Abstract
In this study, we use an administrative dataset of 406 students from a compulsory economics course for students enrolled in a MSc in Business Administration at a private Italian university, to examine how allowing students the option of attending either in person or online affects both their choice of attendance mode and academic performance. Our analysis exploits the rules implemented in Italy during the 2020-21 fall semester, when students were initially allowed to choose between in-person and online attendance, but then forced to attend online due to the pandemic in the second half of the semester. A key feature of the study is that the two attendance modes differ merely in terms of whether the student is physically present in the classroom or connected via video conferencing, whereas other learning features, such as the possibilities of interacting with professors, are identical. According to our results, female students are more likely to attend online than male students. Despite this, the online technology under evaluation has a neutral effect on students' academic performance. These findings suggest that an online teaching technology that allows students to interact with the class as if they were in the classroom can be welfare improving, because it allows for greater flexibility in allocating time beyond the classroom.