The Rank of Socioeconomic Status within a Class and the Incidence of School Bullying and School Absence

         
Author Name INOUE Atsushi (Nippon Institute for Research Advancement) / TANAKA Ryuichi (Faculty Fellow, RIETI)
Creation Date/NO. January 2023 23-E-003
Research Project Microeconometric Analysis of Education Policy with Large Administrative Data
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Abstract

Does the relative wealth of students’ households affect the incidence of risky behaviors of students in school? We estimate the effect of the rank of the socioeconomic status (SES) of the students’ household within a class on the incidence of school bullying and school absence. We exploit the variation of SES rank within a class generated by the almost-random assignment of students to classes. Using the data from middle-school students in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), we find that although the absolute level of SES is negatively associated with these incidences, students with a high SES rank within a class are more likely to be the victims of school bullying and to be absent from school.