Research Papers in Economics, Department of Economics, Stockholm University
No 2012:8:
Long-term effects of class size
Peter Fredriksson ()
, Björn Öckert ()
and Hessel Oosterbeek ()
Abstract: This paper evaluates the long-term effects of class size
in primary school. We use rich data from Sweden and exploit variation in
class size created by a maximum class size rule. Smaller classes in the
last three years of primary school (age 10 to 13) are beneficial for
cognitive and non-cognitive ability at age 13, and improve achievement at
age 16. Most importantly, we find that smaller classes have positive
effects on completed education, wages, and earnings at age 27 to 42. The
estimated wage effect is much larger than any imputed estimate of the wage
effect, and is large enough to pass a cost-benefit test.
Keywords: Class size; regression discontinuity; cognitive skills; non-cognitive skills; educational attainment; earnings; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: C31; I21; I28; J24; (follow links to similar papers)
37 pages, July 5, 2012
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