The Effect of the Quasi-market on the Efficiency-Equity Trade-Off in the Secondary School Sector

Steve Bradley and Jim Taylor

Bulletin of Economic Research, 2002, vol. 54, issue 3, 295-314

Abstract: Britain's education system was radically transformed during the 1990s following the Education Reform Act (1988). The primary objective of these reforms was to raise educational standards through the creation of a quasi-market based upon greater parental choice and the transfer of control over resources from local education authorities to schools. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the quasi-market on efficiency and equity in the secondary education sector in England during the 1990s. Two primary questions are addressed. Has the quasi-market led to an improvement in efficiency in the secondary education sector? Has the quasi-market had any adverse consequences on the social segregation of pupils between schools? Using data obtained from the Schools' Census and the School Performance Tables, we find strong evidence that the quasi-market has led to a substantial improvement in efficiency (as measured by a school's exam performance and by the productivity of staff) during the 1990s. The same market forces have led to a greater social segregation of pupils between schools.) Copyright 2002 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Board of Trustees of the Bulletin of Economic Research

Date: 2002
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:buecrs:v:54:y:2002:i:3:p:295-314

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0307-3378

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Bulletin of Economic Research from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery (contentdelivery@wiley.com).