Working Paper: NBER ID: w20640
Authors: Christopher R. Walters
Abstract: This paper studies the demand for charter schools in Boston, Massachusetts, with an emphasis on comparative advantage in school choice. I model charter school application and attendance decisions in a generalized Roy selection framework that links students’ preferences to the achievement gains generated by charter attendance. I estimate the model using instruments based on randomized admission lotteries and distance to charter schools. The estimates show that students do not sort into charter schools on the basis of comparative advantage in academic achievement. Charter schools generate larger test score gains for disadvantaged, low-achieving students, but demand for charters is stronger among richer students and high achievers. Similarly, achievement benefits are larger for students with weaker unobserved preferences for charter schools. As a result, counterfactual simulations indicate that charter expansion is likely to be most effective when accompanied by efforts to target students who are currently unlikely to apply.
Keywords: Charter Schools; School Choice; Educational Inequality; Causal Inference
JEL Codes: C25; I21; J2; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| randomized admission lotteries + distance to charter schools (I24) | semiparametric identification argument (C51) |
| randomized admission lotteries (C90) | exogenous variation in offers to attend charter schools (I24) |
| distance to charter schools (I21) | shift the composition of the applicant pool (J79) |
| preferences for charter schools (I28) | weaker among students who stand to gain the most academically (I24) |
| charter schools (I28) | larger test score gains for disadvantaged, low-achieving students (I24) |
| demand for charters (Y10) | stronger among wealthier, higher-achieving students (I24) |
| average potential effect of charter schools on non-charter students (I24) | substantial (Y20) |
| charter schools (I28) | more effective when targeting students who are unlikely to apply (D29) |