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Neighborhood Exposure Effects in Cognitive Skills and the Role of Primary Schools

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  • Xi Lin

Abstract

This study examines how childhood residential location affects cognitive skills, focusing on the roles of neighborhood and primary school quality in shaping children’s school performance. Using administrative data from the Netherlands, I estimate the causal effect of neighborhood exposure—defined as the impact of time spent in a neighborhood—on children’s test scores at the end of their primary education. By comparing children who move at different ages, I separate the effects of exposure from those of sorting into neighborhoods. The results show that for each additional year a child spends in a neighborhood with higher expected test scores, their test scores improve by approximately 2.5% relative to the total gap between the lower- and higher-performing neighborhoods. As families can choose primary schools without geographical restrictions in the Netherlands, I can further isolate improvements attributable to school quality. Approximately 40% of the observed improvements in test scores can be explained by differences in primary school quality. These findings highlight the critical roles of neighborhood environments and school quality in reducing spatial educational inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Xi Lin, 2025. "Neighborhood Exposure Effects in Cognitive Skills and the Role of Primary Schools," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_618, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_618
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    File URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp618
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren, 2018. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility I: Childhood Exposure Effects," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1107-1162.
    2. Jesse Rothstein, 2019. "Inequality of Educational Opportunity? Schools as Mediators of the Intergenerational Transmission of Income," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(S1), pages 85-123.
    3. Nathan Deutscher, 2020. "Place, Peers, and the Teenage Years: Long-Run Neighborhood Effects in Australia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 220-249, April.
    4. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren, 2018. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility II: County-Level Estimates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1163-1228.
    5. Jean-William Laliberté, 2021. "Long-Term Contextual Effects in Education: Schools and Neighborhoods," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 336-377, May.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Neighborhood Effects; Mover Design; Intergenerational Mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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