New publication in the Journal of Labor Economics on the long-term consequences of shorter school hours

Prof. Dr. Kamila Cygan-Rehm (Chair of Quantitative Methods, esp. Econometrics) has succeeded in publishing a study on the effects of school absenteeism on labor market success in the renowned Journal of Labor Economics . In order to identify causal effects, she uses historical reforms of the school year calendar in Germany, which led to a significant shortening of the affected school years without changing the core curriculum. The loss of lessons was mainly compensated for by assigning additional homework. Using a difference-in-differences design and administrative data on labor market biographies, the study finds negative income and employment effects that extend over almost the entire employment history. The plausible mechanisms underlying these negative labor market effects include lower long-term skills, lower educational attainment and their consequences for the career choices of the individuals concerned.

Source: Cygan-Rehm (forthcoming). Lifetime Consequences of Lost Instructional Time in the Classroom: Evidence from Shortened School Years. Journal of Labor Economics. DOI: 10.1086/736549

A longer, non-technical summary of the study can be found here.