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The impact of attending an independent upper secondary school: Evidence from Sweden using school ranking data

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  • Edmark, Karin
  • Persson, Lovisa

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the Swedish education market has gone through a dramatic transformation due to the introduction of voucher-funded independent schools. We make use of data on school applications to condition on student preferences for independent versus public education, and estimate a positive relationship between independent upper secondary school attendance and grades, graduation rates, and post-secondary education. We however also find strong indications of more lenient grading standards in independent schools, especially in schools organized as for-profit entities and in schools with a low share of qualified teachers. Our results suggest that, although independent school attendance seems to benefit the individual students in terms of higher grades and increased transition to post-secondary studies, grade inflation in the Swedish upper secondary independent schools may be a serious problem.

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  • Edmark, Karin & Persson, Lovisa, 2021. "The impact of attending an independent upper secondary school: Evidence from Sweden using school ranking data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:84:y:2021:i:c:s0272775721000674
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102148
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    Cited by:

    1. Edmark, Karin & Hussain, Iftikhar & Haelermans, Carla, 2020. "The Impact of Voucher Schools: Evidence From Swedish Upper Secondary Schools," Working Paper Series 3/2020, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    2. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus, 2023. "The Profit Motive in the Classroom - Friend or Foe?," IZA Discussion Papers 16301, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Edmark, Karin & Hussain, Iftikhar & Haelermans, Carla, 2024. "Unpacking the impact of voucher schools: evidence from Sweden," Working Paper Series 2024:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Private provision; Mixed markets; Voucher school reform; Upper secondary education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H44 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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