Differences in Educational Production Between Dutch Public and Religious Schools

A common finding in the economic literature on schooling effectiveness is the phenomenon of better performance by religious, and more precisely Catholic, schools in terms of scholastic achievement, educational attainment and measurable labor market outcomes (i.e. subsequent employment status and wages). While the majority of this research in the economic sciences stems from the US, fueling the debate over public financing of private education in this country, comparatively little research directly addressing the phenomenon has been performed in the Netherlands despite evidence of a significant achievement premium to Dutch Catholic schools. In turn, this study explores the phenomenon of superior achievement of Catholic over other (public and Protestant) primary schools in the Netherlands. Although this is a common finding across other countries, the case of the Netherlands differs in that it is unlikely the premium to Catholic versus public and Protestant education has to do with systematic differences in funding or administrative selection of better/worse students across these educational sectors. However, self-selection of individuals by one’s parents may be a significant source of selectivity bias. Therefore, extra attention is taken in controlling for self-selection of students (by their parents) into the three main school sectors (Catholic, public and Protestant) when estimating the causal effect of each on scholastic achievement through the use of an IV technique. As an alternative explanation, we also control for a wide variety of (potentially achievement enhancing) educational practices that may be more pervasive and/or efficient in the Catholic sector. * Contact information for author is: Dr. Jesse Levin, Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research, 1791 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304. E-mail: [email protected].