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Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College

Benjamin Elsner (), Ingo E Isphording and Ulf Zoelitz
Additional contact information
Ingo E Isphording: IZA - Institute of Labor Economics
Ulf Zoelitz: University of Zurich

Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Ulf Zölitz

No 202105, Working Papers from Geary Institute, University College Dublin

Abstract: This paper studies how a student's ordinal rank in a peer group affects performance and specialisation choices in university. By exploiting data with repeated random assignment of students to teaching sections, we find that a higher rank increases performance and the probability of choosing related follow-up courses and majors. We document two types of dynamic effects. First, earlier ranks are less important than later ranks. Second, responses to rank changes are asymmetric: improvements in rank raise performance, while decreases in rank have no effect. Rank effects partially operate through students' expectations about future grades.

Keywords: rank; social comparisons; higher education; peer effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J16 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2021-03-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (36)

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http://www.ucd.ie/geary/static/publications/workingpapers/gearywp202105.pdf First version, 2021 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College (2021) Downloads
Working Paper: Achievement rank affects performance and major choices in college (2018) Downloads
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