Sitting Next to a Dropout: Academic Success of Students with More Educated Peers

Daniel Goller, Andrea Diem () and Stefan Wolter
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Andrea Diem: Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education

No 15378, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We investigate the impact of the presence of university dropouts on the academic success of first-time students. Our identification strategy relies on quasi-random variation in the proportion of returning dropouts. The estimated average zero effect of dropouts on first- time students' success masks treatment heterogeneity and non-linearities. First, we find negative effects on the academic success of their new peers from dropouts re-enrolling in the same subject and, conversely, positive effects of dropouts changing subjects. Second, using causal machine learning methods, we find that the effects vary nonlinearly with different treatment intensities and prevailing treatment levels.

Keywords: university dropouts; peer effects; better prepared students; causal machine learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A23 C14 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2022-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-edu, nep-eur and nep-ure
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Published - published in: Economics of Education Review, 2023, 93, 102372

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Related works:
Journal Article: Sitting next to a dropout: Academic success of students with more educated peers (2023)
Working Paper: Sitting Next to a Dropout - Academic Success of Students with More Educated Peers (2022)
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