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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
  4. July 2011
  5. Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics

Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics

  • Tahir Andrabi
  • Jishnu Das
  • Asim Ijaz Khwaja
  • Tristan Zajonc
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 3, no. 3, July 2011
(pp. 29-54)
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Abstract

This paper illustrates the central role of persistence in estimating and interpreting value-added models of learning. Using data from Pakistani public and private schools, we apply dynamic panel methods that address three key empirical challenges: imperfect persistence, unobserved heterogeneity, and measurement error. Our estimates suggest that only one-fifth to one-half of learning persists between grades and that private schools increase average achievement by 0.25 standard deviations each year. In contrast, value-added models that assume perfect persistence yield severely downward estimates of the private school effect. Models that ignore unobserved heterogeneity or measurement error produce biased estimates of persistence. (JEL I21, J13, O15)

Citation

Andrabi, Tahir, Jishnu Das, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, and Tristan Zajonc. 2011. "Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3 (3): 29-54. DOI: 10.1257/app.3.3.29

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
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