Advertisement

Journal of Cultural Economics

, Volume 39, Issue 4, pp 369–396 | Cite as

The impact of music on educational attainment

  • Philip Yang
Original Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of music practice on educational outcomes. Estimates from multivariate regressions and individual fixed effects suggest that childhood musical activity—either playing an instrument or singing—relates positively to educational achievements in adolescence. The magnitude and significance of the estimated music coefficients for different music indicators is robust when increasing the amount of individual and family control variables. Yet, the size of the music estimates decreases when holding constant the effect of parental education, other time leisure activities, and previous educational achievements.

Keywords

Human capital Education Music 

JEL Classification

I21 Z11 J24 J22 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Supplementary material

10824_2015_9240_MOESM1_ESM.doc (429 kb)
Supplementary material 1 (DOC 429 kb)

References

  1. Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J.-S. (2009). Mostly harmless econometrics: An empiricist’s companion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
  2. Becker, G. S. (1993). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Bilhartz, T. D., Bruhn, R. A., & Olson, J. E. (2000). The effect of early music training on child cognitive development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 20(4), 615–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Borjas, G. J. (2000). Foreign-born teaching assistants and the academic performance of undergraduates. American Economic Review, 90(2), 355–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Ceci, S. J., & Williams, M. (1997). Schooling, intelligence, and income. American Psychologist, 52(10), 1051–1058.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Cooke, L. P. (2003). A comparison of initial and early life course earnings of the German secondary education and training system. Economics of Education Review, 22(1), 79–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Costa-Giomi, E. (1999). The effects of three years of piano instruction in children’s cognitive development. Journal of Research in Music Education, 47, 198–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Dustmann, C. (2004). Parental background, secondary school track choice and wages. Oxford Economic Paper, 56, 209–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Dustmann, C., Puhani, P. A., & Schoenberg, U. (2012), The long-term effects of school quality on labor market outcomes and educational attainment. Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration Discussion Paper Series No 08/12, London.Google Scholar
  10. Edelson, R. J., & Johnson, G. (2003). Music makes math meaningful. Childhood Education, 80(2), 65–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Elbert, T., Pantev, C., Wienbruch, C., Rockstroh, B., & Taub, E. (1995). Increased cortical representation of the fingers of the left hand in string players. Science, 13, 305–307.CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  12. Elpus, K. (2013). Is it the music or is it selection bias? SAT Scores. Journal of Research in Music Education, 61, 175–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Fitzpatrick, K. R. (2006). The effect of instrumental music participation and socioeconomic status on Ohio fourth-, proficiency test performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(1), 73–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Frick, J. R., & Samberg, O. G. (2007), Biography and life history data in the German socio economic panel, DIW Data Documentation 36.Google Scholar
  15. Gardiner, M. F., Fox, A. K., Nowles, F., & Jeffrey, D. (1996). Learning improved by arts training. Nature, 381(6580), 284.CrossRefPubMedADSGoogle Scholar
  16. Garlin, F., & Owen, K. (2006). Setting the tone with the tune: A meta-analytic review of the effects of background music in retail settings. Journal of Business Research, 59(6), 755–764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Gaser, C., & Schlaug, G. (2003). Brain structures differ between musicians and nonmusicians. Journal of Neuroscience, 23(27), 9240–9245.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  18. Gottfredson, L. S. (2002). Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription, compromise, and selfcreation. In D. Brown (Ed.), Career choice and development (4th ed., pp. 85–148). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
  19. Gottfredson, L. S., & Lapan, R. (1997). Assessing gender-based circumscription of occupational aspirations. Journal of Career Assessment, 5, 419–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Hall, C. (2005). Gender and boys’ singing in early childhood. British Journal of Music Education, 22, 5–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Hetland, L. (2000). Learning to make music enhances spatial reasoning. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34, 179–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Hille, A., & Schupp, J. (2013), How learning a musical instrument affects the development of skills. IZA Discussion Papers 7655.Google Scholar
  23. Hyde, K. L., Lerch, J., Norton, A., Forgeard, M., Winner, E., Evans, A. C., & Schlaug, G. (2009). Musical training shapes structural brain development. Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 3019–3025.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  24. Johnson, C. M., & Memmott, J. E. (2006). Examination of relationships between participation in school music programs of differing quality and standardized test results. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(4), 293–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Kaempfe, J., Sedlmeier, P., & Renkewitz, F. (2010). The impact of background music on adults listeners: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Music, 39(4), 424–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Lechner, M. (2009). Long-run labour market and health effects of individual sports activities. Journal of Health Economics, 28(4), 839–854.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  27. Lee, D. J., Chen, Y., & Schlaug, G. (2003). Corpus callosum: Musician and gender effects. NeuroReport, 14, 205–209.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  28. Monaghan, P., Metcalfe, N. B., & Ruxton, G. D. (1998). Does practice shape the brain? Nature, 394, 434.CrossRefPubMedADSGoogle Scholar
  29. Morrison, S. J. (1994). Music students and academic growth. Music Educators Journal, 80(2), 33–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T, Jr, & Boykin, A. W. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist, 51(2), 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Pantev, C., Oostenveld, R., Engelien, A., Ross, B., Roberts, L. E., & Hoke, M. (1998). Increased auditory cortical representation in musicians. Nature, 392, 811–814.CrossRefPubMedADSGoogle Scholar
  32. Pelosi, F. (2010). Plato on music, soul and body. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Petrill, S. A., Lipton, P. A., Hewitt, J. K., Plomin, R., Cherny, S. S., Corley, R., & DeFries, J. C. (2004). Genetic and environmental contributions to general cognitive ability through the first 16 years of life. Developmental Psychology 40(5), 805–812.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  34. Pfeifer, C., & Cornelißen, T. (2010). The impact of participation in sports on educational attainment: New evidence from Germany. Economics of Education Review, 29, 94–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Plomin, R., Fulker, D. W., Corley, R., & DeFries, J. C. (1997). Nature, nurture, and cognitive development from 1 to 16 years: A Parent-Offspring Adoption Study. Psychological Science, 8(6), 442–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Pont, G. (2004). Philosophy and science of music in ancient Greece: The predecessors of phythagoras and their contribution. Nexus Network Journal, 6(1), 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Rainbow, B. (1988). Music in educational though and practice: A survey from 800 BC. Boethius Press, Kilkenny.Google Scholar
  38. Rauscher, F. H., Haw, G. L., & Levine, L. J. (1997). Music training causes long-term enhancement off preschool children’s spatial–temporal reasoning. Neurological Research, 19, 2–8.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  39. Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, K. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365, 611.CrossRefPubMedADSGoogle Scholar
  40. Schellenberg, E. G. (2001). Music and nonmusical abilities. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 930, 355–371.CrossRefPubMedADSGoogle Scholar
  41. Schellenberg, E. G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological Science, 15, 511–514.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  42. Schellenberg, E. G. (2006). Long-term positive associations between music lessons and IQ. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(2), 457–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Schellenberg, E. G. (2011). Examining the association between music lessons and intelligence. British Journal of Psychology, 102(3), 283–302.MathSciNetCrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  44. Schlaug, G., Jaencke, L., Huang, Y., Staiger, J. F., & Steinmetz, H. (1995). Increased corpus callosum size in musicians. Neuropsychologica, 33(8), 1047–1055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research finding. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Schumacher, R. (2009). “Pauken mit Trompeten. Lassen sich Lernstrategien, Lernmotivation und soziale Kompetenzen durch Musikunterricht fördern?” Bildungsforschung Band 32, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF).Google Scholar
  47. Sergeant, D., & Thatcher, G. (1974). Intelligence, social status and musical abilities. Psychology of Music, 2(2), 32–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Sichivitsa, V. O. (2007). The influences of parents, teachers, peers and other factors on students’ motivation in music. Research Studies in Music Education, 29(1), 55–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Southgate, D. E., & Roscigno, V. J. (2009). The impact of music on childhood and adolescent achievement. Social Science Quarterly, 90(1), 4–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Vaughn, K. (2000). Music and mathematics: Modest support for the oft-claimed relationship. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34(4), 149–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Wechsler, D. (1991). WISC-III: Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
  52. Winner, E., Goldstein, T. G., & Vincent-Lancrin, S. (2013). Arts for arts’s sake? The impact of arts education. OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
  53. Wooldridge, J. (2002). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. Cambridge: MIT Press.MATHGoogle Scholar
  54. Zdzinski, S. F. (1996). Parental involvement, selected students attributes, and learning outcomes in instrumental music. Journal of Music Education, 44(1), 34–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Human Resource Management and OrganizationEberhard Karls University TübingenTübingenGermany

Personalised recommendations