Abstract
We use the PISA student-level achievement database to estimate international education production functions. Student characteristics, family backgrounds, home inputs, resources, teachers and institutions are all significantly associated with math, science and reading achievement. Our models account for more than 85% of the between-country performance variation, with roughly 25% accruing to institutional variation. Student performance is higher with external exams and budget formulation, but also with school autonomy in textbook choice, hiring teachers and within-school budget allocations. Autonomy is more positively associated with performance in systems that have external exit exams. Students perform better in privately operated schools, but private funding is not decisive.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Adams R, Wu M (eds) (2002) PISA 2000 technical report. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris
Akerhielm K (1995) Does class size matter? Econ Educ Rev 14:229–241
Betts JR (1998) The impact of educational standards on the level and distribution of earnings. Am Econ Rev 88:266–275
Bishop JH (1997) The effect of national standards and curriculum-based exams on achievement. Am Econ Rev 87:260–264
Bishop JH (2006) Drinking from the fountain of knowledge: student incentive to study and learn. In: Hanushek EA, Welch F (eds) Handbook of the economics of education. (forthcoming) North-Holland, Amsterdam
Bishop JH, Wößmann L (2004) Institutional effects in a simple model of educational production. Educ Econ 12:17–38
Costrell RM (1994) A simple model of educational standards. Am Econ Rev 84:956–971
Dronkers J, Robert P (2003) The effectiveness of public and private schools from a comparative perspective. EUI Working Paper SPS 2003–13. European University Institute, Florence
DuMouchel WH, Duncan GJ (1983) Using sample survey weights in multiple regression analyses of stratified samples. J Am Statist Assoc 78:535–543
Epple D, Romano RE (1998) Competition between private and public schools, vouchers, and peer-group effects. Am Econ Rev 88:33–62
Fertig M (2003a) Who’s to blame? The determinants of German students’ achievement in the PISA 2000 study. IZA Discussion Paper 739. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn
Fertig M (2003b) Educational production, endogenous peer group formation and class composition: evidence from the PISA 2000 study. IZA Discussion Paper 714. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn
Fertig M, Schmidt CM (2002) The role of background factors for reading literacy: straight national scores in the PISA 2000 study. IZA Discussion Paper 545. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn
Fuchs T, Wößmann L (2004a) What accounts for international differences in student performance? A re-examination using PISA data. CESifo Working Paper 1235. CESifo, Munich
Fuchs T, Wößmann L (2004b) Computers and student learning: Bivariate and multivariate evidence on the availability and use of computers at home and at school. Brussels Econ Rev 47:359–385
Gundlach E, Wößmann L, Gmelin J (2001) The decline of schooling productivity in OECD countries. Econ J 111:C135–C147
Hanushek EA (2002) Publicly provided education. In: Auerbach AJ, Feldstein M (eds) Handbook of public economics, Vol 4. North Holland, Amsterdam, pp 2045–2141
Hanushek EA et al (1994) Making schools work: improving performance and controlling costs. Brookings Institution Press, Washington
Hoxby CM (1999) The productivity of schools and other local public goods producers. J Public Econ 74:1–30
Hoxby CM (2001) All school finance equalizations are not created equal. Q J Econ 116:1189–1231
Jürges H, Schneider K, Büchel F (2005) The effect of central exit examinations on student achievement: quasi-experimental evidence from TIMSS Germany. J Eur Econ Assoc 3:1134–1155
Little RJA, Rubin DB (1987) Statistical analysis with missing data. Wiley, New York
Moulton BR (1986) Random group effects and the precision of regression estimates. J Econ 32:385–397
Nechyba TJ (2000) Mobility, targeting, and private-school vouchers. Am Econ Rev 90:130–146
Nechyba TJ (2003) Centralization, fiscal federalism, and private school attendance. Int Econ Rev 44:179–204
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2000) Measuring student knowledge and skills: the PISA 2000 assessment of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. OECD, Paris
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2001) Knowledge and skills for life: first results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000. OECD, Paris
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2002) Manual for the PISA 2000 database. OECD, Paris
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2003) Education at a glance: OECD indicators 2003. OECD, Paris
Rubin DB (1987) Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. Wiley, New York
Schafer JL, Schenker N (1997) Inference with imputed conditional means. Pennsylvania State University, Department of Statistics, Technical Report #97–05 (available at http://www.stat.psu.edu/reports/1997/tr9705.pdf)
Schafer JL, Schenker N (2000) Inference with imputed conditional means. J Am Statist Assoc 95:144–154
Shleifer A (1998) State versus private ownership. J Econ Perspect 12:133–150
Todd PE, Wolpin KI (2003) On the specification and estimation of the production function for cognitive achievement. Econ J 113:F3–F33
West MR, Wößmann L (2006) Which school systems sort weaker students into smaller classes? International evidence. Eur J Politi Econ (forthcoming) (available as CESifo Working Paper 1054, CESifo, Munich)
Wolter SC, Coradi Vellacott M (2003) Sibling rivalry for parental resources: a problem for equity in education? A six-country comparison with PISA data. Swiss J Sociol 29:377–398
Wooldridge JM (2001) Asymptotic properties of weighted m-estimators for standard stratified samples. Econ Theory 17: 451–470
World Bank (2003) World development indicators CD-Rom. World Bank, Washington
Wößmann L (2003a) Schooling resources, educational institutions and student performance: the international evidence. Oxford Bull Econ Statist 65:117–170
Wößmann L (2003b). Central exit exams and student achievement: international evidence. In: Peterson PE, West MR (eds). No child left behind? The politics and practice of school accountability. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, pp. 292–323
Wößmann L (2003c) Central exams as the “currency” of school systems: international evidence on the complementarity of school autonomy and central exams. DICE Report – J Inst Comp 1:46–56
Wößmann L (2005) Educational production in Europe. Econ Policy 20:445–504
Wößmann L, West MR (2006) Class-size effects in school systems around the world: Evidence from between-grade variation in TIMSS. Eur Econ Rev 50:695–736
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fuchs, T., Wößmann, L. What accounts for international differences in student performance? A re-examination using PISA data. Empirical Economics 32, 433–464 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-006-0087-0
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-006-0087-0
Keywords
- Education production function
- PISA
- International variation in student performance
- Institutional effects in schooling