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The effect of instructional time reduction on educational attainment: Evidence from the Japanese curriculum standards revision

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  • Kikuchi, Nobuyoshi

Abstract

This paper investigates how the reduction of instructional time affects educational attainment, using the revision of the Japanese curriculum standards in 1981 as a quasi-experiment. Although instructional time is considered an important input for the education production function, there is limited consensus on its causal effect on later outcomes. This is because of the difficulty of estimation without relying on cross-country variation or on before-and-after comparison. By using a feature of the centralised Japanese public educational system, this paper estimates the effect of the revision in junior high schools as a difference-in-differences estimator. The revision is unique because it reduces the total school teaching hours by 445, which corresponds to about 13% of the previous standards, leaving the length of school weeks or the educational system unchanged. The main results show that the revision decreases schooling by about 0.5years and the probability to enrol in high school by about 3–4% for women. These results are statistically significant and robust to controlling for the birth cohort or regional effects.

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  • Kikuchi, Nobuyoshi, 2014. "The effect of instructional time reduction on educational attainment: Evidence from the Japanese curriculum standards revision," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 17-41.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jjieco:v:32:y:2014:i:c:p:17-41
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jjie.2014.01.001
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    3. Motegi, Hiroyuki & Oikawa, Masato, 2019. "The effect of instructional quality on student achievement: Evidence from Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    4. Costa-Font, Joan & García-Hombrados, Jorge & Nicińska, Anna, 2024. "Long-lasting effects of indoctrination in school: Evidence from the People’s Republic of Poland," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Cassette, Aurélie & Farvaque, Etienne, 2016. "A dirty deed done dirt cheap: Reporting the blame of a national reform on local politicians," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 127-144.
    6. Oikawa, Masato & Tanaka, Ryuichi & Bessho, Shun-ichiro & Kawamura, Akira & Noguchi, Haruko, 2022. "Do Class Closures Affect Students' Achievements? Heterogeneous Effects of Students' Socioeconomic Backgrounds," IZA Discussion Papers 15751, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Kubota, Kohei, 2016. "Effects of Japanese compulsory educational reforms on household educational expenditure," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 47-60.
    8. Battistin, Erich & Meroni, Elena Claudia, 2016. "Should we increase instruction time in low achieving schools? Evidence from Southern Italy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 39-56.
    9. Niki, Minae, 2024. "Does the reduction in instruction time affect student achievement and motivation? Evidence from Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

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