Do Better Schools Matter? Parental Valuation of Elementary Education

Sandra Black

The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1999, vol. 114, issue 2, 577-599

Abstract: The evaluation of numerous school reforms requires an understanding of the value of better schools. Given the difficulty of calculating the relationship between school quality and student outcomes, I turn to another method and use house prices to infer the value parents place on school quality. I look within school districts at houses located on attendance district boundaries; houses then differ only by the elementary school the child attends. I thereby effectively remove the variation in neighborhoods, taxes, and school spending. I find that parents are willing to pay 2.5 percent more for a 5 percent increase in test scores. This finding is robust to a number of sensitivity checks.

Date: 1999
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Working Paper: Do better schools matter? Parental valuation of elementary education (1997)
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