Class Size and Class Heterogeneity

Giacomo De Giorgi, Michele Pellizzari and William Gui Woolston

No 16405, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study how class size and class composition affect the academic and labor market performance of college students, two crucial policy questions given the secular increase in college enrollment. Our identification strategy relies on the random assignment of students to teaching classes. We find that a one standard deviation increase in class-size results in a 0.1 standard deviation deterioration of the average grade. Further, the effect is heterogeneous as it is stronger for males and lower income students. Also, the effects of class composition in terms of gender and ability appear to be inverse U-shaped. Finally, a reduction of 20 students (one standard deviation) in one's class size has a positive effect on monthly wages of about 80 Euros (115 USD) or 6% over the average.

JEL-codes: A22 I23 J30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-09
Note: ED
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published as Giacomo De Giorgi & Michele Pellizzari & William Gui Woolston, 2012. "Class Size And Class Heterogeneity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 795-830, 08.

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w16405.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: CLASS SIZE AND CLASS HETEROGENEITY (2012)
Working Paper: Class Size and Class Heterogeneity (2009)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16405

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w16405

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().