Seminario 20/03: Ainoa Aparicio Fenoll (U. Turin) – The Best in the Class

Información

Abstract:

I estimate the effect of being the best in the class} in the early years of schooling on future academic performance. I implement a novel methodology that does not require experimental data. My methodology exploits that some students are the best in the class because better students in the same school are assigned to other classes. If students were randomly assigned, the probability of being the best in the class would be a well-known function of students ranking in the school and the number of classes. I use this exogenous probability as an instrument for actually being the best in the class. Even though best in the class and future academic performance are positively correlated, I find a negative impact of being the best in the class on future performance: being the best in second grade reduces test scores by 0.25 standard deviations in fifth grade while being the best in fifth grade reduces test scores by 0.43 standard deviations in eighth grade. In contrast, I find that being the second in the class improves future performance.