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School Infrastructure Spending and Educational Outcomes in Northern Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandro Belmonte

    (IMT Lucca)

  • Vincenzo Bove

    (University of Warwick)

  • Giovanna D’Inverno

    (IMT Lucca)

  • Marco Modica

    (CNR IRCrES)

Abstract

We explore whether investment in public school infrastructure affects students’ achievement. We use data on extra funding to public high schools after the 2012 Northern Italy earthquake and apply a quasi-experimental design and an instrumental variable strategy. We find that spending on school infrastructure increases standardized test scores in mathematics and Italian language, and the effect is stronger for lower-achieving students and in mathematics.These results provide evidence in favor of a positive impact of capital spending in improving the learning environment and performances of high school students.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Belmonte & Vincenzo Bove & Giovanna D’Inverno & Marco Modica, 2017. "School Infrastructure Spending and Educational Outcomes in Northern Italy," SPRU Working Paper Series 2017-20, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:sru:ssewps:2017-20
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    File URL: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/documents/2017-20-swps-belmonte-et-al.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Santos, Eleonora & Khan, Shahed, 2018. "Is There an Economic Bias in Academic Success? A Regional Perspective," EconStor Preprints 183220, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Living standards; Wages; Multipliers; High-technology; Cities; Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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