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Ludger Woessmann

University of Munich, ifo Institute, CESifo, and IZA, Germany

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Director, ifo Center for the Economics of Education; Professor of Economics, University of Munich

Research interest

Economics of education, economic growth, economic history, economics of religion, labor economics

Website

https://sites.google.com/view/woessmann

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Coordinator, European Expert Network on the Economics of Education (EENEE); Member, Academic Advisory Council, German Federal Ministry of Economics; Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina; Member, German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech); Fellow, International Academy of Education

Past positions

Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, 2010, 2014–2015; Visiting Faculty, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, 2007

Qualifications

PhD Economics, University of Kiel, 2001

Selected publications

  • "Social cohesion, religious beliefs, and the effect of Protestantism on suicide." Review of Economics and Statistics (Forthcoming) (with S. O. Becker).

  • "Knowledge capital and aggregate income differences: Development accounting for US states." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 9:4 (2017): 184–224 (with E. A. Hanushek and J. Ruhose).

  • "The importance of school systems: Evidence from international differences in student achievement." Journal of Economic Perspectives 30:3 (2016): 3–31.

  • "Was Weber wrong? A human capital theory of Protestant economic history." Quarterly Journal of Economics 124:2 (2009): 531–596 (with S. O. Becker).

  • "The role of cognitive skills in economic development." Journal of Economic Literature 46:3 (2008): 607–668 (with E. A. Hanushek).

article(s)

  • Central exit exams improve student outcomes

    External school leaving exams raise student achievement and improve how grades are understood in the labor market

    Ludger Woessmann, January 2018
    Reaching the policy goal of improving student achieve­ment by adding resources to the school system has often proven elusive. By contrast, ample evidence indicates that central exit exams constitute an important feature of a school system’s institutional framework, which can hold students, teachers, schools, and administrators accountable for student outcomes. While critics point to issues such as teaching test-only skills, which may leave students ill-prepared for the real world, the evidence does not bear this out. Overall, central exams are related to better student achievement, favorable labor market outcomes, and higher economic growth.
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