Arbeitspapier
Does school autonomy make sense everywhere? Panel estimates from PISA
Decentralization of decision-making is among the most intriguing recent school reforms, in part because countries went in opposite directions over the past decade and because prior evidence is inconclusive. We suggest that autonomy may be conducive to student achievement in well-developed systems but detrimental in low-performing systems. We construct a panel dataset from the four waves of international PISA tests spanning 2000-2009, comprising over one million students in 42 countries. Relying on panel estimation with country fixed effects, we identify the effect of school autonomy from within-country changes in the average share of schools with autonomy over key elements of school operations. Our results show that autonomy affects student achievement negatively in developing and low-performing countries, but positively in developed and high-performing countries. These results are unaffected by a wide variety of robustness and specification tests, providing confidence in the need for nuanced application of reform ideas.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 3648
- Classification
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Wirtschaft
Education and Research Institutions: General
Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
Education and Economic Development
- Subject
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school autonomy
decentralization
developing countries
educational production
international student achievement tests
panel estimation
- Event
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Hanushek, Eric A.
Link, Susanne
Woessmann, Ludger
- Event
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Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
- (where)
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Munich
- (when)
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2011
- Handle
- Last update
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10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Hanushek, Eric A.
- Link, Susanne
- Woessmann, Ludger
- Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
Time of origin
- 2011
Other Objects (12)
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Cross-country evidence on teacher performance pay
Families, Schools, and Primary-School Learning: Evidence for Argentina and Colombia in an International Perspective
Central Exams as the "Currency" of School Systems: International Evidence on the Complementarity of School Autonomy and Central Exams
Does School Autonomy Make Sense Everywhere? Panel Estimates from PISA
Does school autonomy make sense everywhere? Panel estimates from PISA
Educational Production in East Asia : The Impact of Family Background and Schooling
Fundamental determinants of school efficiency and equity: german states as a microcosm for OECD countries
The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement
International Evidence on School Tracking: A Review
Cross-country evidence on teacher performance pay
Das Wissenskapital der Nationen: gute Bildung als Wachstumsmotor
Peering over the Hedge: How Do the Neighbours Do It?
Cross-country evidence on teacher performance pay
Families, Schools, and Primary-School Learning: Evidence for Argentina and Colombia in an International Perspective
Central Exams as the "Currency" of School Systems: International Evidence on the Complementarity of School Autonomy and Central Exams
Does School Autonomy Make Sense Everywhere? Panel Estimates from PISA
Does school autonomy make sense everywhere? Panel estimates from PISA
Educational Production in East Asia : The Impact of Family Background and Schooling
Fundamental determinants of school efficiency and equity: german states as a microcosm for OECD countries
The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement
International Evidence on School Tracking: A Review
Cross-country evidence on teacher performance pay
Das Wissenskapital der Nationen: gute Bildung als Wachstumsmotor
Peering over the Hedge: How Do the Neighbours Do It?