IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/udc/wpaper/wp242.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

When schools are the ones that choose: the effect of screening in Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Sebastián Bustos
  • Dante Contreras
  • Paulina Sepulveda

Abstract

The voucher scheme introduced in Chile in 1981 allows for-profit private subsidized schools to choose their students. This study examines the effects of this practice on the results’ gap between private and public schools and its impact on academic performance. Information from the 2005 SIMCE test is used, in which parents were asked about the admission requirements in their children’s schools. We present evidence indicating that student selection is a widespread practice among private subsidized schools. After controlling for a series of selection criteria and the segmentation effects that they produce, theevidence indicates that there are no differences in results between public and private subsidized education. Our results show that a student attending a school that uses selection criteria obtains 6-14% higher results in standardized mathematics tests than a student from a school that does not use selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastián Bustos & Dante Contreras & Paulina Sepulveda, 2007. "When schools are the ones that choose: the effect of screening in Chile," Working Papers wp242, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:udc:wpaper:wp242
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://econ.uchile.cl/public/Archivos/pub/c1a8ca38-158b-41ab-aa11-5788af3fd9ec.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Schneider & Gregory Elacqua & Jack Buckley, 2006. "School choice in Chile: Is it class or the classroom?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 577-601.
    2. Hanushek, Eric A & Rivkin, Steven G & Taylor, Lori L, 1996. "Aggregation and the Estimated Effects of School Resources," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(4), pages 611-627, November.
    3. Contreras, Dante, 2002. "Vouchers, School Choice and the Access to Higher Education," Center Discussion Papers 28442, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    4. Hanushek, Eric A, 1986. "The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 1141-1177, September.
    5. Alejandra Mizala & Pilar Romaguera, 2000. "School Performance and Choice: The Chilean Experience," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(2), pages 392-417.
    6. McEwan, Patrick J., 2003. "Peer effects on student achievement: evidence from Chile," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 131-141, April.
    7. Hsieh, Chang-Tai & Urquiola, Miguel, 2006. "The effects of generalized school choice on achievement and stratification: Evidence from Chile's voucher program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(8-9), pages 1477-1503, September.
    8. Patrick McEwan, 2001. "The Effectiveness of Public, Catholic, and Non-Religious Private Schools in Chile's Voucher System," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 103-128.
    9. Epple, Dennis & Romano, Richard E, 1998. "Competition between Private and Public Schools, Vouchers, and Peer-Group Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 33-62, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francisco Gallego & Andrés Hernando, 2009. "School Choice in Chile: Looking at the Demand Side," Documentos de Trabajo 356, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    2. Chao Fu & Nicolás Grau & Jorge Rivera, 2022. "Wandering astray: Teenagers' choices of schooling and crime," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(2), pages 387-424, May.
    3. Dante Contreras & Tomás Rau, 2012. "Tournament Incentives for Teachers: Evidence from a Scaled-Up Intervention in Chile," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(1), pages 219-246.
    4. Marcela Rom‡n & Marcela Perticar‡, 2012. "Student mobility in low quality schools: Segmentation among the most vulnerable students," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 39(2 Year 20), pages 159-177, December.
    5. Rafael Carranza & Gabriel Otero & Dante Contreras, 2020. "Spatial divisions of poverty and wealth: How much does segregation matter for educational achievement?," Working Papers 543, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    6. Juan Pablo Valenzuela & Gabriela Gómez V. & Carmen Sotomayor, 2012. "The role of reading engagement in a case of national achievement improvement: analysis of Chilean results in PISA 2001-2009," Working Papers wp367, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    7. Gabriel Otero & Rafael Carranza & Dante Contreras, 2017. "‘Neighbourhood effects’ on children's educational achievement in Chile: The effects of inequality and polarization," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(11), pages 2595-2618, November.
    8. Ceron, Francisco I. & Bol, Thijs & van de Werfhorst, Herman G., 2022. "The dynamics of achievement inequality: The role of performance and choice in Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    9. Dante Contreras & Jorge Rodríguez & Sergio Urzúa, 2019. "The Return to Private Education: Evidence from School-to-Work Transitions," Working Papers wp479, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    10. Patrinos, Harry A. & Sakellariou, Chris, 2011. "Quality of Schooling, Returns to Schooling and the 1981 Vouchers Reform in Chile," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2245-2256.
    11. Francisco Meneses, 2021. "Intergenerational Mobility After Expanding Educational Opportunities: A Quasi Experiment," Working Papers 586, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    12. Kutscher, Macarena & Nath, Shanjukta & Urzúa, Sergio, 2023. "Centralized admission systems and school segregation: Evidence from a national reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    13. Díaz-Ríos, Claudia & Urbano-Canal, Nathalia & Ortegón-Penagos, Nataly, 2021. "How do national regulations for publicly subsidized private schools work in a decentralized context?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Gregory Elacqua & Mat’as Martinez & Humberto Santos & Daniela Urbina, 2012. "School closures in Chile: Access to quality alternatives in a school choice system," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 39(2 Year 20), pages 179-202, December.
    15. Contreras, Dante & Brante, Miguel & Espinoza, Sebastian & Zuñiga, Isabel, 2020. "The effect of the integration of students with special educational needs: Evidence from Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    16. Santos, Humberto & Elacqua, Gregory, 2016. "Socioeconomic school segregation in Chile: parental choice and a theoretical counterfactual analysis," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    17. Redondo S., Amaia & Muñoz H., Pablo, 2013. "Inequality and academic achievement in Chile," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    18. Mauro Mediavilla & Adrián Zancajo, 2015. "Is there real freedom of school choice? An analysis from Chile," Working Papers 2015/36, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    19. Alessandrini, Diana & Milla, Joniada, 2022. "School Choice and Higher Education Attainment," IZA Discussion Papers 15330, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Valenzuela, Juan Pablo & Gómez Vera, Gabriela & Sotomayor, Carmen, 2015. "The role of reading engagement in improving national achievement: An analysis of Chile's 2000–2009 PISA results," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 28-39.
    21. Contreras, David & Sanchez, Rafael, 2018. "Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Effects of Nursery Care in the Medium Run under Unobserved Heterogeneity," MPRA Paper 86289, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Nicolás Grau, 2016. "A Dynamic Model of Elementary School Choice," Working Papers wp417, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    23. Contreras, Dante & Elacqua, Gregory & Martinez, Matías & Miranda, Álvaro, 2016. "Bullying, identity and school performance: Evidence from Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 147-162.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dante Contreras & Paulina Sepúlveda & Sebastián Bustos, 2010. "When Schools Are the Ones that Choose: The Effects of Screening in Chile," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(s1), pages 1349-1368.
    2. Bernardo Lara & Alejandra Mizala & Andrea Repetto, 2009. "The Effectiveness of Private Voucher Education: Evidence from Structural School Switches," Documentos de Trabajo 263, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
    3. Thieme, Claudio & Prior, Diego & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2013. "A multilevel decomposition of school performance using robust nonparametric frontier techniques," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 104-121.
    4. Nicolás Grau, 2016. "A Dynamic Model of Elementary School Choice," Working Papers wp417, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    5. Diego Amador & Juan-Andrés Castro & Nicolás Grau, 2019. "Telling schools apart: the role of preferences, constraints, and the ability to differentiate between schools in parents' choices," Documentos CEDE 17343, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    6. Verena Wondratschek & Karin Edmark & Markus Frolich, 2013. "The Short- and Long-term Effects of School Choice on Student Outcomes - Evidence from a School Choice Reform in Sweden," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 111-112, pages 71-101.
    7. Claudio Sapelli & Bernardita Vial, 2002. "The Performance of Private and Public Schools in the Chilean Voucher System," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 39(118), pages 423-454.
    8. Eva Crespo-Cebada & Francisco Pedraja-Chaparro & Daniel Santín, 2014. "Does school ownership matter? An unbiased efficiency comparison for regions of Spain," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 153-172, February.
    9. Berthelon, Matias E. & Kruger, Diana I., 2011. "Risky behavior among youth: Incapacitation effects of school on adolescent motherhood and crime in Chile," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 41-53.
    10. Gershberg, Alec Ian & González, Pablo Alberto & Meade, Ben, 2012. "Understanding and Improving Accountability in Education: A Conceptual Framework and Guideposts from Three Decentralization Reform Experiences in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 1024-1041.
    11. Idrovo Aguirre, Byron, 2007. "¿Son las escuelas particulares subvencionadas mejores que las municipales? Estimación de la ecuación de logro escolar para Chile [Are the subsidized particular schools better than the public school," MPRA Paper 10665, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Cordero, José Manuel & Prior, Diego & Simancas Rodríguez, Rosa, 2013. "A comparison of public and private schools in Spain using robust nonparametric frontier methods," MPRA Paper 51375, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Miguel Urquiola, 2002. "When Schools Compete, How Do They Compete? An Assessment of Chile's Nationwide School Voucher Program," Working Papers 123, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    14. Benjamin Feigenberg, 2021. "Priced Out: Aggregate Income Shocks And School Pricing In The Chilean Voucher Market," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(2), pages 696-721, April.
    15. Francisco Henríquez & Alejandra Mizala & Andrea Repetto, 2009. "Effective Schools for Low Income Children: a Study of Chile’s Sociedad de Instrucción Primaria," Documentos de Trabajo 258, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
    16. Oscar Montes Pineda & Luis Rubalcaba, 2014. "School choice, equity and efficiency: International evidence from PISA-2012," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 9, in: Adela García Aracil & Isabel Neira Gómez (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 9, edition 1, volume 9, chapter 31, pages 585-614, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    17. Redondo S., Amaia & Muñoz H., Pablo, 2013. "Inequality and academic achievement in Chile," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    18. Vega, Emiliana, 2002. "School choice, student performance, and teacher and school characteristics : the Chilean case," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2833, The World Bank.
    19. Anand, Priyanka & Mizala, Alejandra & Repetto, Andrea, 2009. "Using school scholarships to estimate the effect of private education on the academic achievement of low-income students in Chile," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 370-381, June.
    20. Priyanka Anand & Alejandra Mizala & Andrea Repetto, 2006. "Using School Scholarships to Estimate the Effect of Government Subsidized Private Education on Academic Achievement in Chile," Documentos de Trabajo 220, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Screening; Vouchers; School choice; Achievement; Stratification; Chile.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:udc:wpaper:wp242. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mohit Karnani (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deuclcl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.