Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/271892 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10248
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
I provide evidence on the causal effects of a student's relative socioeconomic status during high school on their mental health and human capital development. Leveraging data from representative US high schools, I utilize between-cohort differences in the distributions of socioeconomic status within schools in a linear fixed effects model to identify a causal rank effect. I find that a higher rank during high school improves a student's depression scores, cognitive ability, self-esteem and popularity. The rank effects are persistent with long-lasting consequences for adult depression and college attainment. Additional analyses emphasize the role of inequality in exacerbating these rank effects.
Subjects: 
rank
mental health
higher education
JEL: 
I14
I23
I24
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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