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Are There Any Class Size Effects on Early Career Earnings in West Germany?

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  • Hans J. Baumgartner

Abstract

The paper analyses the effect of class size, which stands proxy for school quality, on early career earnings. Using confidential district level information from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), it is demonstrated that class size has no discernible effect on early career earnings. This finding is robust to changes in specification and the choice of sub-samples. The economic literature focused so far mainly on the US and the UK. This paper confirms this literature and adds new evidence to the growing empirical literature on this issue from Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans J. Baumgartner, 2004. "Are There Any Class Size Effects on Early Career Earnings in West Germany?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 417, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp417
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Flossmann Anton L. & Pohlmeier Winfried, 2006. "Causal Returns to Education: A Survey on Empirical Evidence for Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 226(1), pages 6-23, February.
    2. Machin Stephen & Puhani Patrick A., 2005. "Special Issue on the Economics of Education – Policies and Empirical Evidence: Editorial," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 6(3), pages 259-267, August.
    3. Miriam Maeder, 2014. "State-level heterogeneity in returns to secondary schooling in West Germany," Working Papers 147, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    School quality; Class size; Labour market outcomes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection

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