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Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 28 , No. 1

[ Article ]
Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 85-105
Abbreviation: SJE
ISSN: 1225-0279 (Print)
Print publication date 28 Feb 2015
Received 04 Sep 2014 Revised 02 Feb 2015 Accepted 03 Feb 2015

Effects of Education Policies and Institutions on Student Performance
Jieun Hong
Doctoral Student, Department of Economics, Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea (gracias7@snu.ac.kr)

Funding Information ▼

JEL Classification: H75, I28, O15


Abstract

Using panel estimates from the Program for International Student Assessment dataset, this study examines how education policies work as the quality of institutions improves. The findings suggest that autonomy over budget-related decisions positively affects the overall performance of students as the quality of institutions improves, whereas autonomy over academic decisions has an ambiguous effect. Considering that country-level institutions interact with school autonomy, the performance of low-ranking students is improved by providing schools with enough power to decide on academic course content and textbooks. Meanwhile, providing schools with great autonomy over budget-related decisions benefits high-ranking students.


Keywords: Education system, Education policy, School autonomy, Democracy, Governance effectiveness, Control of corruption

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the BK21Plus Program (Future-oriented innovative brain raising type, 21B20130000013) funded by the Ministry of Education(MOE, Korea) and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).


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