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Maturity and school outcomes in an inflexible system: evidence from Catalonia

Author

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  • Caterina Calsamiglia

    (ICREA and IPEG, Carrer Ramon Trias Fargas)

  • Annalisa Loviglio

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Barcelona GSE)

Abstract

The existence of a rigid cutoff date which determines when children start primary school creates a large heterogeneity in students’ level of maturity within the classroom. We use rich administrative data of the universe of public schools in Catalonia to show that: (1) relatively younger children do significantly worse both in tests administered at the school level and at the regional level, and they experience greater retention. (2) These effects are homogeneous across SES and significant across the whole distribution of performance. (3) Younger children in our data exhibit higher dropout rates and choose the academic track in secondary school less often. (4) Younger children are more frequently diagnosed with learning disorders.

Suggested Citation

  • Caterina Calsamiglia & Annalisa Loviglio, 2020. "Maturity and school outcomes in an inflexible system: evidence from Catalonia," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 1-49, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:series:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s13209-019-0196-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s13209-019-0196-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Berniell, Inés & Estrada, Ricardo, 2020. "Poor little children: The socioeconomic gap in parental responses to school disadvantage," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Caterina Calsamiglia & Annalisa Loviglio, 2017. "Grading on a Curve: When Having Good Peers is not Good," Working Papers wp2018_1704, CEMFI.
    3. Cristina Borra & Libertad González & David Patiño, 2024. "Mothers' school starting age and infant health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 1153-1191, June.
    4. Rubén Navarro-Patón & Silvia Pueyo Villa & Juan Luis Martín-Ayala & Mariacarla Martí González & Marcos Mecías-Calvo, 2021. "Is Quarter of Birth a Risk Factor for Developmental Coordinator Disorder in Preschool Children?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-10, May.
    5. Calsamiglia, Caterina & Loviglio, Annalisa, 2019. "Grading on a curve: When having good peers is not good," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Sergi Sánchez-Coll, 2023. "Born this way: the effect of an unexpected child benefit at birth on longer-term educational outcomes," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 105-141, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital; Entry age; School cutoff date;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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