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Causality, causality, causality: the view of education inputs and outputs from economics

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  • Lisa Barrow
  • Cecilia Elena Rouse

Abstract

Educators and policy makers are increasingly intent on using scientifically-based evidence when making decisions about education policy. Thus, education research today must necessarily be focused on identifying the causal relationships between education inputs and student outcomes. In this paper we discuss methodologies for estimating the causal effect of resources on education outcomes; we also review what we believe to be the best evidence from economics on a few important inputs: spending, class size, teacher quality, the length of the school year, and technology. We conclude that while the number of papers using credible identification strategies is thin, the body of credible research on causal relationships is growing, and we have started to gather evidence that some school inputs matter while others do not.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Barrow & Cecilia Elena Rouse, 2005. "Causality, causality, causality: the view of education inputs and outputs from economics," Working Paper Series WP-05-15, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-05-15
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    Cited by:

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    2. Scott J. Savage, 2009. "The Effect of Information Technology on Economic Education," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 337-353, October.
    3. Herrera Gómez, Marcos, 2016. "¿La localización de la escuela importa?. Condicionantes espacio-contextuales de la tasa de repitencia en un panel de datos georreferenciados [Does location of school matter? Spatial-contextual cond," MPRA Paper 73205, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Susanna Loeb & Patrick J. McEwan, 2010. "Education Reforms," NBER Chapters, in: Targeting Investments in Children: Fighting Poverty When Resources Are Limited, pages 145-178, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ian Gordon & Vassilis Monastiriotis, 2007. "Education, Location, Education: A Spatial Analysis of English Secondary School Public Examination Results," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(7), pages 1203-1228, June.
    6. Garcia-Diaz, Rocio & del Castillo, Ernesto & Cabral, René, 2016. "School competition and efficiency in elementary schools in Mexico," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 23-34.
    7. Stephen Gibbons & Sandra McNally, 2013. "The Effects of Resources Across School Phases: A Summary of Recent Evidence," CEP Discussion Papers dp1226, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Aleksey Oshchepkov & Anna Shirokanova, 2020. "Multilevel Modeling For Economists: Why, When And How," HSE Working papers WP BRP 233/EC/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

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    Keywords

    Education - Economic aspects; Technology - Economic aspects;

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