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Valuing School Quality via a School Choice Reform

Author

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  • Machin, Stephen

    (London School of Economics)

  • Salvanes, Kjell G.

    (Norwegian School of Economics)

Abstract

Among policymakers, educators and economists there remains a strong, sometimes heated, debate on the extent to which good schools matter. This is seen, for instance, in the strong trend towards establishing accountability systems in education in many countries across the world. In this paper, in line with some recent studies, we value school quality using house prices. We, however, adopt a rather different approach to other work, using a policy experiment regarding pupils' choice to attend high schools to identify the relationship between house prices and school performance. We exploit a change in school choice policy that took place in Oslo county in 1997, where the school authorities opened up the possibility for every pupil to apply to any of the high schools in the county without having to live in the school's catchment area (the rule that applied before 1997). Our estimates show evidence that parents substantially value better performing schools since the sensitivity of housing valuations to school performance falls significantly by over 50% following the school choice reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Machin, Stephen & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2010. "Valuing School Quality via a School Choice Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 4719, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4719
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sandra E. Black, 1999. "Do Better Schools Matter? Parental Valuation of Elementary Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 577-599.
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    3. Gibbons, Stephen & Machin, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2013. "Valuing school quality using boundary discontinuities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 15-28.
    4. Bogart, William T. & Cromwell, Brian A., 1997. "How Much More is a Good School District Worth?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 50(2), pages 215-32, June.
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    6. Black, Sandra E. & Machin, Stephen, 2011. "Housing Valuations of School Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 10, pages 485-519, Elsevier.
    7. Bogart, William T. & Cromwell, Brian A., 2000. "How Much Is a Neighborhood School Worth?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 280-305, March.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    house prices; school performance; school reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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