Long-Term Orientation and Educational Performance

David Figlio, Paola Giuliano, Umut Özek () and Paola Sapienza
Additional contact information
Umut Özek: RAND Corporation

No 10147, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use remarkable population-level administrative education and birth records from Florida to study the role of Long-Term Orientation on the educational attainment of immigrant students living in the US. Controlling for the quality of schools and individual characteristics, students from countries with long term oriented attitudes perform better than students from cultures that do not emphasize the importance of delayed gratification. These students perform better in third grade reading and math tests, have larger test score gains over time, have fewer absences and disciplinary incidents, are less likely to repeat grades, and are more likely to graduate from high school in four years. Also, they are more likely to enroll in advanced high school courses, especially in scientific subjects. Parents from long term oriented cultures are more likely to secure better educational opportunities for their children. A larger fraction of immigrants speaking the same language in the school amplifies the effect of Long-Term Orientation on educational performance. We validate these results using a sample of immigrant students living in 37 different countries.

Keywords: long-term orientation; education; cultural transmission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 I24 J15 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 90 pages
Date: 2016-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Published - published in: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2019, 11 (4), 272-309

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Related works:
Journal Article: Long-Term Orientation and Educational Performance (2019)
Working Paper: Long-Term Orientation and Educational Performance (2016)
Working Paper: Long-Term Orientation and Educational Performance (2016)
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