Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/265868 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
UCD Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series No. WP22/10
Publisher: 
University College Dublin, UCD School of Economics, Dublin
Abstract: 
In recent years there has been a plethora of empirical papers by economists concerning the effects of academic rank in school or college on subsequent outcomes of students. We review this recent literature, describing the difficult identification and measurement issues, the assumptions and methodologies used in the literature, and the main findings. Accounting for ability or achievement and across a range of countries, ages, and types of educational institutions, students that are more highly ranked in their class or their grade have been found to have better long-term outcomes. The effect sizes are generally large when compared to magnitudes found for other factors and interventions. Rank effects can provide useful insight into other educational phenomena such as the extent to which students benefit from high ability peers and the presence of a gender gap in STEM. However, the state of knowledge has probably not reached the point where the empirical findings from this literature have practical implications for policy intervention to improve outcomes of students.
Subjects: 
academic rank
education
human capital
social comparisons
peer effects
STEM
JEL: 
I21
J16
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
391.41 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.