Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research

No 13/2023: School Resources, Peer Inputs, and Student Outcomes in Adult Education

J. Lucas Tilley ()
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J. Lucas Tilley: Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, Postal: SOFI, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: This paper studies a large-scale educational expansion to assess whether shocks to educational inputs affect the academic achievement of adult education students. I analyze the effects of a Swedish program that rapidly doubled enrollment in adult education, thus straining school resources. The program targeted low-educated, unemployed adults aged 25 and older. Therefore, my analysis focuses on students under age 25 to reduce the risk that changes in the characteristics of the study sample drive my findings. First, I show that students in regions subject to stronger enrollment expansions experienced stronger negative shocks to educational inputs, including teacher credentials, per-pupil expenditure, and peer quality. Second, I show that the stronger negative shocks to these inputs coincided with larger in- creases in course dropout. Taken together, the two sets of results suggest a causal link between educational inputs and students’ academic progress in adult education.

Keywords: adult education; educational expansion; peer inputs; school resources; student performance; teacher credentials

JEL-codes: I20; I21; I28

Language: English

61 pages, July 7, 2023

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