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Class-Size Effects in School Systems Around the World: Evidence from Between-Grade Variation in TIMSS

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Author Info
Ludger Wößmann
Martin R. West

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Abstract

We employ a combination of school fixed effects and IV estimation to estimate the effect of class size on student performance in 18 countries. Using the random part of the class-size variation between two adjacent grades within individual schools allows us to identify causal class-size effects. Conventional estimates of class-size effects are shown to be severely biased in most school systems by within- and between-school sorting of students. Differences in our estimates across countries suggest that it is misleading to generalize results from one school system to others. While we find sizable beneficial effects of smaller classes in Greece and Iceland, the possibility of even small effects is rejected in Japan and Singapore. In 11 countries, we rule out large class-size effects. The existence of class-size effects, and the lack thereof, in different school systems appears to be related to the relative quality of the teaching force.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Kiel Institute for the World Economy in its series Kiel Working Papers with number 1099.

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Length: 65 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2002
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Handle: RePEc:kie:kieliw:1099

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Related research
Keywords: educational production class size student sorting school fixed effects instrumental variables TIMSS

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1999. "Using Maimonides' Rule To Estimate The Effect Of Class Size On Scholastic Achievement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(2), pages 533-575, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Alan B. Krueger, 2000. "Economic Considerations and class size," Working Papers 975, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Alan Krueger & Diane Whitmore, 2000. "The Effect of Attending a Small Class in the Early Grades on College-Test Taking and Middle School Test Results: Evidence from Project STAR," NBER Working Papers 7656, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Lee, J.-W. & Barro, R.J., 1998. "Schooling Quality in a Cross Section of Countries," Papers 659, Harvard - Institute for International Development.
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  5. 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)
  6. repec:fth:prinin:447 is not listed on IDEAS
  7. Berrara, A., 1989. "The Interactive Effects Of Mother'S Schooling And Unsupplemented Breastfeeding On Child Health," Papers 572, Yale - Economic Growth Center.
  8. Eric A. Hanushek & Javier A. Luque, 2002. "Efficiency and Equity in Schools around the World," NBER Working Papers 8949, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Boozer, Michael & Rouse, Cecilia, 2001. "Intraschool Variation in Class Size: Patterns and Implications," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 163-189, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Experimental Estimates Of Education Production Functions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(2), pages 497-532, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Akerhielm, Karen, 1995. "Does class size matter?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 229-241, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Hanushek, Eric A, 1986. "The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 1141-77, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2001. "Improving School Accountability Measures," NBER Working Papers 8156, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Anne Case & Angus Deaton, 1999. "School Inputs And Educational Outcomes In South Africa," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(3), pages 1047-1084, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2000. "The Effects Of Class Size On Student Achievement: New Evidence From Population Variation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(4), pages 1239-1285, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Michael Fertig, 2002. "Educational Production, Endogenous Peer Group Formation and Class Composition – Evidence From the PISA 2000 Study," RWI Discussion Papers 0002, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung. [Downloadable!]
  2. Paul Bingley & Vibeke Myrup Jensen & Ian Walker, 2007. "The Effect of School Class Size on Post-Compulsory Education: Some Cost Benefit Analysis," Working Papers 200717, Geary Institute, University College Dublin. [Downloadable!]
  3. Woessmann, Ludger, 2003. "Educational Production in East Asia: The Impact of Family Background and Schooling Policies on Student Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 745, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. J. Hirschberg & J. Lye, 2007. "A Reinterpretation of Interactions in Regressions," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1015, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
  5. Martin R. West & Ludger Woessmann, 2003. "Which School Systems Sort Weaker Students into Smaller Classes? International Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Fertig, Michael, 2003. "Educational Production, Endogenous Peer Group Formation and Class Composition – Evidence from the PISA 2000 Study," IZA Discussion Papers 714, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Kaoru Nabeshima, 2003. "Raising the quality of secondary education in East Asia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3140, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  8. Ammermueller, Andreas & Heijke, Hans & Woessmann, Ludger, 2003. "Schooling Quality in Eastern Europe: Educational Production During Transition," IZA Discussion Papers 746, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Torbjørn Hægeland, Oddbjørn Raaum and Kjell G. Salvanes, 2007. "Pennies from heaven. Using exogenous tax variation to identify effects of school resources on pupil achievement," Discussion Papers 508, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Felix Büchel & Hendrik Jürges & Kerstin Schneider, 2003. "Die Auswirkungen zentraler Abschlussprüfungen auf die Schulleistung : quasi-experimentelle Befunde aus der deutschen TIMSS-Stichprobe," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 72(2), pages 238-251. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. M. Niaz Asadullah, 2005. "The effect of class size on student achievement: evidence from Bangladesh," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 217-221, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Mohammad Niaz Asadullah (Reading University), Nazmul Chaudhury (World Bank) and Amit Dar (World Bank), . "Student Achievement Conditioned Upon School Selection: Religious and Secular Secondary School Quality in Bangladesh," QEH Working Papers qehwps140, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Christian Wiermann, 2005. "Class Size, Instruction Time and Central Exit Examinations : disentangling the Relative Contributions to Scholastic Achievement," Working Papers of the Research Group Heterogenous Labor 05-04, Research Group Heterogeneous Labor, University of Konstanz/ZEW Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
  14. Jakubowski, Maciej & Sakowski, Pawel, 2006. "Quasi-Experimental Estimates of Class Size Effect in Primary Schools in Poland," MPRA Paper 4958, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  15. Ludger Wößmann, 2003. "Zentrale Prüfungen als "Währung" des Bildungssystems : zur Komplementarität von Schulautonomie und Zentralprüfungen," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 72(2), pages 220-237. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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