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School starting age and the impact on school admission

Author

Listed:
  • Julio Cáceres-Delpiano

    (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)

  • Eugenio Giolito

    (Universidad del CEMA and IZA)

Abstract

This study employs Chilean administrative data to investigate the impact of school starting age on the characteristics of students’ initial enrolled schools. Employing minimum age requirements and an RD design to mitigate endogeneity concerns, we identify benefits linked to commencing school at a later age. Our findings demonstrate that children starting school at an older age enroll in institutions with higher average scores in standardized tests and interact with older peers whose parents have higher education levels. Furthermore, they display a heightened likelihood of entering schools employing academic selection methods, a greater proportion of full-time teachers, and a larger percentage of instructors with a 4-year college degree. The analysis by level of education of the parents and gender reveals that most of our results are driven by parents with lower levels of education and girls. Subgroup analyses further reveal that many of our results are driven by parents with lower levels of education and parents of girls.

Suggested Citation

  • Julio Cáceres-Delpiano & Eugenio Giolito, 2024. "School starting age and the impact on school admission," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 225-251, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:67:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s00181-023-02546-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-023-02546-z
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Latin America; Chile; School starting age; Schools’ characteristics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A21 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Pre-college
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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