Do Second Chances Pay Off? Evidence from a Natural Experiment with Low-Achieving Students

Aspasia Bizopoulou (), Rigissa Megalokonomou and Stefania Simion ()
Additional contact information
Aspasia Bizopoulou: VATT, Helsinki
Stefania Simion: University of Bristol

No 15139, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In several countries, students who fail end-of-high-school high-stakes exams are faced with the choice of retaking them or forgoing postsecondary education. We explore exogenous variation generated by a 2006 policy that imposed a performance threshold for admission into postsecondary education in Greece to estimate the effect of retaking exams on a range of outcomes. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and novel administrative data, we find that low-achieving students who retake national exams improve their performance by half a standard deviation, but do not receive offers from higher quality postsecondary placements. The driving mechanism for these results stems from increased competition.

Keywords: exogenous policy; low-achieving students; postsecondary education admission; fuzzy regression discontinuity design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I23 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 69 pages
Date: 2022-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published in: Journal of Public Economics, 2024, 239, 105214

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Working Paper: Do Second Chances Pay Off? Evidence from a Natural Experiment with Low-Achieving Students (2022)
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