Working Paper: NBER ID: w26137
Authors: Joshua D. Angrist; Parag A. Pathak; Román Andrés Zarate
Abstract: The educational mismatch hypothesis asserts that students are hurt by affirmative action policies that place them in selective schools for which they wouldn't otherwise qualify. We evaluate mismatch in Chicago's selective public exam schools, which admit students using neighborhood-based diversity criteria as well as test scores. Regression discontinuity estimates for applicants favored by affirmative action indeed show no gains in reading and negative effects of exam school attendance on math scores. But these results are similar for more- and less-selective schools and for applicants unlikely to benefit from affirmative-action, a pattern inconsistent with mismatch. We show that Chicago exam school effects are explained by the schools attended by applicants who are not offered an exam school seat. Specifically, mismatch arises because exam school admission diverts many applicants from high-performing Noble Network charter schools, where they would have done well. Consistent with these findings, exam schools reduce Math scores for applicants applying from charter schools in another large urban district. Exam school applicants' previous achievement, race, and other characteristics that are sometimes said to mediate student-school matching play no role in this story.
Keywords: Educational Mismatch; Affirmative Action; Exam Schools; Chicago Public Schools
JEL Codes: D47; I21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Attending Chicago's selective exam schools (I24) | Reading scores (Y10) |
| Attending Chicago's selective exam schools (I24) | Math scores (C12) |
| Affirmative action policies favoring applicants (J78) | Math scores (C12) |
| High-performing charter schools attendance (I21) | Math scores (C12) |
| Diversion from high-performing charter schools (I21) | Math scores (C12) |
| Previous achievement characteristics (D29) | Math scores (C12) |
| Race characteristics (J15) | Math scores (C12) |