Relationship Between Educational Attainment and Class Size: Effects of Teacher Resource Allocation

Tamotsu Nakamura and Tomoyuki Tamagawa
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Tamotsu Nakamura: Kobe University
Tomoyuki Tamagawa: Kobe University

Chapter Chapter 1 in Education, Human Capital Investment, and Innovation in the Contemporary Japanese Economy, 2023, pp 1-18 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Analyzing the determinants of educational attainment, with class size being one of the most important among them, is crucial in investigating the accumulation of human capital and economic growth. However, we have not yet reached a clear conclusion regarding the relationship between class size and educational attainment. Some empirical studies show a positive correlation, while others find the correlation negative. In this chapter, we analyze the direct and indirect impacts of class size on educational attainment through the allocation of teachers’ efforts. We focus on the relationship between class size and teachers’ working hours to construct a formal model that endogenizes the time spent outside of class to prepare teaching materials and the time spent preparing for classes. The empirical results reveal that the relationship between class size and educational attainment can be U-shaped, inverted U-shaped, upward sloping, or downward sloping. This suggests the existence of the optimal class size as well as the most inappropriate class size. In addition, the analysis points out that grade levels and the characteristics of each subject are as important as class size in achieving the maximum educational attainment, given limited educational resources.

Keywords: Educational attainment; Teacher resource allocation; Class size; Pupil–teacher ratios (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:spbchp:978-981-19-8700-7_1

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-19-8700-7_1

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