Heterogeneous responses to school track choice: Evidence from the repeal of binding track recommendations

Maximilian Bach

No 21-104, ZEW Discussion Papers from ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Abstract: This paper studies heterogeneity in schooling decisions by socio-economic status (SES) in response to a repeal of achievement-based admissions requirements (i.e. binding track recommendations) in Germany's between-school tracking system. The main contribution is to show that while previously ineligible high-SES students are relatively more likely to enroll in the highest (academic) track than comparable low-SES students after the repeal, the SES gap in academic track enrollment does not increase. The reason is that low-SES students, who were already eligible for the academic track before the repeal, increase their probability of enrolling in the academic track. A key mechanism driving low-SES students' response appears to be lower preferences for the intermediate track due to concerns about the inflow of mostly low-achieving and low-SES students from the lowest (basic) track after the repeal.

Keywords: education; school choice; intergenerational mobility; inequality of opportunity; tracking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I28 J24 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:zewdip:21104

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