Rank Concerns, Peer Effects, and Ability Tracking in University. Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

Marco Bertoni and Roberto Nisticò ()

CSEF Working Papers from Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy

Abstract: If relative rank within classes enhances student achievement, tracking will help low-ability students and may harm high achievers. Using data from a randomized experiment generating a wide range of support of group ability composition, we show that students with higher ordinal ability rank within groups have better academic outcomes. We use our flexible education production function and the ample support of the data to predict the effects of alternative grouping polices. When we unpack the mechanisms behind ability tracking, we show that rank and peer effects work in opposite directions in generating outcomes for low- and high-ability students.

Keywords: ability tracking; rank concerns; peer effects. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07-27
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sef:csefwp:506

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