Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College

58 Pages Posted: 14 May 2021

See all articles by Benjamin Elsner

Benjamin Elsner

University College Dublin (UCD)

Ingo E. Isphording

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Ulf Zölitz

Maastricht University; briq Institute on Behavior and Inequality; University of Zurich

Date Written: April 1, 2021

Abstract

This paper studies how a student's ordinal rank in a peer group affects performance and specialisation choices in university. By exploiting data with repeated random assignment of students to teaching sections, we find that a higher rank increases performance and the probability of choosing related follow-up courses and majors. We document two types of dynamic effects. First, earlier ranks are less important than later ranks. Second, responses to rank changes are asymmetric: improvements in rank raise performance, while decreases in rank have no effect. Rank effects partially operate through students' expectations about future grades.

JEL Classification: I21, J16, J31

Suggested Citation

Elsner, Benjamin and Isphording, Ingo E. and Zölitz, Ulf, Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College (April 1, 2021). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP16066, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3846155

Benjamin Elsner (Contact Author)

University College Dublin (UCD) ( email )

Belfield
Belfield, Dublin 4 4
Ireland

Ingo E. Isphording

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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

Ulf Zölitz

Maastricht University ( email )

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht, Limburg 6200MD
Netherlands

briq Institute on Behavior and Inequality ( email )

University of Zurich ( email )

Rämistrasse 71
Zürich, CH-8006
Switzerland

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