Sibling Spillovers May Enhance the Efficacy of Targeted School Policies

David Figlio, Krzysztof Karbownik and Umut Özek ()
Additional contact information
Umut Özek: RAND Corporation

No 16250, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Public policies often target individuals but within-family externalities of such interventions are understudied. Using a regression discontinuity design, we document how a third grade retention policy affects both the target children and their younger siblings. The policy improves test scores of both children while the spillover is up to 30% of the target child effect size. The effects are particularly pronounced in families where one of the children is disabled, for boys, and in immigrant families. Candidate mechanisms include improved classroom inputs and parental school choice.

Keywords: grade retention; sibling spillovers; policy externalities; test scores (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 I20 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2023-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Sibling Spillovers May Enhance the Efficacy of Targeted School Policies (2023)
Working Paper: Sibling Spillovers May Enhance the Efficacy of Targeted School Policies (2023)
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