Students' effort and educational achievement: Using the timing of the World Cup to vary the value of leisure

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Metcalfe, Robert; Burgess, Simon; Proud, Steven
• 署名单位: Boston University; University of Bristol
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.12.006
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 111-126
• 关键词: Educational achievement; Student effort; schools; Value of leisure

摘要

We study the effect of a sharp, exogenous, and repeated change in the value of leisure on educational achievement, arising from the overlap of major international football tournaments with high-stakes tests. Using administrative data covering almost all students in England, we find a significant negative average effect of the tournament on exam performance. The odds of reaching the achievement benchmark fall by 12% on average, considerably more for students likely to be interested in football. Analysis of within-student variation shows a 0.02 SD fall in grades, 0.06 SD for the interested. We interpret our results as reflecting changes in student effort. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.