News 2018
December 2018
New Newsletter 4/2018 of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education Has Been Published
SZ Article on Educational Equality of Opportunity
My article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung about our study on Germans' views about reforms to increase equality of opportunity in the education system:
Mehrheiten für gerechte Bildung. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 10.12.2018, p. 18
FAZ Article on External Comparative Exams
My article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about our study on the impacts of testing:
Auf den externen Vergleich kommt es an. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10.12.2018, p. 18
Wirtschaftswoche Article on the Regional Concentration of Migrants
My article in the Wirtschaftswoche about our study on the effects of regional concentration on the integration of migrant children:
Integration verträgt sich nicht mit Gettos in den Städten. Wirtschaftswoche, 7.12.2018, p. 47
Viewpoint on a common core exit exam for Germany in "Forschung & Lehre"
Deutschland braucht ein gemeinsames Kernabitur. Forschung & Lehre 25 (12): 1029, 2018
November 2018
Commentary on Website of ARD Topic Week "Justice"
Bildungspolitik ist Säule der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft. ARD Themenwoche Gerechtigkeit, 16.11.2018
Video on "How is Student Learning Affected by Different Types of Testing?"
A 12-minute take on our "Testing" paper on the "Latest Thinking" portal:
October 2018
5-Page-Interview in Focus-Business
Long interview in Focus-Business on Germany's way into the future, an education system for adults, and missing equality of opportunity:
Deutschland sollte Vorreiter sein. Focus-Business 3/2018, pp. 55-60
Paper on Support for Education Spending Published in Journal of Public Economics
Does support for increased education spending depend on current spending levels and citizens' knowledge of them? Our paper just published in the Journal of Public Economics addresses this question using parallel survey experiments in the ifo Education Survey in Germany and a comparable representative opinion survey of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University in the United States. Randomized information provision shows that support for increased education spending and teacher salaries falls both among Germans and Americans when respondents receive information about existing levels. The effect of information provision is substantially larger for those respondents who had initially underestimated current spending levels.
How Information Affects Support for Education Spending: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Germany and the United States (with P. Lergetporer, G Schwerdt, K. Werner, and M.R. West). Journal of Public Economics 167: 138-157, 2018
September 2018
Interview in Die Zeit: "Surprisingly Modern"
My interview in Die Zeit on the results of this year's ifo Education Survey on the #MeToo debate and on the opinions of youths on education policy:
Erstaunlich modern. Die Zeit, 20.9.2018, No. 39, p. 70, 2018
New Newsletter 3/2018 of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education Has Been Published
New Working Paper: Can Online Surveys Represent the Entire Population?
This paper studies whether online surveys can be representative of the opinions of the entire population, including the “offline” population that does not use the internet. We run a large-scale opinion survey with (1) onliners in web mode, (2) offliners in face-to-face mode, and (3) onliners in face-to-face mode. We find marked response differences between onliners and offliners in the mixed-mode setting (1 vs. 2). Response differences between onliners and offliners in the same face-to-face mode (2 vs. 3) disappear when controlling for background characteristics, indicating mode effects rather than unobserved population differences. Differences in background characteristics of onliners in the two modes (1 vs. 3) indicate that mode effects partly reflect sampling differences. In our setting, re-weighting online-survey observations appears a pragmatic solution when aiming at representativeness for the entire population.
Can Online Surveys Represent the Entire Population? (with E. Grewenig, P. Lergetporer, L. Simon, and K. Werner). CESifo Working Paper 7222 / IZA Discussion Paper 11799, September 2018
ifo Education Survey 2018: Germans Want Schools to Cover #MeToo Topics
Three-quarters majorities of both women and men favor that schools cover not only gender equality, but also topics like sexual harassment in their curriculum. That is just one of the wide-ranging results of the ifo Education Survey 2018, a representative opinion survey of over 4,000 adults in Germany on education policy issues. Significant majorities of women and men see no preferential treatment of either gender at schools and universities – unlike in the labor market, where the majority sees preferential treatment of men. Germans are open to numerous measures to promote gender equality. But they clearly oppose separate teaching of girls and boys in math and languages, as well as the expansion of single-sex schools.
Was denken die Deutschen zu Geschlechterthemen und Gleichstellung in der Bildung? Ergebnisse des ifo Bildungsbarometers 2018 (with P. Lergetporer, E. Grewenig, S. Kersten, and K. Werner). ifo Schnelldienst 71 (17): 15-30, 2018
Do Youths Hold Different Views on Education Policy than Adults?
For the first time, the ifo Education Survey 2018 also surveyed over 1,000 youths aged between 14 and 17 years, uncovering interesting similarities and differences between the opinions of youths and adults. For instance, 60 percent of adults support the introduction of an all-day school system, whereas 64 percent of youths oppose it. In contrast to adults, youths also prefer purchasing new instructional materials over class-size reductions. On the other hand, majorities of both youths and adults support the introduction of nationwide standardized school exit exams and national comparative tests in several school grades, but oppose the abolition of school grades. Also on topics of gender equality and digitalization, youths and adults show similarly open opinions.
Denken Jugendliche anders über Bildungspolitik als Erwachsene? (with P. Lergetporer, E. Grewenig, S. Kersten, and K. Werner). ifo Schnelldienst 71 (17): 31-45, 2018
August 2018
New Working Paper: Inequality of Opportunity and Education Policy Preferences
Do people’s preferences for equity-oriented education policies change when they receive information on the actual extent of educational inequality? Our new study addresses this question using a survey experiment implemented in the ifo Education Survey. The share of the population who view inequality for children from different social backgrounds in the German education system as a serious problem rises from 55 to 68 percent if participants are informed about the size of achievement differences. By contrast, the information hardly affects the already high support for various equity-oriented education policies. The only exception is a significant increase in support for compulsory preschool.
Educational Inequality and Public Policy Preferences: Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments (with P. Lergetporer and K. Werner). CESifo Working Paper 7192 / IZA Discussion Paper 11730, August 2018
July 2018
30-Minute Interview on Deutschlandfunk Kultur about the Education System after the PISA Shock:
New Working Paper: External Comparative Testing Improves Student Achievement
Our study investigates reforms in assessment systems in 59 countries between 2000 and 2015 using PISA micro data on over two million students. We find that the introduction of external comparative standardized testing improves student achievement in math, science, and reading. In contrast to external testing, internal testing and teacher inspectorates without external comparisons do not systematically lead to improvements in student achievement.
Testing (with A.B. Bergbauer and E.A. Hanushek). NBER Working Paper 24836 / CESifo Working Paper 7168 / IZA Discussion Paper 11683, July 2018
Testing with Accountability Improves Student Achievement (with A.B. Bergbauer and E.A. Hanushek). VOX, 19.9.2018
Lead Article in the Review of Economics and Statistics: Why Did Protestants Have Higher Suicide Rates?
In our paper just published in the Review of Economics and Statistics, we use Prussian data from the 19th century to show that Protestants had substantially higher suicide rates than Catholics. We model two alternative explanatory mechanisms. On the one hand, the religious individualism of Protestantism may have hampered social cohesion, as Émile Durkheim already suggested in his 1897 classic “Le Suicide”. On the other hand, Protestant doctrine also emphasized less that suicide as a deadly sin prevented access to paradise. Ultimately, additional analyses drawing on historical church attendance statistics and modern suicide data tend to confirm the sociological rather than the theological explanation.
Social Cohesion, Religious Beliefs, and the Effect of Protestantism on Suicide (with S.O. Becker). Review of Economics and Statistics 100 (3): 377-391, 2018
June 2018
New Newsletter 2/2018 of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education Has Been Published
New Working Paper: Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves Impairs the Integration of Migrant Children
Regional placement plays a key role in the current debate about the integration of refugees. Two factors need to be considered: On the one hand, placement in centers may promote ethnic networks that could facilitate labor market access. On the other hand, it may give rise to enclaves that hamper language skill acquisition and integration. To address this key issue empirically, we study the example of the guest workers who came to Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. The study shows that exposure to a higher regional concentration of migrants from the same country of origin impaired German language proficiency and increased school drop-out among the children of guest workers. This effect can largely be attributed to their parents’ lower German language skills. The findings point to the potential threat of ethnic enclaves to the integration of migrant and refugee children.
Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (with A.M. Danzer, C. Feuerbaum, and M. Piopiunik). CESifo Working Paper 7097 / IZA Discussion Paper 11608, June 2018
Video of my Keynote Lecture "Berufsbildung in Zeiten des Wandels" at the BIBB Congress 2018:
May 2018
New Report by the Expert Council on Education: Digital Sovereignty
In its new report “Digital Sovereignty and Education”, the Expert Council on Education (Aktionsrat Bildung) looks at the impact of digitalization at all levels of education. The digital transformation brings far-reaching changes to society and calls for continuous learning to master the skills required to use digital media. The report develops recommendations for technical equipment and infrastructure in educational institutions, continuous training of teaching staff, research and development, and the digitalization of instruction.
Digitale Souveränität und Bildung. Gutachten des Aktionsrats Bildung. Münster: Waxmann, 2018
April 2018
New Working Paper: Educational Aspiration Gap Not Explained by Economic Ignorance
Which educational degrees do Germans want their children to have? 74 percent of German university graduates, but only 36 percent of those without a university degree favor a university degree for their children. These are the results of our new paper based on data from the ifo Education Survey. When survey participants were informed about earnings differences between academics and non-academics and about available student aid in the survey experiment, the gap in educational aspirations widened even further. These results cast doubt that ignorance of economic returns and costs of studying explains educational inequality in Germany.
Does Ignorance of Economic Returns and Costs Explain the Educational Aspiration Gap? Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments (with P. Lergetporer and K. Werner). CESifo Working Paper 7000 / IZA Discussion Paper 11453, April 2018
March 2018
FAZ Article: Which Competencies Do Job Applicants Need?
My article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the results of our new study on the influence of different elements of applicants’ curriculum on the labor market:
Kompetenzen für den Arbeitsmarkt. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 19.3.2018, p. 16
February 2018
Article in the Oxford Bulletin: The Effect of Classroom Computers Depends on their Use
Many proponents hope that computer-assisted instruction constitutes a technological breakthrough that will fundamentally revolutionize education. On average, however, using computers in the classroom does not lead to an improvement in students' achievement in math and science. But the average result masks the fact that the use of computers has opposing effects in different areas: If computers are used to look up ideas and information, student outcomes improve; but using computers to practice skills reduces student achievement. This is the result of our study which has just been published as the lead article of the new volume of the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. The study covers the achievement of over 400,000 fourth- and eighth-graders from over 50 countries on the TIMSS international student achievement test. The findings show that a qualitative improvement in teaching will occur only if the use of computers is focused on specific activities where it creates real added value.
Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement (with O. Falck and C. Mang). Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 80 (1): 1-38, 2018
January 2018
SZ Interview: Tuition Fees: Nothing Is Fairer
The Süddeutsche Zeitung prints a debate between Achim Meyer auf der Heyde, Secretary General of the German Association of Student Affairs, and me about tuition fees:
Nichts ist gerechter (with A. Meyer auf der Heyde). Süddeutsche Zeitung, 29.1.2018, p. 16
New Working Paper: Which Signals of Skills Pay off in the Labor Market?
Which skills are valued by employers? And how can graduates signal these skills effectively to potential employers? To address these questions, we have conducted a survey experiment with nearly 600 human-resource managers of German firms who choose between CVs with randomized skill signals. We find that signals in all three studied domains - cognitive skills, social skills, and maturity - have a significant effect on being invited for a job interview. But the signals that prove relevant, expected, and credible differ by context, for example between apprenticeship applicants and college graduates. While grades and social skills are significant for both genders, males are particularly rewarded for maturity and females for IT and language skills.
Skills, Signals, and Employability: An Experimental Investigation (with M. Piopiunik, G. Schwerdt, and L. Simon). CESifo Working Paper 6858 / IZA Discussion Paper 11283, January 2018
CV Elements that Will Get You a Job Interview (with M. Piopiunik, G. Schwerdt, and L. Simon). VOX, 23.2.2018
Article in the IZA World of Labor: Central Exit Exams Improve Student Outcomes
In my contribution to the IZA World of Labor, I argue that implementing central exams at the end of secondary school may prove much more effective at improving student outcomes than many other resource-intensive educational initiatives.Central exams act as an accountability device that reveals the overall outcome of the efforts of students and schools. They increase external rewards for learning, enhance monitoring of teachers and schools, and decrease peer pressure against learning. As a consequence, central exams improve the learning outcomes and subsequent labor-market performance of students and raise the understanding of grades - their information value - in the labor market.
Central Exit Exams Improve Student Outcomes. IZA World of Labor: 419, 2018