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The impact of peer effects, substance use, and parental background on educational outcomes
Auteur(s)
Perini, Lionel
Date de parution
2014
Mots-clés
Résumé
Cette thèse de doctorat se penche sur trois problématiques en économie de l’éducation appliquées à la Suisse qui est un cas intéressant pour analyser des sujets relatifs à l’éducation dans la mesure où détenir une main-d’oeuvre hautement qualifiée est un élément central pour la compétitivité de ce pays. <br> Comme la Suisse n’a pas - ou peu - de ressources naturelles, la priorité fut donnée à l’éducation. Si le pays demeure encore aujourd’hui compétitif par rapport aux grandes nations industrialisées dans le domaine des sciences, de la technologie ou de la finance, ceci provient essentiellement de la qualité de son système éducatif qui assure une excellente capacité d’innovation ainsi qu’une culture d’entreprise sophistiquée. Par conséquent, la Suisse essaie de préserver cet avantage, ce qui implique une réévaluation constante des politiques éducatives. A cet effet, cette dissertation considère trois facteurs importants qui peuvent avoir un impact sur la manière dont le système éducatif suisse fonctionne et peut être amélioré, à savoir les effets de pairs, la consommation de substance et les caractéristiques de base des parents. <br>Le premier essai de la thèse discute les effets de pairs au niveau secondaire. A ce stade du cursus scolaire, les élèves tendent à être fortement influencés par leurs camarades de classe dans le processus d’apprentissage et la nature de ces interactions sociales peut amener des informations précieuses dans les débats concernant les politiques d’organisation des écoles et des filières. L’objective de l’étude est de déterminer si l’introduction d’un système scolaire complètement non-sélectif dans le paysage éducatif suisse pourrait mener à des gains d’efficience et d’équité en comparaison avec le système de séparation actuel où les élèves sont répartis - dans la plupart des cas - en différentes écoles ou classes en fonction de leurs performances scolaires. La stratégie d’identification repose sur des effets fixes en fonction des filières pour tenir compte des effets de sélection à l’intérieur des écoles ainsi que sur des régressions en quantiles pour la mesure de l’hétérogénéité. <br> La fin de l’école obligatoire coïncide avec une période où les adolescents sont exposés de manière croissante à la consommation de produits addictifs à travers l’influence des pairs, des comportements risqués en termes de santé ou des préférences temporelles. A cet effet, le deuxième essai - en collaboration avec Joachim Marti de l’université de Leeds - analyse l’impact de la consommation de cannabis sur différents outcomes éducatifs de court terme au niveau gymnasial étant donné que la consommation de cette substance parmi les adolescents suisses est exceptionnellement élevée en comparaison internationale. Nous considérons une mesure retardée de la consommation de cannabis pour réduire les problèmes de causalité inverse entre les variables liées à santé et à l’éducation ainsi que des effets fixes individuels pour diminuer les biais de sélection. <br> A la fin des études gymnasiales, la plupart des étudiants continuent leur cursus scolaire au niveau tertiaire. Comme les individus diffèrent au niveau de leurs caractéristiques de base (talent inné, statut socio-économique ou support familial), le rendement de l’éducation tertiaire n’est pas forcément identique pour chaque étudiant. Par conséquent, il est important de savoir quels types d’étudiants bénéficient le plus d’avoir suivi une formation universitaire. En utilisant des méthodes reposant sur l’appariement des scores de propension, le troisième essai analyse la relation entre la probabilité prédite de compléter une formation universitaire et les rendements de l’éducation pour déterminer si achever un cursus universitaire complémente ou substitue les caractéristiques de base familiales dans la création de la capacité salariale.
Abstract:
This doctoral thesis investigates three issues in economics of education applied to Switzerland which is an interesting case for analyzing topics which refer to education on the grounds that having a highly-qualified workforce is a central element for Swiss competitiveness. As Switzerland has no - or few - natural resources or raw materials, priority has been given to education. If the country is still competitive with respect to larger industrialized countries in fields like sciences, technology or finance, this is mainly due to the quality of its education system which ensures an excellent capacity for innovation and a sophisticated business culture. As a consequence, Switzerland tries to preserve this advantage, which implies a constant reassessment of educational policies. In this setting, this dissertation focuses on three important factors, namely peers effects, substance use and parental background, whose considerations may have an impact on how the Swiss education system works and can be improved. <br> The first essay of this thesis discusses peer effects at the lower secondary level. At this stage, pupils tend to be strongly influenced by their classmates in the learning process and the nature of these social interactions can give precious insights in the debates on school tracking policies. The objective of the study is to determine if the introduction of a completely non-selective school system in the Swiss education landscape could lead to efficiency and equity gains compared to the current tracking system where students are separated according to their school performances. The identification strategy relies on ability track fixed effects to control for within-school sorting and quantile regression methods to account for heterogeneity issues. <br> The end of compulsory schooling coincides with a period where adolescents are increasingly exposed to the consumption of addictive products through peers’ influence, risky health behaviour or time preferences. For that purpose, the second essay - in collaboration with Joachim Marti of Leeds University - analyzes the relationship between cannabis use and different short-term educational outcomes at the upper secondary level because lifetime cannabis consumption among Swiss teenagers is unusually high in international comparison. We consider a lagged measure of substance use to reduce reverse causality between health and education and individual fixed effects to rule out selectivity effects. <br> After high school graduation, most students pursue their schooling path at the tertiary level. As individuals differ in their background characteristics (e.g., innate ability, socioeconomic status, or family support), the return to higher education is not expected to be the same for each student. But what types of students benefit most from university education? Using propensity score matching methods, the third essay focuses on the relationship between the predicted probability to complete university education and returns to schooling to analyze if completing a university degree complements or substitutes family background characteristics in generating earnings capability.
Abstract:
This doctoral thesis investigates three issues in economics of education applied to Switzerland which is an interesting case for analyzing topics which refer to education on the grounds that having a highly-qualified workforce is a central element for Swiss competitiveness. As Switzerland has no - or few - natural resources or raw materials, priority has been given to education. If the country is still competitive with respect to larger industrialized countries in fields like sciences, technology or finance, this is mainly due to the quality of its education system which ensures an excellent capacity for innovation and a sophisticated business culture. As a consequence, Switzerland tries to preserve this advantage, which implies a constant reassessment of educational policies. In this setting, this dissertation focuses on three important factors, namely peers effects, substance use and parental background, whose considerations may have an impact on how the Swiss education system works and can be improved. <br> The first essay of this thesis discusses peer effects at the lower secondary level. At this stage, pupils tend to be strongly influenced by their classmates in the learning process and the nature of these social interactions can give precious insights in the debates on school tracking policies. The objective of the study is to determine if the introduction of a completely non-selective school system in the Swiss education landscape could lead to efficiency and equity gains compared to the current tracking system where students are separated according to their school performances. The identification strategy relies on ability track fixed effects to control for within-school sorting and quantile regression methods to account for heterogeneity issues. <br> The end of compulsory schooling coincides with a period where adolescents are increasingly exposed to the consumption of addictive products through peers’ influence, risky health behaviour or time preferences. For that purpose, the second essay - in collaboration with Joachim Marti of Leeds University - analyzes the relationship between cannabis use and different short-term educational outcomes at the upper secondary level because lifetime cannabis consumption among Swiss teenagers is unusually high in international comparison. We consider a lagged measure of substance use to reduce reverse causality between health and education and individual fixed effects to rule out selectivity effects. <br> After high school graduation, most students pursue their schooling path at the tertiary level. As individuals differ in their background characteristics (e.g., innate ability, socioeconomic status, or family support), the return to higher education is not expected to be the same for each student. But what types of students benefit most from university education? Using propensity score matching methods, the third essay focuses on the relationship between the predicted probability to complete university education and returns to schooling to analyze if completing a university degree complements or substitutes family background characteristics in generating earnings capability.
Notes
Thèse de doctorat : Université de Neuchâtel, 2014 ; 2426
Identifiants
Type de publication
doctoral thesis
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