Premium
Early Tracking and the Misfortune of Being Young
Author(s) -
Schneeweis Nicole,
Zweimüller Martina
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the scandinavian journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.725
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1467-9442
pISSN - 0347-0520
DOI - 10.1111/sjoe.12046
Subject(s) - misfortune , tracking (education) , socioeconomic status , demographic economics , duration (music) , demography , track (disk drive) , psychology , economics , sociology , mathematics , pedagogy , computer science , art , population , geometry , literature , perspective (graphical) , operating system
Recent research suggests that the relative age of a student within a grade has a causal effect on educational achievement, and that this effect fades with the duration of schooling. In this study, we estimate the causal relative‐age effect on track choice in Austria, a country where students are first tracked in grade 5 (at the age of 10 years), and again in grade 9. We find a strong positive relative‐age effect on track choice in grades 5–8. The age effect persists beyond grade 8 for students from less‐favorable socioeconomic backgrounds and students in urban areas.