Factors influencing the retake rate of college entrance examinations: A macro perspective analysis

A region's retake rate of college entrance examinations indirectly reflects the difficulty of accessing higher education (HE) and directly affects the equity of HE access. However, factors influencing retake rates are less systematically investigated. To this end, based on the panel data of retake rate across provinces in China from 1997 to 2010 and a two‐way fixed effects (TWFE) model, this paper examines the determinants of retake rates in terms of economic, examinee‐related and institutional factors. Further, the results of the Shapely value decomposition method indicate that real GDP per capita, the urbanization rate and the proportion of male examinees are the main determinants of the retake rate, accounting for 43.64 per cent of the total R‐squared. The findings have implications for policymakers aiming to reduce retake rates.