Randomized field experiments designed to better understand the production of human capital have increased exponentially over the past several decades. This chapter summarizes what we have learned about various partial derivatives of the human capital production function, what important partial...

This paper investigates how exposure to higher-achieving male and female peers in university affects students’ major choices and labor market outcomes. For identification of causal effects, we exploit the random assignment of students to university sections in first-year compulsory courses. We...

This paper investigates how exposure to higher-achieving male and female peers in university affects students’ major choices and labor market outcomes. For identification of causal effects, we exploit the random assignment of students to university sections in first-year compulsory courses. We...

Why are females compared to males both more likely to have strong STEM-related performance and less likely to study STEM later on? We exploit random assignment of students to classrooms in Greece to identify the impact of comparative advantage in STEM relative to non-STEM subjects on STEM...

This paper studies the impact of exam luck on individuals’ education and labor market success. We leverage unique features of the Norwegian education system that produce random variation in the content of the exams taken by students at the end of high school. Lucky students take exams in...

This dissertation consists of four distinct empirical essays that address various aspects of the economics of education. Chapters 2 and 3 show that patience and risk-taking as intertemporal preferences are closely related to differences in student achievement across and within countries. Chapter...

Die Studie stellt die Bruttolohn- und Tariflohnentwicklung von Arbeitnehmern in der Privatwirtschaft und Angestellten im öffentlichen Dienst seit der Wiedervereinigung gegenüber. Dabei werden auch Sonderleistungen (wie Urlaubs- und Weihnachtsgeld, Überstundenzuschläge usw.), flexible...

In many countries there is a considerable gender gap in enrolment for a bachelor's degree in Economics, arguably an important stepping stone towards positions of influence in policy making and occupations paying relatively high wages. We investigate the sources of this gap by looking in detail...

We evaluate the education and labour impact of vocational education and training (VET). Identification draws on different IVs from the large-scale, staggered introduction of VET courses in public schools in Portugal from 2005. We also exploit the large gender differences in VET, with many...

Die Studie stellt die Bruttolohn- und Tariflohnentwicklung von Arbeitnehmern in der Privatwirtschaft und Angestellten im öffentlichen Dienst seit der Wiedervereinigung gegenüber. Dabei werden auch Sonderleistungen (wie Urlaubs- und Weihnachtsgeld, Überstundenzuschläge usw.), flexible...