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On the Efficiency Costs of Detracking Secondary Schools

Author Info

  • Kenn Ariga
  • Giorgio Brunello
  • Roki Iwahashi
  • Lorenzo Rocco

Abstract

During the postwar period, many countries have de-tracked their secondary schools, based on the view that early tracking was unfair. What are the efficiency costs, if any, of de- tracking schools? To answer this question, we develop a two skills - two jobs model with a frictional labour market, where new school graduates need to actively search for their best match. We compute optimal tracking length and the output gain/loss associated to the gap between actual and optimal tracking length. Using a sample of 18 countries, we find that: a) actual tracking length is often longer than optimal, which might call for some efficient de-tracking; b) the output loss of having a tracking length longer or shorter than optimal is sizeable, and close to 2 percent of total net output.

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Paper provided by Collegio Carlo Alberto in its series Carlo Alberto Notebooks with number 35.

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Length: 54 pages
Date of creation: 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cca:wpaper:35
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Keywords: mismatch; school tracking.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
  • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

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  1. Yashiv, E., 1999. "The Determinants of Equilibrium Unemployment," Papers 36-99, Tel Aviv.
  2. Meghir, Costas & Palme, Mårten, 1999. "Assessing the Effect of Schooling on Earnings Using a Social Experiment," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 313, Stockholm School of Economics.
  3. Eric Hanushek & Charles Ka Yui Leung & Kuzey Yilmaz, 2001. "Redistribution through Education and Other Transfer Mechanisms," NBER Working Papers 8588, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Lamo, Ana & Messina, Julián & Wasmer, Etienne, 2011. "Are specific skills an obstacle to labor market adjustment?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 240-256, April.
  5. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2005. "Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence across Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 1901, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Caroline Hoxby, 2000. "Peer Effects in the Classroom: Learning from Gender and Race Variation," NBER Working Papers 7867, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  7. Brunello, Giorgio & Giannini, Massimo & Ariga, Kenn, 2004. "The Optimal Timing of School Tracking," IZA Discussion Papers 995, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  8. Bénabou, Roland, 2000. "Tax And Education Policy In A Heterogeneous Agent Economy: What Levels Of Redistribution Maximize Growth And Efficiency?," CEPR Discussion Papers 2446, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  9. David Card & Alan Krueger, 1990. "Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States," NBER Working Papers 3358, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  10. Ariga, Kenn & Brunello, Giorgio & Iwahashi, Roki & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2005. "Why Is the Timing of School Tracking So Heterogeneous?," IZA Discussion Papers 1854, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  11. Brunello, Giorgio & Checchi, Daniele, 2006. "Does School Tracking Affect Equality of Opportunity? New International Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 2348, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  12. Albrecht, James W. & Gautier, Pieter A. & Vroman, Susan B., 2003. "Matching with multiple applications," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 67-70, January.
  13. Alain Delacroix & Shouyong Shi, 2006. "Directed Search On The Job And The Wage Ladder," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 47(2), pages 651-699, 05.
  14. E. Paul Durrenberger, 2005. "Labour," Chapters, in: A Handbook of Economic Anthropology, chapter 8 Edward Elgar Publishing.
  15. Richard Rogerson & Robert Shimer & Randall Wright, 2004. "Search-Theoretic Models of the Labor Market-A Survey," NBER Working Papers 10655, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  16. James J. Heckman & Jora Stixrud & Sergio Urzua, 2006. "The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior," NBER Working Papers 12006, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Cited by:

  1. repec:ner:carlos:info:hdl:10016/929 is not listed on IDEAS
  2. Ferreira, Francisco H. G. & Gignoux, Jeremie, 2011. "The measurement of educational inequality : achievement and opportunity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5873, The World Bank.
  3. Florentino Felgueroso & María Gutiérrez-Domènech & Sergi Jiménez-Martín, 2013. "Dropout Trends and Educational Reforms: The Role of the LOGSE in Spain," Working Papers 2013-04, FEDEA.
  4. Romero-Medina, Antonio & Triossi, Matteo, 2007. "Games of capacities : a (close) look to Nash Equilibria," UC3M Working papers. Economics we075933, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
  5. Pamela Giustinelli, 2011. "Group Decision Making with Uncertain Outcomes: Unpacking Child-Parent Choices of High School Tracks," Working Papers 2011-030, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
  6. repec:hal:wpaper:halshs-00646594 is not listed on IDEAS
  7. Volker Meier & Gabriela Schütz, 2007. "The Economics of Tracking and Non-Tracking," Ifo Working Paper Series Ifo Working Papers No. 50, Ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
  8. Felgueroso, Florentino & Gutiérrez-Domenech, María & Jiménez Martín, Sergi, 2013. "¿Por qué el abandono escolar se ha mantenido tan elevado en España en las últimas dos décadas? El papel de la Ley de Educación (LOGSE)," Economic Reports 02-2013, FEDEA.

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