Peer effects in European primary schools: evidence from PIRLS.

We estimate peer effects for fourth graders in six European countries. The identification relies on variation across classes within schools, which we argue are formed roughly randomly. The estimates are much reduced within schools compared to the standard ordinary least squares (OLS) results. This could be explained either by selection into schools or by measurement error in the peer variable. Correcting for measurement error, we find within-school estimates close to the original OLS estimates. Our results suggest that the peer effect is modestly large, measurement error is important in our survey data, and selection plays little role in biasing peer effects estimates

Peer Effects in European Primary Schools: Evidence from PIRLS

We estimate peer effects for fourth graders in six European countries. The identificationrelies on variation across classes within schools. We argue that classes within primaryschools are formed roughly randomly with respect to family background. Similar to previousstudies, we find sizeable estimates of peer effects in standard OLS specifications. The size ofthe estimate is much reduced within schools. This could be explained either by selection intoschools or by measurement error in the peer background variable. When we correct formeasurement error we find within school estimates close to the original OLS estimates. Ourresults suggest that the peer effect is modestly large, measurement error is important in oursurvey data, and selection plays little role in biasing peer effects estimates. We find nosignificant evidence of non-linear peer effects.Primary School, Peer Effects

Aggregate Unemployment Decreases Individual Returns to Education

On the basis of a theoretical model, we argue that higher aggregate unemployment affects individual returns to education. We therefore include aggregate unemployment and an interaction term between unemployment and the individual education level in a standard Mincer equation. Our results show that an increase in regional unemployment by 1% decreases the returns to education by 0.005 percentage points. This implies that higher skilled employees are better sheltered from labour market changes with respect to their jobs but encounter larger wage changes than less skilled employees. Differences in regional unemployment can in addition almost fully explain the observed large differences in regional returns to education. We use representative individual data and regional panel variation in unemployment between different German regions and for different employee groups. We demonstrate that our results are robust with respect to aggregation bias, time lags and potential endogeneity of the unemployment variable

Peer effects in European primary schools: evidence from PIRLS

We estimate peer effects for fourth graders in six European countries. The identification relies on variation across classes within schools. We argue that classes within primary schools are formed roughly randomly with respect to family background. Similar to previous studies, we find sizeable estimates of peer effects in standard OLS specifications. The size of the estimate is much reduced within schools. This could be explained either by selection into schools or by measurement error in the peer background variable. When we correct for measurement error we find within school estimates close to the original OLS estimates. Our results suggest that the peer effect is modestly large, measurement error is important in our survey data, and selection plays little role in biasing peer effects estimates. We find no significant evidence of non-linear peer effects

Peer effects in European primary schools: evidence from PIRLS

We estimate peer effects for fourth graders in six European countries. The identification relies on variation across classes within schools, which we argue are formed roughly randomly. The estimates are much reduced within schools compared to the standard ordinary least squares (OLS) results. This could be explained either by selection into schools or by measurement error in the peer variable. Correcting for measurement error, we find within-school estimates close to the original OLS estimates. Our results suggest that the peer effect is modestly large, measurement error is important in our survey data, and selection plays little role in biasing peer effects estimate

Violence in European Schools: Victimization and Consequences. ZWE Discussion Paper No. 07‐004: ZEW ‐ Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar. Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server: ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp07004.pdf Nontechnical summary Violence at schools is a phenomenon that is apparent in most countries. Despite the public attention devoted to outbursts of violence nowadays, little is known about the dimension and consequences of small-scale violence which students face at school each day. Common forms of everyday violence at schools are students being excluded from social groups, being verbally and physically harassed, being bullied and being stolen from by classmates. The motivation, concentration and self-confidence of students are likely to suffer when students are affected by violence. This paper uses representative data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for eleven European countries and the British National Child Development Study (NCDS) to examine the degree to which students experience violence at schools and the consequences on student performance and further outcomes. The main questions being addressed are: What is the dimension of school violence? Who are the victims? What is the effect of being a victim on student performance, educational achievement and earnings? The analysis of the TIMSS data refers to both students in grade four and in grade eight since a child's personality develops fast and students in primary and secondary schools may be affected differently by school violence. The indicators for violence are whether students have been stolen from or been hurt by other students in the preceding month. In addition to the cross-country TIMSS data, the longitudinal NCDS data for Britain is analyzed. This data provides the opportunity to study the impact of being bullied as a child not only on contemporary outcomes like student performance but as well on later outcomes like educational degrees and earnings. Moreover, the NCDS includes information on the physical appearance of children that are strongly linked to being bullied. The self reported degree of student violence is high, both for students being hurt and stolen from by other students and for children that are bullied. Students in grade four report a higher level of school violence than students in grade eight. Looking at surveys from different years reveals no clear time-trend. The determinants of being a victim show that female students and students in villages or small towns are less likely to be hurt or stolen from by other students while students with an immigration background are more likely to be victims. Besides the student characteristics typically observed in student performance studies, also the appearance of students such as their looks and their height play an important role in the process of victimization. Moreover, having older siblings reduces the probability of being bullied while it increases when having younger siblings, in particular when siblings have the same gender. The effect of being a victim of school violence on student achievement is significant both for the TIMSS and the NCDS data. The longitudinal NCDS data allow for a more credible identification of the effect, providing controls for prior achievement, prior victimization and additional student characteristics. The analysis shows that the behavior of peers in form of school violence is an important determinant of both contemporary and later student achievement. The effect size of 0.04 on contemporary reading achievement is small but significant. Moreover, being bullied as a child has a significant impact on the level of educational attainment and labor market earnings, but only through the effect on student performance. The results show that school violence is a widespread problem which has short and long term consequences for victims, be it boys or girls. Reducing violence at schools not only eases life for many students who suffer from it but should also lead to more investment in human capital. Violence in European Schools: Victimization and Consequences Andreas Ammermueller Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), L7, 1 68161 Mannheim January 2007 Abstract: Violence at schools is a well-known problem in many societies. This paper assesses the degree of school violence in 11 European countries and analyzes the determinants of being a victim and its effect on student performance. The study draws on the international TIMSS 2003 and the British longitudinal NCDS data. The level of school violence is high in most countries but seems not to increase over time. Besides gender, social and migration background and the appearance of students determine being bullied, hurt or stolen from by fellow students. Being a victim has a small but significantly negative impact on contemporary and later student performance and the level of educational attainment and thereby affects earnings. It is hence an important peer effect that should not be omitted in the estimation of educational production functions

Poor Background or Low Returns? Why Immigrant Students in Germany Perform so Poorly in the Programme for International Student Assessment

Student performance of natives and immigrants differed greatly in the Programme for International Student Assessment 2000 in Germany. This paper analyses the gap in test scores by estimating educational production functions, using an extension study with imputed data. The difference in test scores is assigned to various effects, using a Juhn-Murphy-Pierce decomposition. The analysis reveals that German students have a more favourable family background, particularly in the lower part of the test score distribution. The later enrolment of immigrant students and preferences of parents are more important than parents' education or the family setting for explaining the score gap. Differences in returns have no significant effect.Educational production, PISA-E, decomposition, immigration,

A Service of zbw Violence in European Schools: Victimization and Consequences Nontechnical summary Violence in European Schools: Victimization and Consequences

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Terms of use: Documents in Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server: ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp07004.pdf Nontechnical summary Violence at schools is a phenomenon that is apparent in most countries. Despite the public attention devoted to outbursts of violence nowadays, little is known about the dimension and consequences of small-scale violence which students face at school each day. Common forms of everyday violence at schools are students being excluded from social groups, being verbally and physically harassed, being bullied and being stolen from by classmates. The motivation, concentration and self-confidence of students are likely to suffer when students are affected by violence. This paper uses representative data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for eleven European countries and the British National Child Development Study (NCDS) to examine the degree to which students experience violence at schools and the consequences on student performance and further outcomes. The main questions being addressed are: What is the dimension of school violence? Who are the victims? What is the effect of being a victim on student performance, educational achievement and earnings? The analysis of the TIMSS data refers to both students in grade four and in grade eight since a child's personality develops fast and students in primary and secondary schools may be affected differently by school violence. The indicators for violence are whether students have been stolen from or been hurt by other students in the preceding month. In addition to the cross-country TIMSS data, the longitudinal NCDS data for Britain is analyzed. This data provides the opportunity to study the impact of being bullied as a child not only on contemporary outcomes like student performance but as well on later outcomes like educational degrees and earnings. Moreover, the NCDS includes information on the physical appearance of children that are strongly linked to being bullied. The self reported degree of student violence is high, both for students being hurt and stolen from by other students and for children that are bullied. Students in grade four report a higher level of school violence than students in grade eight. Looking at surveys from different years reveals no clear time-trend. The determinants of being a victim show that female students and students in villages or small towns are less likely to be hurt or stolen from by other students while students with an immigration background are more likely to be victims. Besides the student characteristics typically observed in student performance studies, also the appearance of students such as their looks and their height play an important role in the process of victimization. Moreover, having older siblings reduces the probability of being bullied while it increases when having younger siblings, in particular when siblings have the same gender. The effect of being a victim of school violence on student achievement is significant both for the TIMSS and the NCDS data. The longitudinal NCDS data allow for a more credible identification of the effect, providing controls for prior achievement, prior victimization and additional student characteristics. The analysis shows that the behavior of peers in form of school violence is an important determinant of both contemporary and later student achievement. The effect size of 0.04 on contemporary reading achievement is small but significant. Moreover, being bullied as a child has a significant impact on the level of educational attainment and labor market earnings, but only through the effect on student performance. The results show that school violence is a widespread problem which has short and long term consequences for victims, be it boys or girls. Reducing violence at schools not only eases life for many students who suffer from it but should also lead to more investment in human capital. Violence in European Schools: Victimization and Consequences Andreas Ammermueller Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), L7, 1 68161 Mannheim January 2007 Abstract: Violence at schools is a well-known problem in many societies. This paper assesses the degree of school violence in 11 European countries and analyzes the determinants of being a victim and its effect on student performance. The study draws on the international TIMSS 2003 and the British longitudinal NCDS data. The level of school violence is high in most countries but seems not to increase over time. Besides gender, social and migration background and the appearance of students determine being bullied, hurt or stolen from by fellow students. Being a victim has a small but significantly negative impact on contemporary and later student performance and the level of educational attainment and thereby affects earnings. It is hence an important peer effect that should not be omitted in the estimation of educational production functions