Behind the Veil: The Effect of Banning the Islamic Veil in Schools

Eric Maurin and Nicolas Navarrete H. ()
Additional contact information
Nicolas Navarrete H.: Paris School of Economics

No 12645, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Immigration from Muslim countries is a source of tensions in many Western countries. Several countries have adopted regulations restricting religious expression and emphasizing the neutrality of the public sphere. We explore the effect of the most emblematic of these regulations: the prohibition of Islamic veils in French schools. In September 1994, a circular from the French Ministry of Education asked teachers and principals to ban Islamic veils in public schools. In March 2004, the parliament took one-step further and enshrined prohibition in law. This paper provides evidence that the 1994 circular contributed to improving the educational outcomes of female students with a Muslim background and to reducing educational inequalities between Muslim and non-Muslim students. We also provide evidence suggesting that the 2004 law has not generated any further improvements.

Keywords: Islamic veil; high-school graduation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2019-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-isf and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published - published in: Economic Policy, 2023, 38 (113), 63-98

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp12645.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Behind the veil: the effect of banning the Islamic veil in schools (2023)
Working Paper: Behind the veil: the effect of banning the Islamic veil in schools (2023)
Working Paper: Behind the veil: the effect of banning the Islamic veil in schools (2023)
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:iza:izadps:dp12645

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().