Tower of Babel in the Classroom: Immigrants and Natives in Italian Schools

Rosario Ballatore, Margherita Fort and Andrea Ichino

Journal of Labor Economics, 2018, vol. 36, issue 4, 885 - 921

Abstract: We exploit rules of class formation to identify the causal effect of increasing the number of immigrants in a classroom on natives’ test scores, keeping class size and quality of the two types of students constant (pure ethnic composition [PEC] effect). We explain why this is a relevant policy parameter although it has been neglected so far. The PEC effect is sizable and negative (16% of a standard deviation) on language and math scores. For first-generation immigrants, it is more negative (30% of a standard deviation). Estimates that cannot control for endogenous adjustments implemented by principals are instead considerably smaller.

Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (46)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Tower of Babel in the Classroom: Immigrants and Natives in Italian Schools (2015)
Working Paper: The Tower of Babel in the Classroom: Immigrants and Natives in Italian Schools (2014)
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