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Diversity in Schools: Immigrants and the Educational Performance of U.S.-Born Students

Author

Listed:
  • David Figlio
  • Paola Giuliano
  • Riccardo Marchingiglio
  • Umut Ozek
  • Paola Sapienza

Abstract

We study the effect of exposure to immigrants on the educational outcomes of U.S.-born students, using a unique dataset combining population-level birth and school records from Florida. This research question is complicated by the substantial school selection of U.S.-born students, especially among White and comparatively affluent students, in response to the presence of immigrant students in the school. We propose a new identification strategy, comparing sibling outcomes with the inclusion of family fixed effects, to partial out the unobserved non-random selection of native-born families into schools. We find that the presence of immigrant students has a positive effect on the academic achievement of U.S.-born students, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Moreover, the presence of immigrants does not negatively affect the performance of affluent U.S.-born students, who typically show a higher academic achievement compared to immigrant students. We provide suggestive evidence on potential channels.

Suggested Citation

  • David Figlio & Paola Giuliano & Riccardo Marchingiglio & Umut Ozek & Paola Sapienza, 2024. "Diversity in Schools: Immigrants and the Educational Performance of U.S.-Born Students," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(2), pages 972-1006.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:91:y:2024:i:2:p:972-1006.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/restud/rdad047
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    Cited by:

    1. Çakır, Selcen & Erbay, Elif & Kirdar, Murat Güray, 2021. "Syrian Refugees and Human Capital Accumulation of Native Children in Turkey," IZA Discussion Papers 14972, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Sáenz Guillén Leyre, 2024. "¿Menos es Siempre Más?: Efectos del tamaño del aula en el rendimiento educativo en el contexto de la Transición Demográfica en Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4761, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    3. Leah Boustan & Mathias Fjællegaard Jensen & Ran Abramitzky & Elisa Jácome & Alan Manning & Santiago Pérez & Analysia Watley & Adrian Adermon & Jaime Arellano-Bover & Olof Åslund & Marie Connolly & Nat, 2025. "Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants in 15 Destination Countries," NBER Working Papers 33558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Cortina Toro,Magdalena & Jimenez,Juan Miguel & Rozo Villarraga,Sandra Viviana, 2024. "Little Nomads : Economic and Social Impacts of Migration on Children," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10686, The World Bank.
    5. Assaad, Ragui & Ginn, Thomas & Saleh, Mohamed, 2023. "Refugees and the education of host populations: Evidence from the Syrian inflow to Jordan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    6. Chuard, Caroline & Aerne, Annatina & Eugster, Beatrix & Hodler, Roland, 2025. "Ethnic clustering in schools and early career outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. Morales, Camila, 2022. "Do refugee students affect the academic achievement of peers? Evidence from a large urban school district," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Naomi Friedman-Sokuler & Claudia Senik, 2025. "From pink collar to lab coat: cultural persistence and diffusion of socialist gender norms," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-34, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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