The Consumption Value of Higher Education

The consumption value of higher education is an important factor behind the individual’s educational choice. We provide a comprehensive literature survey, and define the consumption value as the private, intended, non-pecuniary return to higher education. We provide new empirical evidence for the willingness to pay for the consumption value of a particular type of higher education. Even when controlling for ability selection, we find on US data that Liberal Arts graduates were willing to forego 46 pct. of their potential income in order to enjoy the consumption value of this educational type.educational choice, type of education, non-pecuniary return, willingness to pay, consumption value of education

Cognitive fatigue influences students’ performance on standardized tests

Using test data for all children attending Danish public schools betweenschool years 2009/10 and 2012/13, we examine how the time of the testaffects performance. Test time is determined by the weekly classschedule and computer availability at the school. We find that, forevery hour later in the day, test performance decreases by 0.9% of an SD(95% CI, 0.7-1.0%). However, a 20- to 30-minute break improves averagetest performance by 1.7% of an SD (95% CI, 1.2-2.2%). These findingshave two important policy implications: First, cognitive fatigue shouldbe taken into consideration when deciding on the length of the schoolday and the frequency and duration of breaks throughout the day. Second,school accountability systems should control for the influence ofexternal factors on test scores

The prevalence, trends and heterogeneity in maternal smoking around birth between the 1930s and 1970s

This paper shows the prevalence, trends and heterogeneity in maternal smoking around birth in the United Kingdom, focusing on the war and post-war reconstruction period in which there exists surprisingly little systematic data on (maternal) smoking behaviours. Within this context, we highlight relevant events, the release of new information about the harms of smoking, and changes in (government) policy aimed at reducing smoking prevalence. We show stark changes in smoking prevalence over a 30-year period, highlight the onset of the social gradient in smoking, as well as genetic heterogeneities in smoking trends.<br/