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On the Spatial Determinants of Educational Access

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Agostinelli

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Margaux Luflade

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Paolo Martellini

    (University of Wisconsin--Madison)

Abstract

We study the role of local institutions--that is, school boundaries, school transportation provision, and zoning restrictions--in determining inequalities of educational opportunities for children. Motivated by our empirical findings on how the demand for both neighborhoods and schools responds to quasi-experimental variation in school quality and transportation, we build and estimate a spatial equilibrium model of residential sorting and school choice. We use the estimated model to analyze three policies that aim to improve educational access to economically disadvantaged children: expanding school choice, providing housing vouchers, and upzoning residential neighborhoods. We find that the success of school choice expansion is contingent on integrating transportation services, and that the common assumption in the school choice literature of policy-invariant residential location would lead to opposite implications for the equilibrium change in school composition. The voucher program benefits eligible families, but the benefits fade in equilibrium as the policy is implemented on a large scale. Finally, upzoning is an effective policy in lowering inequality in school composition via a reduction in neighborhood income segregation.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Agostinelli & Margaux Luflade & Paolo Martellini, 2021. "On the Spatial Determinants of Educational Access," Working Papers 2021-042, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-042
    Note: ECI
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Greaves, Ellen & Turon, Hélène, 2024. "School Choice and Neighborhood Sorting: Equilibrium Consequences of Geographic School Admissions," IZA Discussion Papers 16805, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. 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 May 2023.
    3. Ellen Greaves & Hélène Turon, 2023. "School choice and neighborhood sorting: Equilibrium consequences of geographic school admissions," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 24/779, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    4. Dionissi Aliprantis & Kristen Tauber & Hal Martin, 2022. "What Determines the Success of Housing Mobility Programs?," Working Papers 2022-043, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Federico Echenique & Joseph Root & Fedor Sandomirskiy, 2024. "Stable matching as transportation," Papers 2402.13378, arXiv.org.
    6. Eshaghnia, Sadegh S. M. & Heckman, James J. & Razavi, Goya, 2023. "Pricing Neighborhoods," IZA Discussion Papers 16234, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    school zoning; quasi-experimental variation; voucher programs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

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