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No cohort left behind?

Author

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  • Babcock, Philip
  • Bedard, Kelly
  • Schulte, Jennifer

Abstract

Much of the debate over the allocation of education resources focuses on the alleged benefits of smallness—of classroom or school—and is based on evidence from small-scale studies. This paper reframes the question in terms of cohort size. Using national data, we find that a 10% increase in kindergarten enrollment yields a 0.5% increase in cohort shrinkage across early grade transitions, which implies that larger cohorts feature higher rates of retention. Consistent with previous work on class and school size in more restricted settings, this cohort-tracking exercise provides robust evidence at the national level that smallness confers benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Babcock, Philip & Bedard, Kelly & Schulte, Jennifer, 2012. "No cohort left behind?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 347-354.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:71:y:2012:i:3:p:347-354
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2011.12.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alan B. Krueger, 2003. "Economic Considerations and Class Size," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 34-63, February.
    2. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Experimental Estimates of Education Production Functions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 497-532.
    3. Akerhielm, Karen, 1995. "Does class size matter?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 229-241, September.
    4. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1999. "Using Maimonides' Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size on Scholastic Achievement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 533-575.
    5. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2000. "The Effects of Class Size on Student Achievement: New Evidence from Population Variation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1239-1285.
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    Cited by:

    1. Reiling, Rune Borgan, 2016. "Does size matter? Educational attainment and cohort size," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 73-89.
    2. Richard Cebula & Franklin Mixon & Mark Montez, 2015. "Teachers’ salaries and human capital, and their effects on academic performance: an institution-level analysis of Los Angeles County high schools," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(2), pages 347-356, April.
    3. Tilley, J. Lucas, 2023. "School resources, peer inputs, and student outcomes in adult education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    4. Gordey Yastrebov, 2021. "The Demographic Echo of War and educational attainment in Soviet Russia," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(22), pages 727-768.
    5. Sun, Shengmin & Chen, Jiawei & Chen, Jiaying, 2023. "Cohort crowding in education and employment: Evidence from China's compulsory education law," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 391-411.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Class size; School size; Human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C2 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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