This paper is the first to provide, in the European context, credible causal estimates for the impact on educational achievement of a means-tested programme that subsidises school lunches. We use administrative data from the city of Barcelona for the whole universe of applications to the...

The question of the effects of ability tracking remains unresolved even after decades of research. This is also due to the fact that specific regulations for the stringency of implementing differentiation according to ability and achievement have not been taken into account. The issue is the...

We use administrative data to measure sibling spillovers on academic performance before and after Tanzania's introduction of Free Secondary Education (FSE). Prior to FSE, students whose older siblings narrowly passed the secondary school entrance exam were less likely to go to secondary school...

In addition to the humanitarian suffering and huge immediate economic costs, the war in Ukraine will have long-term consequences, among which are losses in human capital that will impact aggregate productivity for many years. Exploiting a new stock measure of human capital combining the quality...

A literacy-targeted approach to economic instruction draws on insights from cognitive science. It highlights that students process complex economic information by constructing and modifying schemas that represent economic material. Following this approach, we developed a set of instructional...

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model, which integrates value‐added and school‐choice models, to evaluate grade‐by‐grade and cumulative impacts of the Mexican Prospera conditional cash transfer (CCT) program on educational achievement. The empirical application advances the...

While studies on ambidexterity and its impact on outcomes have been ubiquitous in organizational research, the literature regarding its nature in schools has been scarce and has lacked information about its impact on student achievement. To address this research gap, this study examined the...

Migration poses both an opportunity and a challenge for the EU, as it offers a solution to labor shortages and demographic imbalances, but also creates social and economic pressure. A fairer distribution of refugees among EU member states, considering age and education level, can optimize labor...

The literature on assignment mechanisms largely focuses on efficiency basedon agents' preferences, though policymakers may prioritize different goals. In assigning teachers to classrooms, a school district might prioritize student learning but must also consider teacher welfare. This paper...

Reliance on stereotypes is a persistent feature of human decision-making and has been extensively documented in educational setting, where it can shape students' confidence, performance, and long-term human capital accumulation. While effective techniques exist to mitigate these negative...

We examine colonial-era primary education as a determinant of modern-day attainment and gender disparities in education. We construct a novel dataset from the French Protectorate in Morocco, combining archival data on colonial school locations in 1931 and 1954 with the most recent Demographic...

We estimate the causal effect of exposure to math during high school on university major choice and performance, using a unique administrative dataset of 1,396 twins extracted from the entire student population enrolled between 2011 and 2021 at an Italian university. We apply a Twin Fixed Effect...

We use the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to explore how high school peers’ grit, a personality trait characterized by perseverance and passion, influences long-term outcomes approximately 15 years after high school. Exploiting random variation within schools across...

Personality traits, preferences, and attitudes significantly influence labor market outcomes, and these non-cognitive skills are shaped by the social environment. While curriculum interventions can impact these skills, the effect of compulsory education on noncognitive skills is less well...

This study examines the impact of increasing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (from 16 to 18 years old) on the academic performance, substance use, and peer behaviours of teenagers. Using a difference-in-discontinuities design, we exploit regional MLDA reforms in Spain and PISA data to identify...

I study the effect of educational policy in the host economy on human capital accumulation and growth. The analysis is performed in a two-country growth model with endogenous fertility. I show that providing additional free educational services for immigrant children can increase the...

This study employs 2011 Census data linked to population-based administrative datasets to explore disparities in educational attainment and earnings trajectories among Australian-born children of diverse parental migration backgrounds from mid-adolescence to early adulthood. Non-English Speaking...

We estimate natural-disaster impacts on children's school enrollments and math skills and test for impact heterogeneities with respect to age and gender in seven countries in Asia and the Pacific, which is the world's most disaster-prone region. We link survey data on children aged 5 to 17 to...

Islam (2019) reports results from a randomized field experiment in Bangladesh that examines the effects of parent-teacher meetings on student test scores in primary schools. The reported findings suggest strong positive effects across multiple subjects. In this report, we demonstrate that the...

Islam (2019) reports results from a randomized field experiment in Bangladesh that examines the effects of parent-teacher meetings on student test scores in primary schools. The reported findings suggest strong positive effects across multiple subjects. In this report, we demonstrate that the...

Does relaxing strict school discipline improve student achievement, or lead to classroom disorder? We study a 2012 reform in New York City public middle schools that eliminated suspensions for non-violent, disorderly behavior. Math scores of students in more-affected schools rose by 0.05...

Effective and scalable strategies for promoting youth mental health are urgently needed. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of school-based, teacher-led coping skills instruction on youth mental health and academic achievement. The trial included 84 classes and 1,879...

We study the impact of a program designed to enhance data literacy on graduate students' skills and academic outcomes in a large Italian university. The program (i.e. a minor) targets students who are expected to have weak quantitative competences and offers 120-hours training focused on...

Motivated by extremely low levels of basic reading skills in sub-Saharan Africa, we experimentally evaluate two interventions designed to enhance students' early-grade literacy performance in rural Mozambique: a relatively light-touch teacher training in early-grade literacy along with the...