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My research aims to improve our understanding of what determines the long-run prosperity of people. This directly leads to my second main research interest, the determinants of educational achievement. The following list shows key contributions by topic.
I. What Determines Long-Run Prosperity?
I. What Determines Long-Run Prosperity?
A. Educational Achievement and Economic Growth
A. Educational Achievement and Economic Growth
1. Global Universal Basic Skills: Current Deficits and Implications for World Development (with S. Gust and E.A. Hanushek). Journal of Development Economics 166: 103205, 2024 [tweet1] [tweet2] [video]
2. Knowledge Capital and Aggregate Income Differences: Development Accounting for US States (with E.A. Hanushek and J. Ruhose). American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 9 (4): 184-224, 2017
3. Knowledge Capital, Growth, and the East Asian Miracle (with E.A. Hanushek). Science 351 (6271): 344-345, 2016
4. Do Better Schools Lead to More Growth? Cognitive Skills, Economic Outcomes, and Causation (with E.A. Hanushek). Journal of Economic Growth 17 (4): 267-321, 2012
5. Schooling, Educational Achievement, and the Latin American Growth Puzzle (with E.A. Hanushek). Journal of Development Economics 99 (2): 497-512, 2012
6. The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development (with E.A. Hanushek). Journal of Economic Literature 46 (3): 607-668, 2008
B. Education and Individual Prosperity
B. Education and Individual Prosperity
7. Multidimensional Skills on LinkedIn Profiles: Measuring Human Capital and the Gender Skill Gap (with D. Dorn, F. Schoner, M. Seebacher, and L. Simon). CESifo Working Paper 11846, May 2025 [post: X Bluesky LinkedIn]
8. Skills and Earnings: A Multidimensional Perspective on Human Capital. Annual Review of Economics, forthcoming [post: X Bluesky LinkedIn]
9. Skills, Signals, and Employability: An Experimental Investigation (with M. Piopiunik, G. Schwerdt, and L. Simon). European Economic Review 123: 103374, 2020
10. General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Life-Cycle (with E.A. Hanushek, G. Schwerdt, and L. Zhang). Journal of Human Resources 52 (1): 48-87, 2017
11. Returns to Skills around the World: Evidence from PIAAC (with E.A. Hanushek, G. Schwerdt, and S. Wiederhold). European Economic Review 73: 103-130, 2015
12. The Impact of an Adult Education Voucher Program: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment (with G. Schwerdt, D. Messer, and S.C. Wolter). Journal of Public Economics 96 (7-8): 569-583, 2012
C. Education and Historical Development
C. Education and Historical Development
13. Education and Religious Participation: City-Level Evidence from Germany’s Secularization Period 1890-1930 (with S.O. Becker and M. Nagler). Journal of Economic Growth 22 (3): 273-311, 2017
14. Education and Catch-up in the Industrial Revolution (with S.O. Becker and E. Hornung). American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 3 (3): 92-126, 2011
15. The Trade-off between Fertility and Education: Evidence from before the Demographic Transition (with S.O. Becker and F. Cinnirella). Journal of Economic Growth 15 (3): 177-204, 2010
16. Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History (with S.O. Becker). Quarterly Journal of Economics 124 (2): 531-596, 2009
D. Religion, Culture, and Economic Development
D. Religion, Culture, and Economic Development
17. Religion and Growth (with S.O. Becker and J. Rubin). Journal of Economic Literature 62 (3): 1094–1142, 2024 [tweet]
18. The Separation and Reunification of Germany: Rethinking a Natural Experiment Interpretation of the Enduring Effects of Communism (with S.O. Becker and L. Mergele). Journal of Economic Perspectives 34 (2): 143-171, 2020 [tweet]
19. 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
20. The Empire Is Dead, Long Live the Empire! Long-Run Persistence of Trust and Corruption in the Bureaucracy (with S.O. Becker, K. Boeckh and C. Hainz). Economic Journal 126 (590): 40-74, 2016
21. Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties (with S.O. Becker). American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 103 (3): 539-544, 2013
E. The Internet and Societal Prosperity
E. The Internet and Societal Prosperity
22. Surfing Alone? The Internet and Social Capital: Evidence from an Unforeseeable Technological Mistake (with S. Bauernschuster and O. Falck). Journal of Public Economics 117: 73-89, 2014
23. Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth (with N. Czernich, O. Falck, and T. Kretschmer). Economic Journal 121 (552): 505-532, 2011
II. What Determines Educational Achievement?
II. What Determines Educational Achievement?
A. School Systems and Student Achievement: External Exams, Autonomy, and Competition
A. School Systems and Student Achievement: External Exams, Autonomy, and Competition
24. Testing (with A.B. Bergbauer and E.A. Hanushek). Journal of Human Resources 59 (2): 349-388, 2024 [tweet1] [tweet2] [video]
25. The Information Value of Central School Exams (with G. Schwerdt). Economics of Education Review 56: 65-79, 2017
26. The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 30 (3): 3-31, 2016
27. Does School Autonomy Make Sense Everywhere? Panel Estimates from PISA (with E.A. Hanushek and S. Link). Journal of Development Economics 104: 212-232, 2013
28. ‘Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School’: Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary School Competition and Student Achievement across Countries (with M.R. West). Economic Journal 120 (546): F229-F255, 2010
29. Schooling Resources, Educational Institutions, and Student Performance: The International Evidence. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 65 (2): 117-170, 2003
B. Resources, Teachers, and Student Achievement
B. Resources, Teachers, and Student Achievement
30. 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
31. The Impact of Teacher Subject Knowledge on Student Achievement: Evidence from Within-Teacher Within-Student Variation (with J. Metzler). Journal of Development Economics 99 (2): 486-496, 2012
32. Class-Size Effects in School Systems around the World: Evidence from Between-Grade Variation in TIMSS (with M.R. West). European Economic Review 50 (3): 695-736, 2006
33. Educational Production in Europe. Economic Policy 20 (43): 445-504, 2005
34. The Decline of Schooling Productivity in OECD Countries (with E. Gundlach and J. Gmelin). Economic Journal 111 (471): C135-C147, 2001
C. Equality of Opportunity: Mentoring, Enclaves, and Tracking
C. Equality of Opportunity: Mentoring, Enclaves, and Tracking
35. Can Mentoring Alleviate Family Disadvantage in Adolescence? A Field Experiment to Improve Labor-Market Prospects (with S. Resnjanskij, J. Ruhose, S. Wiederhold, and K. Wedel). Journal of Political Economy 132 (3): 1013–1062, 2024 [tweet1] [video] [tweet2] [tweet3]
36. Long-run Trends in the U.S. SES-Achievement Gap (with E.A. Hanushek, J.D. Light, P.E. Peterson, and L.M. Talpey). Education Finance and Policy 17 (4): 608-640, 2022 [tweet]
37. Growing up in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency and Educational Attainment of Immigrant Children (with A.M. Danzer, C. Feuerbaum, and M. Piopiunik). Journal of Population Economics 35 (3): 1297-1344, 2022 [tweet]
38. Does Ignorance of Economic Returns and Costs Explain the Educational Aspiration Gap? Representative Evidence from Adults and Adolescents (with P. Lergetporer and K. Werner). Economica 88 (351): 624-670, 2021 [tweet] [video]
39. Education Policy and Equality of Opportunity (with G. Schütz and H.W. Ursprung). Kyklos 61 (2): 279-308, 2008
40. Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence across Countries (with E.A. Hanushek). Economic Journal 116 (510): C63-C76, 2006
D. Educational Determinants: Patience, Religious Education, the Covid Pandemic, and Age
D. Educational Determinants: Patience, Religious Education, the Covid Pandemic, and Age
41. Out-of-School Learning: Subtitling vs. Dubbing and the Acquisition of Foreign-Language Skills (with F. Baumeister and E.A. Hanushek). NBER Working Paper 33984 / CESifo Working Paper 11981 / IZA Discussion Paper 17991, July 2025 [post: X Bluesky LinkedIn]
42. Age and Cognitive Skills: Use It or Lose It (with E.A. Hanushek, L. Kinne, and F. Witthöft). Science Advances 11 (10): eads1560, 2025 [post: X Bluesky LinkedIn]
43. Patience and Subnational Differences in Human Capital: Regional Analysis with Facebook Interests (with E.A. Hanushek, L. Kinne, and P. Sancassani). Economic Journal, forthcoming [post: X Bluesky LinkedIn tweet1]
44. Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes? Evidence from German State Reforms of Compulsory Religious Education (with B. Arold and L. Zierow). Journal of Human Resources, forthcoming [tweet]
45. The Legacy of Covid-19 in Education (with K. Werner). Economic Policy 38 (115): 609-668, 2023 [tweet1] [tweet2] [more on Covid]
46. Patience, Risk-Taking, and Human Capital Investment across Countries (with E.A. Hanushek, L. Kinne, and P. Lergetporer). Economic Journal 132 (646): 2290-2307, 2022 [tweet]
47. COVID-19 and Educational Inequality: How School Closures Affect Low- and High-Achieving Students (with E. Grewenig, P. Lergetporer, K. Werner, and L. Zierow). European Economic Review 140: 103920, 2021 [tweet] [video]
E. Public Opinion and the Political Economy of Education Policy
E. Public Opinion and the Political Economy of Education Policy
48. Income Contingency and the Electorate’s Support for Tuition (with P. Lergetporer). Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, forthcoming [tweet]
49. Earnings Information and Public Preferences for University Tuition: Evidence from Representative Experiments (with P. Lergetporer). Journal of Public Economics 226: 104968, 2023 [tweet]
50. Incentives, Search Engines, and the Elicitation of Subjective Beliefs: Evidence from Representative Online Survey Experiments (with E. Grewenig, P. Lergetporer, and K. Werner). Journal of Econometrics 231 (1): 304-326, 2022
51. Educational Inequality and Public Policy Preferences: Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments (with P. Lergetporer and K. Werner). Journal of Public Economics 188: 104226, 2020
52. Do Party Positions Affect the Public’s Policy Preferences? Experimental Evidence on Support for Family Policies (with E. Grewenig, P. Lergetporer, and K. Werner). Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 179: 523-543, 2020
53. 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
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