By Atsushi Inoue, Ryuichi Tanaka

Does the relative wealth of students’ households affect the incidence of risky behaviors of students in school? We estimate the effect of the rank of the socioeconomic status (SES) of the students’ household within a class on the incidence of school bullying and school absence. We exploit the variation of SES rank within a class generated by the almost random assignment of students to classes. Using the data from middle-school students in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), we find that although the absolute level of SES is negatively associated with these incidences, students with a high SES rank within a class are more likely to be the victims of school bullying and to be absent from school.

IZA DP No. 16975 Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics, 2024. 44p.