Swedes’ early embrace of home computer and Internet use could be an explanation for deteriorating school performance, economist Jonas Vlachos writes.

• Sweden ranked world's most networked economy
• OECD tells Finland to reform university system

It seems apparent to seek the explanation for the deteriorating school performance of Swedish students in the realm of the school itself. A lack of order, diminishing resources, “inventions” in educational techniques, or segregation caused by school selection – everyone can pick their favorite explanation for this decay.

Another possibility is, however, that the primary explanation is not found in the school system, but in wider societal changes. A couple of new studies suggest that the Swedes’ early embrace of home computer and Internet use can be an explanation for this development. 


A research team consisting of Charles Clotfelter, Helen Ladd and Jacob Marriage has compared U.S. student performance before and after their families purchased a computer and before and after broadband was available in their zip code. The results are staggering: both math and reading comprehension skills deteriorate relative to other students after the computer makes its entrance in the home. 


It gets even worse when broadband becomes available; then the computer seems to be used exclusively for entertainment, with additional erosion of knowledge as a result. Interestingly, socioeconomic disparities in school achievement increase when broadband is introduced. A reasonable interpretation of this result is that educated parents on average keep better track of their children’s schoolwork, despite the lure of the World Wide Web. 


The results are strikingly similar to those of a study by Ofer Malamud and Cristian Pop-Eleches. This study compares student performance in Romanian families just above and below an income limit, which allowed them to receive a subsidy in order to buy a computer. Not surprisingly, the subsidy led to improved computer skills but also to a decline in student performance in math, English and Romanian. This, despite the fact that the computers contributed to a slight increase in students’ cognitive ability. 


In line with Clotfelter et al, Malamud and Pop-Eleches find that the computers almost exclusively are used for entertainment and reduce the time students spend on homework. An effective way to mitigate the negative effects seems to be to have homework rules; the children in those families had increased computer skills and cognitive ability without their schoolwork being negatively impacted. However, it seems inefficient to try to get children to take care of school by regulating their computer use. 


Since Sweden was an early adopter in both home computers and broadband, it is not unreasonable to think that the deterioration in school performance relative to other countries may be due to this. The results could also explain the growing importance of social background in the Swedish school system. As computer usage increases in other countries, this would then mean that Swedish student performance will improve with time – relatively speaking, that is. 


As usual, it is difficult to explain the success of the Finnish school system; like Sweden, Finland was a front runner as an IT nation. But perhaps Finnish parents are better than their Swedish counterparts when it comes to getting their children to do their homework – despite of all the exciting updates and streams out there.

Jonas Vlachos
Docent/Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Stockholm University

Published in collaboration with the blog Ekonomistas.

Translation by Jonas Vesterberg,
U.S.-based journalist and communications consultant.