Fundamental Determinants of School Efficiency and Equity: German States as a Microcosm for OECD Countries

Ludger Woessmann

No 2880, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Cross-country evidence on student achievement might be hampered by omitted country characteristics such as language or legal differences. This paper uses cross-state variation in Germany, whose sixteen states share the same language and legal system, but pursue different education policies. The same results found previously across countries hold within Germany: Higher mean student performance is associated with central exams, private school operation, and socio-economic background, but not with spending, while higher equality of opportunity is associated with reduced tracking. In a model that pools German states with OECD countries, these fundamental determinants do not differ significantly between the two samples.

Keywords: Germany; education production function; institutional effects in schooling; PISA; student performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D02 D63 H52 I28 J24 L33 L38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2007-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eec, nep-eff, nep-hrm and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Published - published in: Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik , 2010, 230 (2), 234-270

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Working Paper: Fundamental Determinants of School Efficiency and Equity: German States as a Microcosm for OECD Countries (2007)
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