Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 2,
no. 1, January 2010
(pp. 211-28)
Abstract
There is a widespread perception that externalities from troubled children are significant, though measuring them is difficult due to data and methodological limitations. We estimate the negative spillovers caused by children from troubled families by exploiting a unique dataset in which children's school records are matched to domestic violence cases. We find that children from troubled families significantly decrease the reading and math test scores of their peers and increase misbehavior in the classroom. The achievement spillovers are robust to within-family differences and when controlling for school-by-year effects, providing strong evidence that neither selection nor common shocks are driving the results. (JEL D62, I21, J12, J13, K42)Citation
Carrell, Scott E., and Mark L. Hoekstra. 2010. "Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2 (1): 211-28. DOI: 10.1257/app.2.1.211Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D62 Externalities
- I21 Analysis of Education
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
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