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Do second chances pay off? Evidence from a natural experiment with low-achieving students

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  • Bizopoulou, Aspasia
  • Megalokonomou, Rigissa
  • Simion, Ştefania

Abstract

In several countries, students who fail high-stakes exams at the end of high school are faced with the choice of retaking or forgoing postsecondary education. We explore exogenous variation generated by a policy that imposed a performance threshold for admission into postsecondary education in Greece to estimate the effect of retaking exams on the exam performance and various measures of the quality of received offers. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and novel administrative data, we find that low-achieving students who retake national exams improve their performance by around 0.6 standard deviation. We also find that they obtain higher quality postsecondary offers, thanks to improved performance and more ambitious re-application choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Bizopoulou, Aspasia & Megalokonomou, Rigissa & Simion, Ştefania, 2024. "Do second chances pay off? Evidence from a natural experiment with low-achieving students," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:239:y:2024:i:c:s0047272724001506
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105214
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    1. Sofoklis Goulas & Silvia Griselda & Rigissa Megalokonomou & Yves Zenou, 2024. "Disruptive Peers and Academic Performance: Short- and Long-Term Outcomes," CESifo Working Paper Series 11568, CESifo.
    2. Goulas, Sofoklis & Griselda, Silvia & Megalokonomou, Rigissa & Zenou, Yves, 2024. "Disruptive Peers and Academic Performance: Short- and Long-Term Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 17539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Postsecondary education admission; Low-achieving students; Exogenous policy; Fuzzy regression discontinuity design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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