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Benefits to Elite Schools and the Expected Returns to Education: Evidence from Mexico City

Author

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  • Estrada, Ricardo
  • Gignoux, Jérémie

Abstract

We exploit data on the future earnings students at high school completion expect to receive with and without a college education, together with information on learning achievement and college outcomes, to study the benefits from admission into a system of elite public high schools in Mexico City. Using data for the centralized allocation of students into schools and an adapted regression discontinuity design strategy, we estimate that elite school admission increases the future earnings and returns students expect from a college education. These gains in earnings expectations seem to reflect improvement in actual earnings opportunities, as admission to this elite school system also enhances learning achievement and college graduation outcomes. This provides evidence of the earnings benefits from attending elite schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Estrada, Ricardo & Gignoux, Jérémie, 2017. "Benefits to Elite Schools and the Expected Returns to Education: Evidence from Mexico City," Research Department working papers 1017, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    • Handle: RePEc:dbl:dblwop:1017
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    Cited by:

    1. Eunsik Chang & María Padilla-Romo, 2019. "The Effects of Local Violent Crime on High-Stakes Tests," Working Papers 2019-03, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics.
    2. De Hoyos Navarro,Rafael E. & Estrada,Ricardo & Vargas Mancera,Maria Jose, 2021. "Do Large-Scale Student Assessments Really Capture Cognitive Skills ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9537, The World Bank.
    3. Mu, Ren & Liu, Xinsheng, 2024. "Perceived returns to college education by ethnicity: Evidence from China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    4. Bobba, Matteo & Frisancho, Veronica & Pariguana, Marco, 2016. "Perceived Ability and School Choices: Experimental Evidence and Scale-up Effects," TSE Working Papers 16-660, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Mar 2026.
    5. Cabrera-Hernández, Francisco & Padilla-Romo, María & Peluffo, Cecilia, 2023. "Full-time schools and educational trajectories: Evidence from high-stakes exams," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    6. Luflade, Margaux & Zaiem, Meryam, 2024. "Do elite schools improve students performance? Evidence from Tunisia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    7. Margherita Fort & Andrea Ichino & Enrico Rettore & Giulio Zanella, 2022. "Multicutoff RD designs with observations located at each cutoff: problems and solutions," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2022-01, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    8. Ibtihal Ferwana & Suyoung Park & Ting-Yi Wu & Lav R. Varshney, 2023. "Designing Discontinuities," Papers 2305.08559, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2023.
    9. Wu, Jia & Wei, Xiangdong & Zhang, Hongliang & Zhou, Xiang, 2019. "Elite schools, magnet classes, and academic performances: Regression-discontinuity evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 143-167.
    10. Marinho Bertanha & Margaux Luflade & Ismael Mourifi'e, 2023. "Causal Effects in Matching Mechanisms with Strategically Reported Preferences," Papers 2307.14282, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2026.
    11. Zhang, Kexin, 2023. "The long-term impact of higher education: Evidence from the Gaokao reinstatement in China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    12. Dustan, Andrew, 2018. "Family networks and school choice," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 372-391.
    13. Hans‐Peter Y. Qvist & Anders Holm & Martin D. Munk, 2021. "Demand and Supply Effects and Returns to College Education: Evidence from a Natural Experiment with Engineers in Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(2), pages 676-704, April.
    14. Estrada, Ricardo, 2022. "The effect of the demand for elite schools on stratification," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    15. Padilla-Romo, María & Peluffo, Cecilia, 2023. "Persistence of the Spillover Effects of Violence and Educational Trajectories," IZA Discussion Papers 16374, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Erendira Leon Bravo, . "Three essays on education, wages, and the labour market in Mexico," Economics PhD Theses, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School, number 0322, December.
    17. de Hoyos, Rafael & Estrada, Ricardo & Vargas, María José, 2021. "What do test scores really capture? Evidence from a large-scale student assessment in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    18. Dustan, Andrew & Ngo, Diana K.L., 2018. "Commuting to educational opportunity? School choice effects of mass transit expansion in Mexico City," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 116-133.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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