ABSTRACT

In this paper, we measure the contribution of an additional year of schooling on skills acquisition for a cohort of young adults in Madagascar. We estimate a value-added model of learning achievement that includes test scores measured at adolescence, thereby reducing the potential for omitted variable bias. We demonstrate that schooling increases cognitive skills among young adults. The value-added of a year of schooling during adolescence is 0.15 to 0.26 standard deviation. Our results show the skills gap widens in adolescence, as students with higher cognitive skills complete more grades, accumulating more skills in their transition to adulthood.

摘要

在本文中，我们衡量了额外一年的学校教育对马达加斯加的一群年轻人的技能习得的贡献。我们估计了一个学习成绩的增值模型，其中包括在青春期测量的考试成绩，从而减少遗漏变量偏差的可能性。我们证明学校教育提高了年轻人的认知技能。青春期一年受教育的增值为0.15至0.26个标准差。我们的研究结果表明，技能差距在青春期扩大，因为认知技能较高的学生完成了更多的成绩，在他们过渡到成年的过程中积累了更多的技能。