A Signal of (Train)Ability? Grade Repetition and Hiring Chances

Stijn Baert and Matteo Picchio

No 13488, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This article contributes to the nascent literature on the effect of grade retention in school on later labour market success. A field experiment is conducted to rule out the endogeneity of both outcomes. More concretely, various treatments of grade retention are randomly assigned to fictitious résumés sent in application to real vacancies. Overall, grade retention does not significantly affect positive call-back by employers. However, when narrowing in on vacancies for occupations where on-the-job training is important, job candidates with a record of grade retention are 16% less likely to receive a positive reaction. This finding is consistent with Queuing theory.

Keywords: queuing; training; grade retention; hiring youth; signalling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 I21 J23 J70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2020-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-lma and nep-ore
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Published - revised version published in: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization , 2021, 188, 867 - 878

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https://docs.iza.org/dp13488.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: A signal of (Train)ability? Grade repetition and hiring chances (2021)
Working Paper: A SIGNAL OF TRAIN(ABILITY)? GRADE REPETITION AND HIRING CHANCES (2020)
Working Paper: A Signal of (Train)ability? Grade Repetition and Hiring Chances (2020)
Working Paper: A Signal of (Train)ability? Grade Repetition and Hiring Chances (2020)
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