Ordinal Rank and Student's outcomes

This research project focuses on how pupils’ positions within their school environment can impact their future educational and career decisions. We are particularly interested in understanding the influence of social comparisons among peers on pupils’ trajectories. By analyzing these dynamics, we aim to gain insights into how formal institutions, like schools, contribute to shaping inequalities.

To achieve our objectives, we use extensive data from all ninth-grade pupils in Sweden between 1990 and 1997. With a robust approach to identifying cause and effect, we can examine how a pupils’ rank in school influences their choices and achievements. Importantly, we consider different groups, such as boys and girls, separately to understand any potential gender differences.

This project is financed by IFAU, grant number 151/2021 

Research output (so far):

• The Effect of Ordinal Rank in School on Educational Achievement and Income in Sweden,  manuscript (submitted to journal)

•  The Effect of School Ordinal Rank on Students Mental Health (with Karin Edmark). 

• Does the bigger sh in the pond hatch more fry? A register-based analysis of ordinal rank effects on completed fertility (with Roujman Shahbazian and Linus Andersson)

• The effect of ordinal rank on STEM degrees. Does relative deprivation and gratication matter? (with Roujman Shahbazian)