Not Just Test Scores: Parents' Demand Response to School Quality Information

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IZA Seminar

Place: Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 9, 53113 Bonn

Date: 08.01.2013, 12:00 - 13:30

   

Presentation by 

Iftikhar Hussain (London School of Economics)
   

Abstract:

There is scant evidence on the effectiveness of providing school quality information, other than test scores, on parents’ behavior. This paper investigates the demand-side effects of a novel measure of quality, school inspection ratings. Exploiting variation in the timing of inspections, I demonstrate that a school’s market share, measured by total enrollment, responds to the top and bottom ratings; there is no enrollment effect to the middle range of ratings. Using data on parents’ ranked preferences over local schools, the paper also estimates a discrete choice model. The findings suggest that there is a strong response to all ratings, not just those at the extreme. Poorer families appear to be especially sensitive to how the information in the reports is presented.

   
   
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