The long-lasting effects of school entry age: Evidence from Italian students

Michela Ponzo and Vincenzo Scoppa ()

Journal of Policy Modeling, 2014, vol. 36, issue 3, 578-599

Abstract: Using data for 9, 13 and 15-year-old students from three different datasets (PIRLS-2006, TIMSS-2007 and PISA-2009), we investigate whether the age at school entry affects children school performance at the fourth, eighth and tenth grade levels. Since student's age in a grade may be endogenous, we use an instrumental variable estimation strategy exploiting the exogenous variations in the month of birth coupled with the entry school cut-off date. We find that younger children score substantially lower than older peers at the fourth, the eighth and the tenth grade. The advantage of older students does not dissipate as they grow older. We do not find any significant effect of the relative age of a child with respect to the classmates’ age. Finally, we show that secondary school students are more likely to be tracked in more academic schools rather than in vocational schools if they are born in the early months of the year. From a policy point of view our results suggest that it might be useful to postpone the entry at school of children, or at least pupils should be prevented to anticipate the age of their entry at school. Tracking should also be delayed.

Keywords: School entry age; Educational production function; Student achievement; Choice of track; Instrumental variables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I28 J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (53)

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Working Paper: THE LONG-LASTING EFFECTS OF SCHOOL ENTRY AGE: EVIDENCE FROM ITALIAN STUDENTS (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:36:y:2014:i:3:p:578-599

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2014.04.001

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