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Catholic School Effectiveness in Australia: A Reassessment Using Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables

Author

Listed:
  • Buly A. Cardak

    (School Economics, La Trobe University)

  • Joe Vecci

    (School of Economics, Monash University)

Abstract

This paper provides new estimates of the effect of Catholic school attendance on high schoolcompletion and university commencement and completion for Australian students. First, an instrumental variables approach is adopted where the probability of Catholic affiliation is used as an instrument. Consistent with the recent US literature, results based on this instrument are mixed. Instead, bounds are placed on the Catholic school effect using the assumption of equality between selection on observables and unobservables. The effect of Catholic school attendance is found to be smaller than previous results and negative treatment effects cannot be ruled out. Recent improvements in public school outcomes may have contributed to the smaller Catholic school effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Buly A. Cardak & Joe Vecci, 2013. "Catholic School Effectiveness in Australia: A Reassessment Using Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables," Working Papers 2013.05, School of Economics, La Trobe University.
    • Handle: RePEc:trb:wpaper:2013.05
    Note: ISSN-1837-2198
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2005. "Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables: Assessing the Effectiveness of Catholic Schools," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 151-184, February.
    2. Cohen-Zada, Danny & Sander, William, 2008. "Religion, religiosity and private school choice: Implications for estimating the effectiveness of private schools," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 85-100, July.
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    5. Cardak, Buly A. & Vecci, Joe, 2013. "Catholic school effectiveness in Australia: A reassessment using selection on observed and unobserved variables," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 34-45.
    6. Hanushek, Eric A., 2006. "School Resources," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 14, pages 865-908, Elsevier.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cardak, Buly A. & Vecci, Joe, 2013. "Catholic school effectiveness in Australia: A reassessment using selection on observed and unobserved variables," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 34-45.
    2. Nghiem, Son & Nguyen, Ha & Connelly, Luke, 2014. "The Efficiency of Australian Schools: Evidence from the NAPLAN Data 2009-2011," MPRA Paper 56231, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Mahuteau, Stephane & Mavromaras, Kostas, 2014. "Student Scores in Public and Private Schools: Evidence from PISA 2009," IZA Discussion Papers 8471, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Somayeh Parvazian & Ronnie Semo, 2018. "The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth: 20 Years and Beyond," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 51(3), pages 426-440, September.
    5. Jha Nikhil & Polidano Cain, 2015. "Long-Run Effects of Catholic Schooling on Wages," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 2017-2045, October.
    6. Ian W. Li & A. Michael Dockery, 2015. "Does School Socio-economic Status Influence University Outcomes?," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(1), pages 75-94.
    7. Brendan Houng & Moshe Justman, 2015. "Out-Of-Sample Predictions Of Access To Higher Education And School Value-Added," Working Papers 1511, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    8. Andrew McKendrick & Ian Walker, 2020. "The Roles of Faith and Faith Schooling in Educational, Economic, and Faith Outcomes," Working Papers 302455074, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    9. Coughlin, Conor & Castilla, Carolina, 2014. "The effect of private high school education on the college trajectory," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 200-203.
    10. Chris Sakellariou, 2016. "The “true” private school effect across countries using PISA-2012 Mathematics," Economic Growth Centre Working Paper Series 1605, Nanyang Technological University, School of Social Sciences, Economic Growth Centre.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Catholic Schools; High School Completion; University Attendance; Selection Bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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