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From Forced Busing to Free Choice in Public Schools: Quasi-Experimental Evidence of Individual and General Effects

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  • Victor Lavy

Abstract

In 1994 the city of Tel Aviv replaced its existing school integration program based on inter-district busing, with a new program that allowed students to choose freely between schools in and out of district. This paper explores the impact of this program on high school outcomes while distinguishing the effect of choice on individual students from general equilibrium effects on affected districts. The identification is based on a regression discontinuity design that yields comparison groups drawn from untreated tangent neighborhoods in adjacent cities and on instrumental variables. The results suggest that the choice program had significant general equilibrium effects on high school dropout rates, matriculation rates and program of study. The gains are more pronounced among disadvantaged children but not among students who took advantage of the option to attend out of district schools with higher mean outcomes. These results and other evidence related to the behavioral responses of schools and students to the program suggest that the positive impact of the program is mainly due to better matching between students and schools and to productivity effects of choice and competition among schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Lavy, 2006. "From Forced Busing to Free Choice in Public Schools: Quasi-Experimental Evidence of Individual and General Effects," NBER Working Papers 11969, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11969
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Simon Burgess & Ellen Greaves & Anna Vignoles & Deborah Wilson, 2015. "What Parents Want: School Preferences and School Choice," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(587), pages 1262-1289, September.
    2. Martin Schlotter & Guido Schwerdt & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Econometric methods for causal evaluation of education policies and practices: a non-technical guide," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 109-137.
    3. Cain Polidano & Justin van de Ven & Sarah Voitchovsky, 2017. "The Power of Self-Interest: Effects of Education and Training Entitlements in Later-Life," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2017n12, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    4. Justin van de Ven & Cain Polidano & Sarah Voitchovsky, 2017. "The power of self-interest: Effects of subsidies for adult education and training," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 480, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    5. 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.
    6. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2010. "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 281-355, June.
    7. Cain Polidano & Justin Ven & Sarah Voitchovsky, 2021. "Are Broad-Based Vouchers an Effective Way to Support Life-Long Learning? Evidence from an Australian Reform," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 62(7), pages 998-1038, November.
    8. Otávio Bartalotti & Quentin Brummet & Steven Dieterle, 2021. "A Correction for Regression Discontinuity Designs With Group-Specific Mismeasurement of the Running Variable," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 833-848, July.
    9. Duncan McVicar & Cain Polidano, 2015. "If You Get What You Want, Do You Get What You Need? Course Choice and Achievement Effects of a Vocational Education and Training Voucher Scheme," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2015n06, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.

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    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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