Urban Density and Pupil Attainment

Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva ()

No 2728, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We explore the association between urban density and pupil attainment using three cohorts of pupils in schooling in England. Although – as widely recognised – attainment in dense urban places is low on average, this is not because urban environments disadvantage pupils, but because the most disadvantaged pupils with low average attainments attend the most urbanised schools. To control for this, we exploit changes in urban density faced by pupils during compulsory transition from Primary to Secondary school, and measure educational progress at the end of the Secondary phase, relative to attainment at the end of Primary schooling. Our results suggest that there are small but significant benefits from education in schools in more densely urbanised settings. We detect this density advantage even amongst pupils moving relatively short distances between Primary and Secondary schools within urban areas, so we cannot attribute it to broad urbanisation effects experienced by pupils making rural-urban school moves. A more likely explanation lies in greater school choice and competition between closely co-located educational providers.

Keywords: school choice and competition; pupil achievement; urban density and agglomeration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J24 R20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2007-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-geo and nep-ure
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Published - published in: Journal of Urban Economics, 2008, 63 (1), 631-650

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Related works:
Journal Article: Urban density and pupil attainment (2008)
Working Paper: Urban density and pupil attainment (2008)
Working Paper: Urban Density and Pupil Attainment (2007)
Working Paper: Urban density and pupil attainment (2007)
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