Skip to content!

November 6, 2013

Cluster-Seminar Public Finances and Living Conditions

Music or Sports - An empirical analysis of their differential effects on child development

Date

November 6, 2013
12:30-13:30

Location

Eleanor-Dulles-Raum
DIW Berlin im Quartier 110
Room 5.2.010
Mohrenstraße 58
10117 Berlin

Speakers

Adrian Hille
(joint with Charlotte Cabane and Michael Lechner)

Previous studies on the effects of leisure activities on skill development do not discuss whether such activities are complements or substitutes. Comparing to which extent various extracurricular activities influence skill development brings us closer to understanding the formation of educational inequalities as well as the mechanisms behind skill production. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, our study compares the role of music and sports for the development of cognitive and non-cognitive skills during adolescence. We use parental taste as an instrumental variable to account for the non-random choice between these activities. Our preliminary findings suggest that music is better than sports for increasing adolescents' ambition and optimism about future success.

Contact

keyboard_arrow_up