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Do peers affect private tutoring engagement in Korea? Evidence from a quasi-experimental approach

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Abstract

This study examines the influence of peers who receive private tutoring on an individual student’s engagement in private tutoring. Using data from the Gyeonggi Education Panel Study of 7th and 10th graders in Korea, we leverage quasi-experimental variation generated from the random allocation of students to classes in schools. To address the bidirectionality of peer influence, an instrumental variable strategy is combined with a school fixed effects approach. The findings indicate that peer’s private tutoring leads to an increase in student’s engagement in private tutoring. The peer effect on private tutoring is more pronounced among girls than boys. More precisely, increasing the proportion of classmates who receive private tutoring by 10% points increases the likelihood that a girl engages in private tutoring by 7.1% points. Policies that leverage peer influence may be a cost-effective way to reduce the personal and social ramifications of excessive consumption of private tutoring in Korea.

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The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Author notes

  1. Jinho Kim and Taehoon Kim contributed equally to the research.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Taehoon Kim

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Hayun Jang & Jinho Kim

  3. Interdisciplinary Program in Precision Public Health, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jinho Kim

  4. Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Jinho Kim

  5. Department of Health Policy and Management, Korea University, Room 367, B-dong Hana-Science Building, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jinho Kim

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  1. Taehoon Kim
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Correspondence to Jinho Kim.

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Because this study was an analysis of secondary data with no identifying information, it was exempted from Institutional Review Board approval.

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The Gyeonggi Institute of Education granted approval of the GEPS study and obtained written consent from the participants.

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Kim, T., Jang, H. & Kim, J. Do peers affect private tutoring engagement in Korea? Evidence from a quasi-experimental approach. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 23, 271–283 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09738-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09738-1

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