There is 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 data set in which children’s school records are matched to domestic violence cases. We find that children from troubled families significantly decrease their peers’ reading and math test scores and increase misbehavior in the classroom. The achievement spillovers are robust to within-family differences and controlling for school-by-year specific shocks, providing strong evidence that neither selection nor common shocks are driving the results.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number
343.
Length: Date of creation: Jun 2008 Date of revision:
Sep 2008 Publication status: Forthcoming in American Economic Journal: Applied Economics Handle: RePEc:pit:wpaper:343
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