Pia Schilling

Research

Publications

Starting off on the Right Foot – Language Learning Classes and the Educational Success of Refugee Children (with Lisa Sofie Höckel) The Economic Journal (forthcoming)

Discussion Paper: Ruhr Economic Papers 983

We study the effect of separate preparatory language learning classes on the academic outcomes of primary school-aged immigrant children in Germany compared to their direct integration into regular classrooms. Using administrative panel data and leveraging idiosyncratic assignment of refugee children to neighbourhoods, and, consequently, schools, as well as preparatory class roll-out over time, we find that primary school-aged refugees attending a preparatory class perform significantly worse on fifth-grade standardised tests and are slightly less likely to pursue an academic secondary track. While limited to short-term outcomes, our results indicate that preparatory classes could impede early academic integration by clustering migrant peers, highlighting the need to consider complementary approaches to reduce achievement disparities.

Note: Standardised test scores of refugee children attending separate preparatory class compared to those directly integrated into the regular classroom.

Media Coverage: World Bank Development Impact Blog Post

Süddeutsche Zeitung

Presented at: CESifo / ifo Junior Workshop on the Economics of Education (April 2023), AlpPop (January 2023), SEA 92nd Annual Meeting (November 2022), Economics of migration junior seminar (October 2022), Stratification Workshop Princeton (October 2022), 7th IZA Workshop on the Economics of Education (September 2022), EALE 2022 (September 2022), EEA 2022 (August 2022), CEMIR Junior Economist Workshop on Migration Research (July 2022), 23rd IZA Summer School in Labor Economics in Buch am Ammersee (May, 2022), First joint Workshop of Applied Macro and Microeconomics in Bolzano (December 2021)

The impact of natives’ attitudes on refugee integration (with Steven Stillman) - Labour Economics (2023): 102465.

Exploiting the random allocation of asylum seekers to different locations in Germany, we study the impact of native attitudes, proxied by voting behaviors, on refugees’ integration. We find that in municipalities with more voting for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party, refugees have worse social integration. These impacts are largest for groups targeted by AfD campaigns. Refugees are also more likely to suffer from harassment and right-wing attacks in areas with greater AfD support. Positive interactions with locals are also less likely and negative opinions about immigration spillover to supporters of other parties in these areas. On the other hand, stronger support for pro-immigrant parties enhances social integration.

Note: Effect of AfD vote shares in municipalities on the economic and social integration index of refugees.

Media Coverage: in the Oekonomenstimme

Presented at: RGS Doctoral Conference in Economics (February 2022), Paris School of Economics Migration Summer School (July 2021), BENA Labor Economics Worksop (December 2020)

Working Papers

What do you Want to become? Career Aspiration and School Performance. Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment (with Federico Maggio)

AEA Registry: link

We all overemphasize the present, teenagers even more so, as potential benefits of studying and investing in education seem distant and uncertain. Our project examines the impact of a two-phase randomized intervention designed to help teenagers be more forward-looking on their career aspirations and academic performance. We will evaluate the impact of the intervention by comparing the change in knowledge about the future, motivation, and educational performance in the treated classes to that in the control group, before and after the intervention through surveys conducted in schools.

Presented at: UPF Student Seminar (October 2021), AlpPop 2024

Work in Progress

Lost in Translation. Information Frictions in School Track Choice - Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment (with Friederike Hertweck, Moritz Welz, & Sven Werenbeck-Ueding)

In this study, we will analyze whether linguistic barriers and a lack of knowledge about the German school system hinders immigrant parents from making an informed decision about their children’s school track. As part of a randomized control trial in North Rhine-Westphalia, parents of fourth-graders are provided a (multilingual) mobile application containing useful information for making an informed decision for their child's secondary school. Two versions of the App will be randomly assigned to elementary schools.

Presented at: CSWEP Mentoring Workshop (September 2022), Dodenda Cornell Gathering 2025

A Journey to Unity - A Teacher-led Preschool Program to Foster Social Cohesion (with Christina Felfe, Theresia Hummel, Maike Schlosser, Patrick Schneider)

AEA Registry: link

Diversity and prosociality in early life - Evidence from a lab-in-the-field experiment in German pre-schools (with Christina Felfe, Maike Schlosser, Patrick Schneider, Judith Saurer)

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