Is Traditional Teaching really all that Bad? A Within-Student Between-Subject Approach

Recent studies conclude that teachers are important for student learning but it remains uncertain what actually determines effective teaching. This study directly peers into the black box of educational production by investigating the relationship between lecture style teaching and student achievement. Based on matched student-teacher data for the US, the estimation strategy exploits between-subject variation to control for unobserved student traits. Results indicate that traditional lecture style teaching is associated with significantly higher student achievement. No support for detrimental effects of lecture style teaching can be found even when evaluating possible selection biases due to unobservable teacher characteristics.teaching practices, educational production, TIMSS, between-subject variation

The youngest get the pill: misdiagnosis and the production of education in Germany

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a leading diagnosed health condition among children in many developed countries but the causes underlying these high levels of ADHD remain highly controversial. Recent research for the U.S., Canada and some European countries shows that children who enter school relatively young have higher ADHD rates than their older peers, suggesting that ADHD may be misdiagnosed in the younger children due to their relative immaturity. Using rich administrative health insurance claims data from Germany we study the effects of relative school entry age on ADHD risk in Europe's largest country and relate the effects for Germany to the international evidence. We further analyse different mechanisms that may drive these effects, focusing on physician supply side and demand side factors stemming from the production of education. We find robust evidence for school-entry age related misdiagnosis of ADHD in Germany. Within Germany and internationally, a higher share of misdiagnoses are related to a higher overall ADHD level, suggesting that misdiagnoses may be a driving factor of high ADHD levels. Furthermore, the effects in Germany seem to be driven by teachers and parents in an attempt to facilitate and improve the production of education

Is it good to be too light? Birth weight thresholds in hospital reimbursement systems

Birth weight manipulation is common in per-case hospital reimbursement systems, in which hospitals receive more money for otherwise equal newborns with birth weight just below compared to just above specific birth weight thresholds. As hospitals receive more money for cases with weight below the thresholds, having a (reported) weight below a threshold could benefit the newborn. Also, these reimbursement thresholds overlap with diagnostic thresholds that have been shown to affect the quantity and quality of care that newborns receive. Based on the universe of hospital births in Germany from the years 2005–2011, we investigate whether weight below reimbursement relevant thresholds triggers different quantity and quality of care. We find that this is not the case, suggesting that hospitals’ financial incentives with respect to birth weight do not directly impact the care that newborns receive

The Price Sensitivity of Health Plan Choice: Evidence from Retirees in the German Social Health Insurance

We investigate two determinants of the price sensitivity of health plan demand: the size of the choice set and the salience of premium differences. Using variation in both features in the German Social Health Insurance (SHI) and information on health plan switches of retirees in the German Socio Economic Panel, augmented with information on individuals’ choice sets we find that retirees react less to potential savings from switching when they have more plans to choose from and when differences between premiums are less salient. Simplifying choices could save consumers money and improve the functioning of the health insurance market

執筆者・編集後記

Trade card advertising Dr. Siegert's Angostura Bitters, a remedy marketed by J.W. Wuppermann, New York, N.Y. Card No. 57 in a numbered series

Vermittlungsgutscheine: Zwischenergebnisse der Begleitforschung 2004 : Teil 1: Datenstruktur und deskriptive Analysen

"In dem Forschungsbericht werden die Datensätze der Bundesagentur für Arbeit vorgestellt, die für die mikroökonometrischen Untersuchungen zur Verfügung stehen. Es handelt sich insbesondere um die Bewerberangebotsdaten (BewA), um die Beschäftigtenhistorik (BeH) sowie um die integrierten Erwerbsbiographien (IEB). Die Autoren diskutieren Probleme, die teils aus der Datenerfassung und teils aus den Generierungsprozessen der Datensätze entstehen, und stellen den Umgang damit dar. Die Bereinigung der Datensätze sowie ihre Verknüpfung zu einer einheitlichen Datenstruktur wird erläutert. Schließlich werden deskriptive Analysen zum Instrument Vermittlungsgutschein dargestellt, welche die Entwicklung des Instrumentes im Zeitablauf beschreiben (Projektmonitoring). Das Projektmonitoring zeigt, dass Vermittlungsgutscheine stärker von Männern als von Frauen, von Deutschen als von Ausländern, von Jüngeren als von Älteren, und von besser ausgebildeten als von weniger gut ausgebildeten Arbeitslosen in Anspruch genommen werden. Trotz höherer Prämien nutzen Langzeitarbeitslose Vermittlungsgutscheine seltener als Arbeitsuchende, die zwischen drei und sechs Monate arbeitslos sind. In dem vom IAB entwickelten regionalen Strategietyp I (Bezirke in Ostdeutschland - ohne Dresden - mit dominierendem Arbeitsplatzdefizit) werden Vermittlungsgutscheine relativ am häufigsten und im Typ II (vorwiegend westdeutsche Großstädte mit hoher Arbeitslosigkeit) am zweithäufigsten in Anspruch genommen. Von den 66.131 Teilnehmern im Zeitraum Mai bis Juni 2003, die aufgrund der Datenlage für das Projektmonitoring verwendbar sind, waren (laut Beschäftigtenstatistik) sechs Monate nach der Ausgabe 17,5% in Beschäftigung. Von den 2.340.672 anspruchsberechtigten Nichtteilnehmern waren 8,9 % in Beschäftigung. Die Differenz zwischen diesen Werten kann nicht kausal interpretiert werden." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)Vermittlungsgutschein - Erfolgskontrolle, Wirkungsforschung - Methode, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien, IAB-Beschäftigtenhistorik, IAB-Bewerberangebotsdatei, Datenaufbereitung, berufliche Reintegration, beruflicher Verbleib, Monitoring, Vermittlungsgutschein - Inanspruchnahme, Geschlechterverteilung, Altersstruktur, Langzeitarbeitslose, Arbeitsagenturbezirke, Nationalität, Qualifikationsstruktur, Westdeutschland, Ostdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Knowledge as a Predictor of Insurance Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act

Background: The Affordable Care Act established policy mechanisms to increase health insurance coverage in the United States. While insurance coverage has increased, 10%-15% of the US population remains uninsured. Objectives: To assess whether health insurance literacy and financial literacy predict being uninsured, covered by Medicaid, or covered by Marketplace insurance, holding demographic characteristics, attitudes toward risk, and political affiliation constant. Research Design: Analysis of longitudinal data from fall 2013 and spring 2015 including financial and health insurance literacy and key covariates collected in 2013. Subjects: A total of 2742 US residents ages 18-64, 525 uninsured in fall 2013, participating in the RAND American Life Panel, a nationally representative internet panel. Measures: Self-reported health insurance status and type as of spring 2015. Results: Among the uninsured in 2013, higher financial and health insurance literacy were associated with greater probability of being insured in 2015. For a typical uninsured individual in 2013, the probability of being insured in 2015 was 8.3 percentage points higher with high compared with low financial literacy, and 9.2 percentage points higher with high compared with low health insurance literacy. For the general population, those with high financial and health insurance literacy were more likely to obtain insurance through Medicaid or the Marketplaces compared with being uninsured. The magnitude of coefficients for these predictors was similar to that of commonly used demographic covariates. Conclusions: A lack of understanding about health insurance concepts and financial illiteracy predict who remains uninsured. Outreach and consumer-education programs should consider these characteristics