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Testing the Internal Validity of Compulsory School Reforms as Instrument for Years of Schooling

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  • Brunello, Giorgio

    (University of Padova)

  • Fort, Margherita

    (University of Bologna)

  • Weber, Guglielmo

    (University of Padova)

  • Weiss, Christoph T.

    (European Investment Bank)

Abstract

In the large empirical literature that investigates the causal effects of education on outcomes such as health, wages and crime, it is customary to measure education with years of schooling, and to identify these effects using the exogenous variation provided by school reforms increasing compulsory education and minimum school leaving age. If these reforms are correlated to changes in school quality, and school quality is an omitted variable, this identification strategy may fail. We test whether this is the case by using the information provided by two distinct test scores on mathematics and reading and find that we cannot reject the internal validity of this popular identification strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Brunello, Giorgio & Fort, Margherita & Weber, Guglielmo & Weiss, Christoph T., 2013. "Testing the Internal Validity of Compulsory School Reforms as Instrument for Years of Schooling," IZA Discussion Papers 7533, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7533
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    Cited by:

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    2. Enkelejda Havari & Marco Savegnago, 2014. "The causal effect of parents’ schooling on children’s schooling in Europe. A new IV approach," CEIS Research Paper 315, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 12 May 2014.
    3. Kämpfen, Fabrice & Maurer, Jürgen, 2018. "Does education help “old dogs” learn “new tricks”? The lasting impact of early-life education on technology use among older adults," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 1125-1132.
    4. Issofou NJIFEN & Aicha PEMBOURA, 2020. "Hétérogénéité dans les rendements de l’éducation au Cameroun : une estimation en présence des biais de sélection et d’endogénéité," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 52, pages 105-126.
    5. d׳Hombres, Béatrice & Nunziata, Luca, 2016. "Wish you were here? Quasi-experimental evidence on the effect of education on self-reported attitude toward immigrants," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 201-224.
    6. Bolzern, Benjamin & Huber, Martin, 2017. "Testing the validity of the compulsory schooling law instrument," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 23-27.
    7. Enkelejda Havari & Marco Savegnago, 2013. "The causal effect of parents� schooling on children�s schooling in Europe. A new IV approach," Working Papers 2013:30, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    8. Marcus Österman, 2021. "Can We Trust Education for Fostering Trust? Quasi-experimental Evidence on the Effect of Education and Tracking on Social Trust," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 211-233, February.
    9. Ralsmark, Hilda, 2017. "Education, norms, and gender equality," Working Papers in Economics 702, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    10. Brunello, Giorgio & De Paola, Maria, 2013. "The Costs of Early School Leaving in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 7791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Weiss, Christoph T., 2015. "Education and regional mobility in Europe," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 129-141.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    human capital; instrumental variables; nested models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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