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Ludger Woessmann
Skills and Earnings: A Multidimensional Perspective on Human Capital
Topics: Student LearningThe multitude of tasks performed in the labor market requires skills in many dimensions. Traditionally, human capital has been proxied primarily by educational attainment. However, an expanding body of literature highlights the importance of various skill dimensions for success in the labor… more →
Can Patience Account for Subnational Differences in Student Achievement? Regional Analysis with Facebook Interests
Topics: Student LearningDecisions to invest in human capital depend on people’s time preferences. We show that differences in patience are closely related to substantial subnational differences in educational achievement, leading to new perspectives on longstanding within-country disparities. We use social-media data… more →
Global Universal Basic Skills: Current Deficits and Implications for World Development
Topics: Student LearningHow far is the world away from ensuring that every child obtains the basic skills needed to be internationally competitive? And what would accomplishing this mean for world development? Based on the micro data of international and regional achievement tests, we map achievement onto a common (… more →
Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes? Evidence from German State Reforms of Compulsory Religious Education
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceWe study whether compulsory religious education in schools affects students' religiosity as adults. We exploit the staggered termination of compulsory religious education across German states in models with state and cohort fixed effects. Using three different datasets, we find that abolishing… more →
The Legacy of Covid-19 in Education
Topics: Student LearningIf school closures and social-distancing experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic impeded children’s skill development, they may leave a lasting legacy in human capital. To understand the pandemic’s effects on school children, this paper combines a review of the emerging international literature… more →
The Economic Impacts of Learning Losses
Topics: Student LearningThe worldwide school closures in early 2020 led to losses in learning that will not easily be made up for even if schools quickly return to their prior performance levels. These losses will have lasting economic impacts both on the affected students and on each nation unless they are effectively… more →
Culture and Student Achievement: The Intertwined Roles of Patience and Risk-Taking
Topics: Families and CommunitiesPatience and risk-taking – two cultural traits that steer intertemporal decision-making – are fundamental to human capital investment decisions. To understand how they contribute to international differences in student achievement, we combine PISA tests with the Global Preference Survey. We find… more →
Long-run Trends in the U.S. SES-Achievement Gap
Topics: Student LearningTags: Assessment, PovertyRising inequality in the United States has raised concerns about potentially widening gaps in educational achievement by socio-economic status (SES). Using assessments from LTT-NAEP, Main-NAEP, TIMSS, and PISA that are psychometrically linked over time, we trace trends in achievement for U.S.… more →
The Unwavering SES Achievement Gap: Trends in U.S. Student Performance
Topics: Student LearningConcerns about the breadth of the U.S. income distribution and limited intergenerational mobility have led to a focus on educational achievement gaps by socio-economic status (SES). Uintertemporally linked assessments from NAEP, TIMSS, and PISA, we trace the achievement of U.S.