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Poor Background or Low Returns? Why Immigrant Students in Germany Perform so Poorly in PISA

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  • Ammermüller, Andreas

Abstract

Student performance of Germans and immigrants differed greatly in the 2000 PISA study. This paper analyses why the two groups of students performed so differently by estimating educational production functions, using an extension study with imputed data. The difference in the test scores is assigned to different effects, using a Juhn-Murphy-Pierce decomposition method. The analysis shows that German students have on average more favorable characteristics and experience slightly higher returns to these characteristics in terms of test scores than immigrant students. The later enrolment of immigrant students and preferences of parents as reflected by the number of books and language spoken at home are more important than parents? education or the family setting for explaining the test score gap. Overall, the variation in test scores can be explained better by the observable characteristics for immigrant than for German students.

Suggested Citation

  • Ammermüller, Andreas, 2005. "Poor Background or Low Returns? Why Immigrant Students in Germany Perform so Poorly in PISA," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-18, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:2908
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    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/24111/1/dp0518.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ira N. Gang & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2000. "Is Child like Parent? Educational Attainment and Ethnic Origin," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(3), pages 550-569.
    2. Ammermuller, Andreas & Heijke, Hans & Wo[ss]mann, Ludger, 2005. "Schooling quality in Eastern Europe: Educational production during transition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 579-599, October.
    3. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    4. Lauer, Charlotte, 2000. "Gender wage gap in West Germany: how far do gender differences in human capital matter?," ZEW Discussion Papers 00-07, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Ammermüller, Andreas, 2004. "PISA: What Makes the Difference? Explaining the Gap in PISA Test Scores Between Finland and Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-04, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1992. "The Gender Earnings Gap: Learning from International Comparisons," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 533-538, May.
    7. Petra E. Todd & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2003. "On The Specification and Estimation of The Production Function for Cognitive Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 3-33, February.
    8. Hanushek, Eric A. & Luque, Javier A., 2003. "Efficiency and equity in schools around the world," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 481-502, October.
    9. Frick, Joachim R. & Wagner, Gert G., 2001. "Economic and Social Perspectives of Immigrant Children in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 301, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicole Schneeweis, 2006. "How should we organize schooling to further children with migration background?," Economics working papers 2006-20, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    2. Entorf, Horst & Lauk, Martina, 2006. "Peer Effects, Social Multipliers and Migrants at School: An International Comparison," IZA Discussion Papers 2182, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Andreas Ammermueller, 2007. "Poor Background or Low Returns? Why Immigrant Students in Germany Perform so Poorly in the Programme for International Student Assessment," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 215-230.
    4. Nieto, S. & Ramos, R., 2011. "¿La sobreeducación de los padres afecta al rendimiento académico de sus hijos?," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 11(3).
    5. Entorf, Horst & Lauk, Martina, 2006. "Peer effects, social multipliers and migration at school: An international comparison," HWWI Research Papers 3-3, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    6. Ammermüller, Andreas, 2005. "Educational Opportunities and the Role of Institutions," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-44, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Entorf, Horst & Tatsi, Eirini, 2009. "Migrants at School: Educational Inequality and Social Interaction in the UK and Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 4175, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational production; PISA-E; decomposition; immigration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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