Topics in Economics of Education
Today it is widely recognized that education is enormously important to economic success in our modern knowledge-based world, not only for individuals, but for nations. Governments actively promote economic growth through large investments in education and training and substantial research has gone into identifying determinants of educational achievement which can be controlled by policy. However, there still exists a large uncertainty about whether specific education institutions and policies indeed promote the development of skills.
The aim of the seminar is to familiarize students with recent insights from the literature on the Economics of Education. In the seminar we will review the recent empirical evidence on the importance of education for labor market outcomes and of school systems for educational production. The focus will be on empirical evidence based on easily available data sources (e.g. PISA and PIAAC data) that also allow for replication of some of the central findings of this literature. Students are encouraged to make use of this data for their own empirical investigation on a related research question for their bachelor thesis.
Prerequisites
Econometrics I, Applied Econometrics (desirable)
Schedule
The seminar will take place as an online block seminar on June 28 and June 29, 2021.
A preliminary session will take place on April 26, 3-4 pm (via ZOOM - link is available on ILIAS).
Assessment
For B.Sc. Economics students: presentation of the outline in class and bachelor thesis following the seminar. Students of other programs: completed seminar paper at the time of the seminar. Attendance at both the kickoff meeting and all presentations is necessary to pass the seminar.
The entire seminar is held in English language. This also applies to the presentations of students. The seminar paper (outline of the bachelor thesis) must also be prepared in English. Students are allowed to prepare their bachelor thesis in German language, if they prefer so. However, we strongly advise you to prepare the bachelor thesis in English language, because the literature relevant for the bachelor thesis is written in English as well.
Introductory Literature
These papers introduce the topics of the seminar:
Wossmann, Ludger. 2016. “The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 30 (3): 3-31.
Bradley, Steve and Colin Green. 2020. “The Economics of Education: a comprehensive overview”, Second edition. Chapter 1.
All topic-specific introductory readings are taken from the book by Bradley and Green (2020) (henceforth: BG). Access to the E-book version of Bradley and Green (2020) will be provided to all participants in the seminar.
Topics and Introductory Reading
1. Returns to education: Developed countries [BG, chapter 3]
2. Returns to education: Developing countries [BG, chapter 4]
3. Returns to higher education [BG, chapter 6]
4. Education and inequality [BG, chapter 10]
5. Education and economic growth [BG, chapter 14]
6. Early childhood education [BG, chapter 17]
7. Peer effects in education [BG, chapter 21]
8. Teacher quality [BG, chapter 22]
9. Class size [BG, chapter 23]
10. Private schools [BG, chapter 38]
11. School accountability [BG, chapter 42]
12. Vocational Education [BG, chapter 40]