Institutional Structures of the School System in International Comparison

Students in some countries perform much better on international achievement tests than students in other countries. Is this all due to socioeconomic and cultural differences, or do school systems make a difference? My research based on the micro data of international student tests such as PISA and TIMSS suggests that school systems are indeed very important. In particular, the institutional structures such as external exams, school autonomy, competition, and tracking play a significant role in the international differences in student achievement - and thus in the efficiency and equity of school systems. Institutional structures define whether the stakeholders in the system have incentives to focus on improving student outcomes. In contrast to institutional structures, differences in expenditures and class size play hardly a role in explaining cross-country achievement differences.

Here you can find a short non-technical overview on this topic.

Non-technical paper:

The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 30 (3): 3-31, 2016

Research papers:

Institutional Determinants of School Efficiency and Equity: German States as a Microcosm for OECD Countries. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik / Journal of Economics and Statistics 230 (2): 234-270, 2010

What Accounts for International Differences in Student Performance? A Re-examination using PISA Data (with T. Fuchs). Empirical Economics 32 (2-3): 433-464, 2007

Institutional Effects in a Simple Model of Educational Production (with J.H. Bishop). Education Economics 12 (1): 17-38, 2004

Schooling Resources, Educational Institutions, and Student Performance: The International Evidence. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 65 (2): 117-170, 2003

Survey article on the economics of international differences in educational achievement:

The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement (with E.A. Hanushek). In: E.A. Hanushek, S. Machin, L. Woessmann (eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, Vol. 3, Amsterdam: North Holland, 89-200, 2011

Two-pager:

Institutional Setups That Promote Student Achievement (with S. Link). EENEE Policy Brief 5/2012

Short contribution:

Peering over the Hedge: How Do the Neighbours Do It? CESifo Forum 13 (3): 16-19, 2012

Non-technical contributions:

How School Choice, Autonomy, and Accountability Impact Student Achievement: International Evidence (with M.R. West). In: C.L. Glenn, J. De Groof, and C. Stillings Candal (eds.), Balancing Freedom, Autonomy and Accountability in Education, Volume 4, Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers, 275-298, 2012

International Evidence on School Competition, Autonomy and Accountability: A Review. Peabody Journal of Education 82 (2-3): 473-497, 2007

Why Students in Some Countries Do Better: International Evidence on the Importance of Education Policy. Education Matters 1 (2): 67-74, 2001

Material available only in German

Interviews:

Das Geld versickert. Die Zeit, No. 25, 14.6.2007, pp. 71-72

Eine gute Schule ist keine Glaubensfrage. Brigitte, No. 7, 12.3.2008, pp. 122-124

Two contributions about my research results:

Schluss mit den Lebenslügen des deutschen Schulsystems! "Wissenswert"-Beitrag im Handelsblatt vom 8.10.2007 über mein Buch "Letzte Chance für gute Schulen"

Wettbewerb bildet. Sonntagsökonom in der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung vom 11.8.2002 über meine Forschung zur Bedeutung des Schulsystems für die Schülerleistungen

Einen Entwurf für einen Rahmen für das deutsche Schulsystem liefert:

Ein wettbewerblicher Entwurf für das deutsche Schulsystem. www.insm.de, 2016

Summaries of the early research:

Bildungspolitische Lehren aus den internationalen Schülertests: Wettbewerb, Autonomie und externe Leistungsüberprüfung. Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspoli­tik 7 (3): 417-444, 2006

Leistungsfördernde Anreize für das Schulsystem. ifo Schnelldienst 58 (19): 18-27, 2005

Schulsystem und Schülerleistung im internationalen Vergleich: Was Institutionen ausmachen. Die Weltwirt­schaft (3): 283-304, 2001