Teaching Practices and Social Capital

53 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2011

See all articles by Yann Algan

Yann Algan

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po)

Pierre Cahuc

Ecole Polytechnique, Paris

Andrei Shleifer

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: October 1, 2011

Abstract

We use several data sets to consider the effect of teaching practices on student beliefs, as well as on organization of firms and institutions. In cross-country data, we show that teaching practices (such as copying from the board versus working on projects together) are strongly related to various dimensions of social capital, from beliefs in cooperation to institutional outcomes. We then use micro-data to investigate the influence of teaching practices on student beliefs about cooperation and students' involvement in civic life. A two-stage least square strategy provides evidence that teaching practices have an independent sizeable effect on student social capital. The relationship between teaching practices and student test performance is nonlinear. The evidence supports the idea that progressive education promotes social capital.

Keywords: Education, Social Capital, Teaching Practices

JEL Classification: I2, Z1

Suggested Citation

Algan, Yann and Cahuc, Pierre and Shleifer, Andrei, Teaching Practices and Social Capital (October 1, 2011). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP8625, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1952486

Yann Algan (Contact Author)

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) ( email )

Pierre Cahuc

Ecole Polytechnique, Paris ( email )

1 rue Descartes
Paris, 75005
France

Andrei Shleifer

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

Littauer Center
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-495-5046 (Phone)
617-496-1708 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.economics.harvard.edu/~ashleife/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

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