian Secondary School Graduates," Working Papers 380, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
  7. Ronny Freier & Johanna Storck, 2012. "The Treatment Effect of Attending a High-Quality School and the Influence of Unobservables," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1256, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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