We use data from the Spanish sample of the Programme for the International
Assessment of AdultCompetencies to analyze the effect of the LOGSE (Spanish
acronym for General Law of the Education System) reform passed in 1990 on numeracy
and literacy proficiency of the adult population. The LOGSE effect is identified by
exploiting the variability of the rate of implementation among cohorts and regions. The
results change depending on the specification of the econometric model and mainly
on the type of birth year trend assumed. Nonetheless, overall results suggest that the
LOGSE reform did not help to increase cognitive skills of the population despite an
extension of compulsory years of education and postponement of the age of initial
tracking into vocational and academic studies.
