Stefanie P. Herber Reihenfolge der Bücher

This paper estimates the percentage of students who forgo their federal need-based student financial aid entitlements and explores the factors influencing this behavior. Despite the availability of extensive financial aid in Germany, educational mobility remains low, making it essential to determine whether students are claiming their aid. To analyze non-take-up, a microsimulation model was developed using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study from 2002 to 2013, estimating the aid amounts students would have received if they had applied. Findings reveal that approximately 40% of eligible low-income students do not utilize their entitlements. The study employs instrumental variable techniques and a sample selection model to examine various potential explanatory factors. Results indicate that non-take-up is inversely related to benefit levels, although the elasticity is low. Additionally, a shorter expected duration of benefit receipt correlates with a higher non-take-up rate, while the ability to rely on older siblings’ experiences with the application process increases the likelihood of claiming aid. Notably, students from the former socialist East Germany are more likely to take up aid compared to their West German counterparts. Lastly, in line with behavioral economic theory, debt aversion among impulsive and impatient students is linked to higher non-take-up rates.

We use international student assessment data on more than 22,000 students from six European countries and a regression discontinuity design to investigate whether the transition into daylight saving time (DST) affects elementary students’ test performance in the week after the time change. We do not find reliable statistical effects on students’ performance, neither in math, science nor reading. Our results therefore challenge the prevailing public opinion that DST should be abandoned because of its detrimental effects on school children’s performance.

If information asymmetries prevent talented students of non-academic backgrounds from applying for merit-based aid, the full potential of qualifed youth will not be unfolded and social selectivity is likely to corroborate. This paper analyzes whether information asymmetries exist and decrease students’ likelihood to apply for merit-based scholarships. In a randomized field experiment, I expose more than 5,000 German students either to general information on federally funded scholarships or additionally to tailored information on details of the application process, conveyed by a similar role model. Both treatments reduced information asymmetries significantly. The role model treatment did significantly increase non-academic and male students’ application probabilities for federally funded merit-based scholarships. Providing only general information on the scholarship system triggered participants’ own information search for alternative funding sources and increased application rates for other, not federally funded scholarships.