The impact of mandatory economic education on adolescents’ attitudes

Abstract

Various studies have examined how the study of economics affects students' views on economic phenomena, yet there is little evidence regarding its impact on teenagers. We study the effect of a recent curriculum reform introducing mandatory economic education on teenagers' attitudes towards economics in Southwest Germany. Our findings reveal that students affected by the reform show, on average, more interest in economics, see money as more important and expect more social responsibility from companies. Conversely, we don't observe differences in attitudes towards competition. Regarding socio-economic characteristics, our data reveal strong gender differences already before adulthood.

Economic Education at the Expense of Indoctrination? Evidence from Germany

“…Next, regarding treatment effects on the interest dimension, our data reveal a substantial effect after one year of instruction, but no effect after the second year. This result indicates that interest may serve as a prerequisite to acquiring economic knowledge (Oberrauch and Seeber 2021). Analogous to the effects on competence, we find a substantial gender gap in economic interest that has already been documented in previous studies (e.g., Driva et al 2016;Lührmann et al 2015).…”

The long-term effects of students’ economic competencies on the transition from school to university in the international context

“…Therefore, specifically for choosing to study economics, a similar effect of economic competencies as in Switzerland must be assumed for Germany. Following current studies in Germany on the effects of an economic education on students’ attitudes towards economics (see, e.g., Oberrauch and Seeber, 2021), positive effects can be observed. The attitude towards economics, in turn, is a strong predictor for the intention and the choice of economics at the tertiary level (see, e.g., Jüttler and Schumann, 2019).…”

“…Because of these strong constraints based on student admission tests, the effects of facets other than economic knowledge (e.g., interest or attitudes) are probably weaker. The positive effects seen in Germany (see Oberrauch & Seeber, 2021) can also be found for the U.S. when fostering the economics or financial education of young adults (see, e.g., Gill & Gratton-Lavoie, 2011; Brown et al, 2014; Stoddard & Urban, 2019). However, because of the importance of entrance examinations, it is still unclear whether attitudes towards economics positively affects the choice of economics in countries such as the U.S.…”

Measuring economic competence of youth with a short scale

“…Attitudes towards economics. To measure attitudes towards economics as a subject, we rely on a 12-item scale developed in Soper and Walstad (1983), adapted and translated in Oberrauch and Seeber (2021). For example, the scale asks participants the extent to which they disagree or agree with statements, such as "I follow economic news" or "It think it is important to have a good knowledge about economics".…”