Big Fishes in Small Ponds: Ability Rank and Human Capital Investment

Konferenzbeitrag

We study the impact of a student's ordinal rank in a high-school cohort on educational attainment several years later. To identify a causal effect, we compare multiple cohorts within the same school, exploiting exogenous variation in cohort composition. We nd that a student's ordinal rank in high-school signi cantly affects educational outcomes later in life. If two students with the same ability have a different rank in their respective cohort, the student with the higher rank is signi cantly more likely to nish high-school, to attend college, and to complete a 4-year college degree. These results suggest that students under- invest in their human capital if they have a low rank within their cohort even though they have a high ability compared to most students of the same age. Exploring potential channels, we nd that students with a higher rank have higher expectations about their future career, and feel that they are being treated more fairly by their teachers.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2015: Ökonomische Entwicklung - Theorie und Politik - Session: Understanding the nature of peer effects ; No. E02-V3

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Higher Education; Research Institutions ; Analysis of Education ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Elsner, Benjamin ; Isphording, Ingo
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (when): 2015

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/112928
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET