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Do class size effects differ across grades?

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  • Anne Brink Nandrup

    (Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, Denmark)

Abstract

This paper contributes to the class size literature by analyzing whether short-run class size effects are constant across grade levels in compulsory school. Results are based on administrative data on all pupils enroled in Danish public schools. Identification is based on a government-imposed class size cap that creates exogenous variation in class sizes. Significant (albeit modest) negative effects of class size increases are found for children on primary school levels. The effects on math abilities are statistically different across primary and secondary school. Larger classes do not affect girls, non-Western immigrants and socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils more adversely than other pupils.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne Brink Nandrup, 2015. "Do class size effects differ across grades?," Economics Working Papers 2015-07, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    • Handle: RePEc:aah:aarhec:2015-07
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    File URL: https://repec.econ.au.dk/repec/afn/wp/15/wp15_07.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:clu:wpaper:0607-14 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Cristian Pop-Eleches & Miguel Urquiola, 2013. "Going to a Better School: Effects and Behavioral Responses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(4), pages 1289-1324, June.
    3. Miguel Urquiola & Eric Verhoogen, 2009. "Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity Design," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 179-215, March.
    4. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2010. "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 281-355, June.
    5. Lee, David S. & Card, David, 2008. "Regression discontinuity inference with specification error," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 655-674, February.
    6. Martin Browning & Eskil Heinesen, 2007. "Class Size, Teacher Hours and Educational Attainment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 109(2), pages 415-438, June.
    7. 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.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nandrup, Anne Brink, 2017. "On the importance of school-based inputs in the production of student achievement: Evidence in a recent Scandinavian context," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2017(1), pages 1-22.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Class size; regression discontinuity; compulsory schooling; literacy; test scores;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models

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