Banning mobile phones in schools: evidence from regional-level policies in Spain
Lower secondary (grades 7–9) Upper secondary Attention and memory Analog vs digital
Links to claims
Supports (1)
| Claim | Basis |
|---|---|
| C6 | Abstract: Spanish regional bans from 2015, synthetic control and DiD on regional PISA; positive and significant maths and science effects reported for Galicia (0.6–0.8 and about 0.72–1 years of learning), with significant score effects reported only for that region; bullying fell in both. Region-level, not pupil-level. Open access, but the full text was blocked from the box. |
Limits (1)
| Claim | Basis |
|---|---|
| C36 | Abstract: region-level PISA averages only; no split by prior achievement, so it cannot test whether lower achievers gain more. |
Review state: first-pass draft, pending human review.
Source note
Syntes: Beneito & Vicente-Chirivella (2022) — regional school phone bans in Spain and PISA scores
Källa: Beneito, P. & Vicente-Chirivella, Ó. (2022). Banning mobile phones in schools: evidence from regional-level policies in Spain. Applied Economic Analysis 30(90), 153–175; online 2022-01-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEA-05-2021-0112
Verified content
- [abstract] Two Spanish regions banned phones in schools from 2015; synthetic control and difference-in-differences against the other regions.
- [abstract] Bullying incidence fell noticeably in both treated regions.
- [abstract] Positive and significant PISA effects are reported for Galicia: equivalent to 0.6–0.8 years of learning in maths and about 0.72 to nearly one year in science. The abstract reports significant score effects only for Galicia, not for the second region.
Limits
- [assessment] Abstract only. Region-level PISA averages: no pupil-level data, so no split by prior achievement, and the effect is inferred from one or two treated regions. Effects are stated in "years of learning", not standard deviations.
- [assessment] Results differ between the two regions, which is itself a reason for caution about an average effect.
Why it is in the library
C6 lists settings where bans helped and where they did not; this is a widely cited Spanish case (the sweep lead from study mining 2026-11-13) and adds a region-level positive result for one region. For C36 it cannot test the lower-achiever clause, because it has no pupil-level achievement split.
Added 2026-11-15 by the project (weekly source sweep, kind: new (sweep lead from study mining 2026-11-13); read: abstract). [abstract] = from the published abstract; [full text] = read in the full text; [assessment] = the project's own assessment.
Metadata as recorded
- ID
- ATTN-015
- Tier
- quasi/DiD
- Titel
- Banning mobile phones in schools: evidence from regional-level policies in Spain
- Författare
- Beneito, P. & Vicente-Chirivella, Ó.
- År
- 2022 (Applied Economic Analysis 30(90), 153–175; online 2022-01-25)
- Källa/DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1108/AEA-05-2021-0112
- URL
- https://doi.org/10.1108/AEA-05-2021-0112
- Typ
- region-level quasi-experiment: synthetic control and difference-in-differences comparing two Spanish regions that banned phones in schools from 2015 with the other regions; outcomes regional PISA maths and science scores and bullying incidence
- Åldersgrupp
- grundskola-hog, gymnasium
- Teman
- uppmarksamhet-och-minne;analogt-vs-digitalt
- Hämtad
- 2026-11-15
- Paywall
- open access (diamond, Emerald) but blocked from the box; abstract read
- Tillagd
- source sweep 2026-11-15 (kind: new (sweep lead from study mining 2026-11-13)); links pending human review
The original files (PDF or abstract) are kept in the project archive and are not published here.