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Does paid parental leave affect children's schooling outcomes? Replicating Danzer and Lavy (2018)

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  • Claudia Troccoli

Abstract

Danzer and Lavy (2018) study how the duration of paid parental leave affects children's educational performance using data from PISA. An extension of the maximum duration from 12 to 24 months in Austria had no statistically significant effect on average, but the authors highlight the existence of large and statistically significant heterogenous effects that vary in sign depending on the education of mothers and children's gender. The policy increased the scores obtained by sons of highly educated mothers by 33% of a standard deviation (SD) in Reading and 40% SD in Science. On the contrary, sons of low educated mothers experienced a decrease of 27% SD in Reading and 23% SD in Science. In this article, I replicate their study following the recommended estimation procedure taking into account both the survey's stratified two‐stage sample design and the fact that PISA relies on imputation to derive student scores. I show that the estimates of the effects of the parental leave extension become substantially smaller in magnitude and non‐significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Troccoli, 2024. "Does paid parental leave affect children's schooling outcomes? Replicating Danzer and Lavy (2018)," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 356-362, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:japmet:v:39:y:2024:i:2:p:356-362
    DOI: 10.1002/jae.3021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Natalia Danzer & Victor Lavy, 2018. "Paid Parental Leave and Children's Schooling Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 81-117, February.
    2. Jerrim, John & Lopez-Agudo, Luis Alejandro & Marcenaro-Gutierrez, Oscar D. & Shure, Nikki, 2017. "What happens when econometrics and psychometrics collide? An example using the PISA data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 51-58.
    3. Victor Lavy, 2015. "Do Differences in Schools' Instruction Time Explain International Achievement Gaps? Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(588), pages 397-424, November.
    4. Pedro Carneiro & Katrine V. Løken & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2015. "A Flying Start? Maternity Leave Benefits and Long-Run Outcomes of Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(2), pages 365-412.
    5. John P. A. Ioannidis & T. D. Stanley & Hristos Doucouliagos, 2017. "The Power of Bias in Economics Research," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(605), pages 236-265, October.
    6. Pinjas Albagli & Tomás Rau, 2019. "The Effects of a Maternity Leave Reform on Children's Abilities and Maternal Outcomes in Chile," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(619), pages 1015-1047.
    7. Liu Qian & Skans Oskar Nordstrom, 2010. "The Duration of Paid Parental Leave and Children's Scholastic Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sébastien Fontenay & Libertad González Luna, 2025. "When fathers step in: Long-term consequences of early paternal involvement," Economics Working Papers 1934, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

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