Central school exit exams and labor-market outcomes

Arbeitspapier

Many countries use centralized exit exams as a governance devise of the school system. While abundant evidence suggests positive effects of central exams on achievement tests, previous research on university-bound students shows no effects on subsequent earnings. We suggest that labor-market effects may be more imminent for students leaving school directly for the labor market and, on rigid labor markets, for unemployment. Exploiting variation in exit-exam systems across German states, we find that central exams are indeed associated with higher earnings for students from school types directly bound for the labor market, as well as with lower unemployment.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 6889

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Education and Research Institutions: General ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
• Subject: central exit exams ; earnings ; unemployment ; Germany ; Bildungsabschluss ; Zentralisierung ; Berufseinstieg ; Bildungsertrag ; Arbeitslosigkeit ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Piopiunik, Marc ; Schwerdt, Guido ; Woessmann, Ludger
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/67265
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET