The aim of this paper is to analyze the selection process at work before and after compulsory schooling by assessing the determinants of school failures, dropouts and upper secondary school decisions of young Italians. The dataset is built combining individual data from the Labor Force Survey and aggregate data on local labor markets and school supply from the Italian National Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Education, respectively. Our results show that school failure (i.e., repetition of a year) is highly correlated to family background, and strongly affects later choices. Early school leaving and upper secondary school choice are mainly a reflection of parents' socio-economic status. The effectiveness of the educational system in narrowing the risk of failure and the scholastic outflow depends on the widespread adoption of full-time attendance in compulsory school, the quality of school infrastructures and the reduction of the number of teachers on temporary contracts.
Published in 2012 in: Education Economics, v. 20, 2, pp. 189-209
