The long-term effects of students’ economic competencies on the transition from school to university in the international context

Abstract

Because of the high social relevance of an economics education, many countries now focus on the enhancement of economic competencies in schools. International results show strong deficits in basic economic knowledge, especially for students in upper secondary education, who usually enter higher education. Furthermore, it is not clear what effects these competencies have on subsequent transitions, which is primarily due to a lack of longitudinal studies. Against this background, this article systematically embeds findings from a Swiss longitudinal study in the international context. Thereby, Switzerland is systematically compared with other countries that also provide substantial research on economic education (e.g., the U.S. and Japan). Lessons learned from the Swiss case will be discussed from an international perspective, and implications for future international research will be derived.