Microeconometric Analyses of Cognitive Achievement Production

This volume was prepared by Bernhard Enzi while he was working at the ifo Institute. It was completed in 2016 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes an introduction and four self-contained chapters that focus on the economics of education. Chapter 1 gives a short introduction into the topic and lays out some general aspects about the methodological frameworks used in this volume. Chapter 2 is focused on the effect of pre-service cognitive and pedagogical teacher skills on student achievement. Methodologically, the chapter uses micro data from the German National Educational Panel Study and estimates parameters of a value-added model of cognitive achievement. Chapter 3 further investigates a battery of other potential determinants of teacher quality. Chapter 4 analyses predictors of gender differentials in test scores and teacher assessments. Finally, using data from the German Centre for Research on Higher Education and Science Studies, chapter 5 investigates the effects of the Bologna-Reform on student outcomes based on an instrumental variables approach.