Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru

Ricardo Estrada, Jérémie Gignoux () and Agustina Hatrick
Additional contact information
Jérémie Gignoux: PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Agustina Hatrick: Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean

PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) from HAL

Abstract: We study how the admission of an older schoolmate to an elite secondary school influences the application decisions and admission outcomes of younger students. Our study focuses on the rapid expansion of a nationwide system of highly selective secondary schools in Peru. These schools are free of charge, which enables us to investigate the effect of peers on educational choices in a context with minimal financial barriers. Using a sharp regression discontinuity design, our analysis shows that the admission of an older schoolmate increases the number of younger students who apply (by 17%) and are admitted (by 43%) to this elite school system. The effect on applications is concentrated among students with low socio-economic status. Our evidence suggests that role models can reduce the socio-economic aspirations gap by helping high-achieving, low socio-economic status youth to learn about the benefits of attending elite schools and to assess whether such institutions are a good match for them.

Date: 2025-10
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in The Economic Journal, 2025, 135 (671), pp.2220-2241. ⟨10.1093/ej/ueaf034⟩

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

Related works:
Journal Article: Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru (2025)
Working Paper: Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru (2025)
Working Paper: Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru (2025)
Working Paper: Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru (2025)
Working Paper: Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru (2024)
Working Paper: Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru (2024)
Working Paper: Learning About Opportunity: Spillovers of Elite School Admissions in Peru (2021)
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:hal:pseptp:halshs-05650307

DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueaf034

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Caroline Bauer ().