Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity Design
Miguel Urquiola and Eric Verhoogen
|
| Article Citation |
Urquiola, Miguel, and Eric Verhoogen. 2009. "Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity Design." American Economic Review, 99(1): 179–215.
DOI:10.1257/aer.99.1.179
|
| Abstract |
This paper examines how schools' choices of class size and households' choices
of schools affect regression-discontinuity-based estimates of the effect of class
size on student outcomes. We build a model in which schools are subject to
a class-size cap and an integer constraint on the number of classrooms, and
higher-income households sort into higher-quality schools. The key prediction,
borne out in data from Chile's liberalized education market, is that schools
at the class-size cap adjust prices (or enrollments) to avoid adding an additional
classroom, which generates discontinuities in the relationship between
enrollment and household characteristics, violating the assumptions underlying
regression-discontinuity research designs. (JEL D12, I21, I28, O15)
|
| Article Full-Text Access |
|
| Additional Materials |
Download Data Set
| Appendix
|
| Authors |
Urquiola, Miguel (Columbia U)
Verhoogen, Eric (Columbia U and BREAD, Duke U)
|
| JEL Classifications |
D12: Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
I21: Analysis of Education
I28: Education: Government Policy
O15: Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
|
|
|
|
