Are Young People's Educational Outcomes Linked to Their Sense of Control?

37 Pages Posted: 3 May 2010

See all articles by Juan D. Baron

Juan D. Baron

Central Bank of Colombia (Banco de la República); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark

School of Economics, University of Sydney; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the link between young people's sense (locus) of control over their lives and their investments in education. We find that young people with a more internal locus of control have a higher probability of finishing secondary school and, conditional on completion, meeting the requirements to obtain a university entrance rank. Moreover, those with an internal locus of control who obtain a university entrance rank achieve somewhat higher rankings than do their peers who have a more external locus of control. Not surprisingly, there is a negative relationship between growing up in disadvantage and educational outcomes. However, this effect does not appear to operate indirectly by increasing the likelihood of having a more external locus of control. In particular, we find no significant relationship between family welfare history and young people's locus of control.

Keywords: locus of control, parental socio-economic background, education

JEL Classification: I38, J24, H31

Suggested Citation

Baron, Juan D. and Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., Are Young People's Educational Outcomes Linked to Their Sense of Control?. IZA Discussion Paper No. 4907, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1599005 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1599005

Juan D. Baron (Contact Author)

Central Bank of Colombia (Banco de la República) ( email )

Bogotá
Colombia

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark

School of Economics, University of Sydney ( email )

606 Social Sciences Bldg. (A02)
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia
61435061387 (Phone)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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