For Better or Worse? The Effects of Physical Education on Child Development

Michael Knaus, Michael Lechner and Anne K. Reimers
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Anne K. Reimers: Chemnitz University of Technology

No 11268, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This study analyses the effects of regular physical education at school on cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, motor skills, physical activity, and health. It is based on a very informative data set, the German Motorik-Modul, and identifies the effect by using variation in the required numbers of physical education lessons across and within German federal states. The results show improvements in cognitive skills. Boys' non-cognitive skills are adversely affected driven by increased peer relation problems. For girls, the results suggest improvements in motor skills and increased extra-curricular physical activities. Generally, we find no statistically significant effects on health parameters.

Keywords: physical education; cognitive skills; non-cognitive skills; motor skills; physical activity; health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I26 Z28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 97 pages
Date: 2018-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-hea and nep-neu
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Labour Economics, 2020, 67, 1010904

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Related works:
Journal Article: For better or worse? – The effects of physical education on child development (2020)
Working Paper: For better or worse? – The Effects of Physical Education on Child Development (2018)
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