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Which Factors Determine Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students in Economics?: Some Spanish Evidence

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  • Juan José Dolado
  • E. Morales

Abstract

This paper analyses the determinants of academic performance of first-year undergraduate students in Economics at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, over the period 2001-2005. We focus on a few core subjects which differ in their degree of mathematical complexity. Type of school, specialization track at high school, and the grades obtained at the university entry-exam are among the key factors we examine. Our main finding is that those students who completed a technical track at high school tend to do much better in subjects involving mathematics than those who followed a social sciences track (tailor-made for future economics students) and that the latter do not perform significantly better than the former in subjects with less degree of formalism. Moreover, students from public schools are predominant in the lower and upper parts of the grade distribution while females tend to perform better than males.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan José Dolado & E. Morales, 2007. "Which Factors Determine Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students in Economics?: Some Spanish Evidence," Working Papers 2007-23, FEDEA.
    • Handle: RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2007-23
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    Cited by:

    1. Johan N. M. Lagerlöf & Andrew J. Seltzer, 2009. "The Effects of Remedial Mathematics on the Learning of Economics: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 115-137, April.
    2. Fedriani Martel, Eugenio M. & Romano Paguillo, Inmaculada, 2017. "Análisis cualitativo comparativo difuso para determinar influencias entre variables socio-económicas y el rendimiento académico de los universitarios || Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to D," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 24(1), pages 250-269, Diciembre.
    3. Juan J. Dolado & Eduardo Morales, 2009. "Which factors determine academic performance of Economics freshers? Some Spanish evidence," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 33(2), pages 179-210, May.

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other

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