Parental Preferences for Primary School Characteristics

Lex Borghans, Bart Golsteyn () and Ulf Zölitz

No 8371, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Free school choice has often been argued to be a tide that lifts school quality through increased competition. This paper analyzes the underlying assumption that school quality is an important choice criterion for parents. Using a large and representative data set of over 15,000 Dutch primary school starters we estimate models of school demand that incorporate heterogeneity in school preferences. Our results show that traditional measures for school quality matter, but other characteristics, such as school denomination and educational philosophy, are more important predictors of choice. Preferences for these school characteristics are strongly heterogeneous across parents.

Keywords: school competition; school quality; school choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I2 I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2014-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Forthcoming - published in: B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Contributions), 2015, 15(1), 85–117

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Journal Article: Parental Preferences for Primary School Characteristics (2015)
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