The Distributional Consequences of Public School Choice | Zendy

Christopher Avery | Zendy; Parag A. Pathak | Zendy

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The Distributional Consequences of Public School Choice

Author(s) -

Christopher Avery,

Parag A. Pathak

Publication year - 2020

Publication title -

american economic review

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 16.936

H-Index - 297

eISSN - 1944-7981

pISSN - 0002-8282

DOI - 10.1257/aer.20151147

Subject(s) - school choice , incentive , quality (philosophy) , distribution (mathematics) , economics , affect (linguistics) , public economics , microeconomics , public good , sociology , mathematics , mathematical analysis , philosophy , communication , epistemology , market economy

School choice systems aspire to delink residential location and school assignments by allowing children to apply to schools outside of their neighborhood. However, choice programs also affect incentives to live in certain neighborhoods, and this feedback may undermine the goals of choice. We investigate this possibility by developing a model of public school and residential choice. School choice narrows the range between the highest and lowest quality schools compared to neighborhood assignment rules, and these changes in school quality are capitalized into equilibrium housing prices. This compressed distribution generates an ends-against-the-middle trade-off with school choice compared to neighborhood assignment. Paradoxically, even when choice results in improvement in the lowest-performing schools, the lowest type residents need not benefit. (JEL H75, I21, I28, R23, R31)

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