Heterogeneity in School Value Added and the Private Premium

Tahir Andrabi, Natalie Bau, Jishnu Das and Asim I. Khwaja

American Economic Review, 2025, vol. 115, issue 1, 147-82

Abstract: We estimate and validate test score–based measures of school quality (school value added, or SVA) in Pakistan. We document substantial variation in SVA within villages and within the public and private sectors, leading to a wide range of possible estimates of the private premium. We also show that parents value SVA. Heterogeneity in parental demand for quality helps explain both the evolution of the market over time and cross-market variation in school quality. The supply side responds to parental demand for quality in the private sector, but there is no evidence it does so in the public sector.

JEL-codes: H44 I21 I26 I28 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1257/aer.20221422

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