Immigration and the public–private school choice

This paper empirically analyzes the effects of immigration on the schooling decisions of natives. We employ household-level data for Spain for years 2000–2015, a period characterized by high economic growth and large immigration that was halted by a long and severe recession. Our estimates reveal that increases in immigrant density at the school level triggered an important native flight from tuition-free, public schools toward private ones. We also find strong evidence of cream-skimming as more educated native households are the most likely to switch to private schools in response to immigration. Furthermore, we find that immigration leads to higher student–teacher ratios in public schools. We conclude that our results are consistent with the predictions of a political-economy model of school choice.