The Long‐Term Effects of Early Track Choice

Abstract

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Tracking and the intergenerational transmission of education: Evidence from a natural experiment

“…and Dustmann et al (2014) all find that students' exact birthday relative to an arbitrary enrollment cut-off date predicts track choice in Germany. 14 While such findings are indicative of inefficiencies associated with tracking, both Jürges and Schneider (2011) and Dustmann et al (2014) find no evidence for a persistent effect of relative age on educational outcomes.…”

“…14 While such findings are indicative of inefficiencies associated with tracking, both Jürges and Schneider (2011) and Dustmann et al (2014) find no evidence for a persistent effect of relative age on educational outcomes. Moreover, Jürges and Schneider (2011) find no evidence that the age at which states track affects the strength of the relative age effect based on variation across states.…”

“…Tracks differ in several respects in terms of the quality and quantity of inputs (Dustmann et al, 2014): first, teachers in the academic track usually receive higher wages. Second, their university degree differs in terms of requirements, is more subject-oriented, and also typically takes one additional year to complete.…”

“…On the other hand, initial misallocation may be inconsequential in a system such as Germany's in which upgrading upon completion is common (see section 2.1). In a recent study , Dustmann et al (2014) use relative age at birth as an instrument to show that track choice is largely inconsequential for marginal students. They argue that built-in flexibilities, the possibility of upgrading upon completion, eventually allow marginal students in the lower tracks to fully compensate for the exposure to low-ability peers.…”

Additional Career Assistance and Educational Outcomes for Students in Lower Track Secondary Schools

“…Pre-vocational training provides further general schooling and basic vocational training to increase the readiness of students for regular vocational training or for continuing education. 1 Recent studies show that there is sizeable educational mobility between the three main tracks in Germany and the highest degree obtained is not fully determined by tracking after grade 4 (Mühlenweg and Puhani 2010, Dustmann et al 2016, Biewen and Tapalaga 2016. Dustmann et al (2016) find only a small long-term effect of track choice at age 10 on highest educational degree, wages, occupational choice, and unemployment.…”