Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Korthals, Roxanne
Author-workplace-name: Macro, International & Labour Economics, RS: GSBE DUHR
Title: The education revolution on horseback II: Using the Napoleonic Wars to elicit the effect of tracking on student performance
Abstract: Previous literature has found inconsistent effects of tracking students in secondary school on student performance using various ways to alleviate the endogeneity in<br/>tracking. Sociological literature argues that the threat for war with and invasion by the French around the 1800s induced European countries to introduce mass public education<br/>systems. I use this theory to estimate the effect of tracking on student performance in Europe, instrumenting tracking by the political pressure caused by the Napoleonic Wars.<br/>The relation between political pressure by Napoleon and tracking is strong and leads in the second stage to a consistent positive effect of tracking on student performance.<br/>One important limitation of this analysis is that it is reasonable to assume that political pressure from Napoleon influenced many facets of European countries.
Classification-JEL: i20
Series: ROA Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 20160101
Number: 006
File-URL: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ws/files/2976121/ROA_RM_2016_6.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 574869
Handle: Repec:unm:umaror:2016006
DOI: 10.26481/umaror.2016006