We study the relationship between adult education and training (AET) and employment in Sweden. Exploiting rich data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, and using an inverse-probability weighted regression-adjustment estimator, we find that AET is positively related to the probability of doing paid work. This…

The paper studies a unique education reform that decreased the length of secondary-level vocational education from 4 to 3 years, reducing the time spent on general subjects while keeping the time spent on vocational training. We use a difference-in-difference strategy by comparing reformed schools with early adopters before and after the reform.…

Using public information from birth certificates and prison records from Florida, we adopt a reduced-form approach to estimate the effect of relative age on the probability of incarceration in adulthood (until age 30-40). We use a Regression Discontinuity Design around the cutoff date for Kindergarten enrollment (Sept. 1). We find strong evidence…

Using a panel data set of scientists in the US, we examine the hypothesis that workers in jobs poorly matched to their education are more likely to retire. In pooled estimates, we confirm that the mismatched are more likely to retire and that among retirees, the mismatched retire at younger ages. Hazard function estimates also support the…

We exploit differences in state special education funding systems based on special education enrollment ('bounty systems') or on total student enrollment ('census systems') to assess whether funding systems impact teacher turnover, teacher specialty, special education enrollment, state education spending, average class sizes, and teacher effort.…

This paper argues that assortative matching may explain over-education. Education determines individuals' income and, due to the presence of assortative matching, the quality of partners in personal, social and working life. Thus, an individual acquires education to improve the expected partners' quality. However, since every individual of the…

We study the effects of learning intensity and duration of high school on students' motivation, abilities and achievements at university. The empirical analysis is based on primary panel data from an education reform in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt that reduced university preparatory schooling from 13 to 12 years but left the curriculum…

This paper studies the determinants of academic success using a unique administrative data set of a German university. We show that high school grades are strongly associated with both graduation probabilities and final grades, whereas variables measuring social origin or income have only a smaller impact. Moreover, the link between high school…

In this paper, I assess labor market returns of a substantial skill upgrade: college enrollment of the vocationally trained, non-traditional students who do not have the formal entry requirement. Using propensity-score-adjusted regressions and the National Educational Panel Study, I find that these enrollees face high opportunity costs as they…

We estimate the percentage of eligible students who do not take up their federal need-based student financial aid entitlements in a microsimulation model for the German Socio-Economic Panel Study 2002--2013. We find that about 40% of the eligible low-income students do not take up their entitlements. Non-take-up is inversely and rather…

This paper demonstrates that the Big five personality traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability) measured at age 14 can be linked to field of study choice in university at around age 19. While personality matters less than cognitive skills, such as math ability and verbal ability, for…

Private tutoring has expanded and intensified in China. However, no government statistical data or other empirical studies fully capture its extent and characteristics. This paper analyses private tutoring received by students in Grades 1-12 as indicated by a nationwide representative survey entitled China Family Panel Studies. The paper employs a…

This paper estimates the treatment effect of grade repetitions in French junior high schools, using a value-added test score as outcome and quarter of birth as instrument. With linear two-stage least squares, local average treatment effect is estimated at around 1.6 times the standard deviation of the achievement gain. With non-linear…

The timing of education across the life cycle is differentially associated with older age health outcomes and socioeconomic status among military retirees, a subpopulation with common levels of adolescent health, but variation in educational timing. A year of education obtained before military service lowers the probability of poor health in…

Our study assesses whether high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses provide non-college bound youth with the skills and training necessary to successfully transition from high school into the STEM economy. Specifically, our study estimates the effects that advanced math, advanced science, engineering, and…