The Impact of Upper Secondary School Flexibility on Sorting and Educational Outcomes

Andrea Berggren () and Louise Jeppsson ()
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Andrea Berggren: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden, https://economics.gu.se/
Louise Jeppsson: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden, https://economics.gu.se/

No 764, Working Papers in Economics from University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper estimates the causal impact of an upper secondary curriculum reform in Sweden that increased students' course-taking flexibility in year 2000. In the most popular upper secondary program, it led to a significant decrease in mandatory mathematics requirements. Using administrative Swedish data, we estimate the causal impact of the reform on tertiary education outcomes and expected earnings using a differences-in-discontinuity identification strategy. The method compares students born immediately before and after the cutoff date. The inclusion of students born in neighboring non-reform cutoff years enables us to disentangle the school starting age effect from the unconfounded effect of the reform. We find no negative effects of the reduced mathematics requirements. Rather, we find a positive effect of the reform on students' probability of enrolling in, and earning a degree from, tertiary education. Our heterogeneity analysis suggests that relatively disadvantaged students were not negatively affected by the reform.

Keywords: Educational Economics; Upper secondary school curriculum; Course selection; Tertiary education; Returns to education; Reform evaluation; Human Capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I23 I26 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 58 pages
Date: 2019-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-lab and nep-ure
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