Education Policy and Educational Inequality : Evidence from the Swiss Laboratory

Abstract

This article examines how the different education policies in the subnational units of Switzerland—the cantons—affect educational inequality. The article builds on previous research arguing that in order to properly evaluate education policy and its outcomes in decentralized countries, regional disparities must been taken into account. Switzerland has one of the most decentralized education systems in the world and is thus an exemplary case for a subnational analysis. Applying multilevel models the article illustrates that small class size, public investments in education as well as the mobility between ability groups are related to a lower degree of educational inequality. In contrast, longer schooldays strengthen inequality in education, implying that school instruction in the Swiss cantons does not provide equal opportunities to pupils irrespective of social class.