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The Effect of a Compressed High School Curriculum on University Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Doersam

    (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, 53175 Bonn, Germany)

  • Verena Lauber

    (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, 10115 Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

A recent education reform in Germany reduced the duration of academic high school education by one year but left the curriculum, and total class time unchanged. We use a unique data set of university students to investigate the effects of this reduction in years of schooling on academic achievements at the tertiary level. By exploiting variation in the implementation of the reform across school types over time, we isolate the reform effect from cohort, state, and school type effects. Our results suggest that the reform lowers the opportunity costs of schooling and facilitates an earlier labor market entry as we find no detrimental effects while students are one year younger on average.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Doersam & Verena Lauber, 2019. "The Effect of a Compressed High School Curriculum on University Performance," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2019-03, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    • Handle: RePEc:knz:dpteco:1903
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    File URL: http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/wiwi/workingpaperseries/WP_03_Doersam_Lauber_2019.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education Economics; School Duration; Academic Achievement; Difference-in-Differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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