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Does instructional time at school influence study time at university? Evidence from an instructional time reform

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  • Schwerter, Jakob
  • Netz, Nicolai
  • Hübner, Nicolas

Abstract

Early-life environments can have long-lasting effects on individuals’ later life courses. Interestingly, research on the effects of school reforms has hardly adopted this perspective. Therefore, we investigate a staggered school reform that reduced the number of school years and increased weekly instructional time for secondary school students in most German federal states. We analyze this quasi-experiment in a difference-in-differences framework using nationally representative large-scale survey data on 69,513 students who attended university between 1998 and 2016. Using both TWFE and weighted-group ATT estimators, we find negative effects of reform exposure on hours spent attending classes and on self-study. Moreover, reform exposure increased the time gap between school completion and higher education entry. Our results support the view that research should examine unintended long-term effects of school reforms on individual life courses.

Suggested Citation

  • Schwerter, Jakob & Netz, Nicolai & Hübner, Nicolas, 2024. "Does instructional time at school influence study time at university? Evidence from an instructional time reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:100:y:2024:i:c:s0272775724000207
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2024.102526
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    G8 high school reform; Higher education; Study time; Long-term effect; Staggered difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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