Location and Educational Signals

Raoul van Maarseveen ()
Additional contact information
Raoul van Maarseveen: University of Cologne

No 366, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: Place shapes the educational attainment of children, yet the underlying reasons remain poorly understood. In this paper, I investigate the role of spatial differences in educational signals received by students. Using Dutch administrative data combined with high-stakes national exam scores, I show that students receive less ambitious track recommendations in rural areas conditional on ability. The spatial difference is comparable to the impact of having a university-educated parent and explains around half of the spatial difference in academic track enrollment. Key mechanisms are spillovers from high SES peers and stronger beliefs in the importance of education among urban teachers.

Keywords: Spatial Inequality; Educational attainment; Teacher Bias; Human Capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 O18 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 72
Date: 2025-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_366_2025.pdf First version, 2025 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:366

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany Niebuhrstrasse 5, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ECONtribute Office ().