Perceived Ability and School Choices: Experimental Evidence and Scale-up Effects

Matteo Bobba

No 19238, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper explores an information intervention designed and implemented within a school assignment mechanism in Mexico City. Through a randomized experiment, we show that providing a subset of applicants with feedback about their academic performance can enhance sorting by skill across high school tracks. This reallocation effect results in higher completion rates three years post-assignment. We further integrate the experimental evaluation into an empirical model of school choice and educational outcomes to assess the impact of the intervention for the overall population of applicants. Information provision is shown to increase the ex-ante efficiency of the student-school allocation, while congestion externalities are detrimental for the equity of education outcomes.

Keywords: Subjective expectations; Information provision; School choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 I21 I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07
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Related works:
Working Paper: Perceived Ability and School Choices: Experimental Evidence and Scale-up Effects (2026)
Working Paper: Perceived Ability and School Choices: Experimental Evidence and Scale-up Effects (2026)
Working Paper: Perceived Ability and School Choices: Experimental Evidence and Scale-up Effects (2025)
Working Paper: Perceived Ability and School Choices: Experimental Evidence and Scale-up Effects (2023)
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