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Should we sort it out later? The effect of tracking age on long-run outcomes

Author

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  • Borghans, By Lex
  • Diris, Ron
  • Smits, Wendy
  • de Vries, Jannes
Abstract
This study estimates the long-run effect of the school tracking age on educational attainment and labour market outcomes. We exploit within-country variation in tracking ages for students in the highest two tracks in the Netherlands, using the supply of early tracking schools at the municipal level as an instrument for early tracking (tracking at age 12–13 vs. age 14). Combining several data sources, we find that early tracking leads to a decrease in higher education completion, and that it lowers earnings for both low-ability and medium-ability students in the sample. Estimates for high-ability students are positive but imprecisely estimated. The negative effects appear largely driven by higher misallocation of students to tracks when they are sorted early. Robustness analyses strongly suggest that the results are not driven by sorting between municipalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Borghans, By Lex & Diris, Ron & Smits, Wendy & de Vries, Jannes, 2020. "Should we sort it out later? The effect of tracking age on long-run outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:75:y:2020:i:c:s0272775719300512
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.101973
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Bach, Maximilian & Fischer, Mira, 2020. "Understanding the response to high-stakes incentives in primary education," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2020-202, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    2. Elisabeth Grewenig, 2021. "School Track Decisions and Teacher Recommendations: Evidence from German State Reforms," ifo Working Paper Series 353, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    3. Thomas van Huizen & Madelon Jacobs & Matthijs Oosterveen, 2024. "Teacher bias or measurement error?," Papers 2401.04200, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    4. Bles, Per & van der Velden, Rolf & Ariës, Roel J., 2020. "Is there an opportunity-performance trade-off in secondary education?," Research Memorandum 022, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    5. Mari, Gabriele & Keizer, Renske & van Gaalen, Ruben, 2022. "The Timing of Parental Unemployment, Insurance, and Children's Education," SocArXiv 7rm6g, Center for Open Science.
    6. Mari, Gabriele, 2023. "Less for more? Cuts to child benefits, family adjustments, and long-run child outcomes in larger families," SocArXiv e3n82, Center for Open Science.
    7. Maria Zumbuehl & Nihal Chehber & Rik Dillingh, 2022. "Can skill differences explain the gap in the track recommendation by socio-economic status?," CPB Discussion Paper 439, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    8. Thomas van Huizen, 2021. "Teacher bias or measurement error bias? Evidence from track recommendations," Working Papers 2113, Utrecht School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational economics; Efficiency; Wage differentials;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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