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High School Track Choice and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Urban Mexico

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  • Avitabile, Ciro
  • Bobba, Matteo
  • Pariguana, Marco

Abstract

We study how a large household windfall affects sorting of relatively disadvantaged youth over high school tracks by exploiting the discontinuity in the assignment of a welfare program in Mexico. The in-cash transfer is found to significantly increase the probability of selecting vocational schools as the most preferred options vis-a-vis other more academically oriented education modalities. We find support for the hypothe- sis that the receipt of unearned income allows some students to choose a schooling career with higher out-of-pocket expenditures and higher expected returns. The ob- served change in stated preferences across tracks effectively alters school placement, and bears a positive effect on later education outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Avitabile, Ciro & Bobba, Matteo & Pariguana, Marco, 2016. "High School Track Choice and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Urban Mexico," TSE Working Papers 16-661, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised May 2017.
  • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:30495
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    Cited by:

    1. Avitabile, Ciro & de Hoyos, Rafael, 2018. "The heterogeneous effect of information on student performance: Evidence from a randomized control trial in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 318-348.
    2. Dustan, Andrew, 2020. "Can large, untargeted conditional cash transfers increase urban high school graduation rates? Evidence from Mexico City's Prepa Sí," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    3. Arthuer Bauer, 2017. "Redistributive Programs’ Implementation: Do Political Incentives Matter ?," Working Paper 35992a1b-607f-43ad-baa0-1, Agence française de développement.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    school choice; tracking; financial constraints; vocational education; returns to education; regression discontinuity design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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