The Economics of Education

In this lesson, Professor John List explores the economics of education, focusing on the concept of the education production function, which examines how various inputs like a child’s effort, household support, and school resources contribute to educational achievement. The lesson highlights the importance of experimentation to better understand what works in education, detailing a field experiment that tested how different types of financial incentives could improve student test scores, with a focus on how framing rewards affects student effort.