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School Choice and Increasing Performance Difference: A Counterfactual Approach

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  • John Östh
  • Eva Andersson
  • Bo Malmberg

Abstract

In recent years, structural changes to the school system, including the introduction of independent schools, have increased school choice alternatives in Sweden. Consequently, a large share of today’s students attend a school other than the one closest to home. Since the compulsory school system is designed to be free of charge and to offer the same standard of education everywhere, increasing school choice– hypothetically—should not increase the between-school variation in grades. In reality, however, between-school variation in grades has increased in recent years. The aim of this paper is to test whether increasing between-school variance can be explained by changes in residential patterns, or if it must be attributed to structural change. Using a counterfactual approach, the students’ variations in grades are compared between observed schools of graduation and hypothetical schools of graduation. The multilevel results indicate that school choice seems to increase between-school variation of grades.

Suggested Citation

  • John Östh & Eva Andersson & Bo Malmberg, 2013. "School Choice and Increasing Performance Difference: A Counterfactual Approach," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(2), pages 407-425, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:50:y:2013:i:2:p:407-425
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098012452322
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Masci, Chiara & Ieva, Francesca & Agasisti, Tommaso & Paganoni, Anna Maria, 2016. "Does class matter more than school? Evidence from a multilevel statistical analysis on Italian junior secondary school students," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 47-57.
    2. Gustafsson, Björn Anders & Katz, Katarina & Österberg, Torun, 2016. "Why Do Some Young Adults Not Graduate from Upper Secondary School? On the Importance of Signals of Labour Market Failure," IZA Discussion Papers 9886, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Elacqua, Gregory & Santos, Humberto, 2016. "Socioeconomic school segregation in Chile: parental choice and a theoretical counterfactual analysis," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    4. Anders Böhlmark & Helena Holmlund & Mikael Lindahl, 2016. "Parental choice, neighbourhood segregation or cream skimming? An analysis of school segregation after a generalized choice reform," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 1155-1190, October.
    5. Harrison, Julie & Rouse, Paul, 2014. "Competition and public high school performance," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 10-19.

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