School choice and information
Abstract
One of the pillars of the educational voucher system is that competition between
schools to attract students would improve the quality of the education provided.
Surveys in Chile have suggested that parents are not aware of the performance
of their children’s schools. In this paper, we assess the effect of public information
of school quality on the school choice by parents. We use a data set which
includes measurements of the distance between homes and schools, and the
performance of the school measured by a standardized tests and the school fee
for two distinct periods (1996 and 2003). Whereas in 1996, information regarding
school performance was scarce, it was widespread in 2003. We conclude
that regardless of these considerations, school performance is an important
determinant of school choice. Thus, parents appear to act “as if” they knew it
when choosing a school. Nevertheless, making public the information regarding
the performance of the schools has made it a more important factor in choosing
a school.
General note
Artículo de publicación ISI
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Estudios de Economía, Vol. 39, No. 2, Diciembre 2012, pp. 143-157
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