Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity Design
American Economic Review
vol. 99,
no. 1, March 2009
(pp. 179-215)
Abstract
This paper examines how schools' choices of class size and households' choices of schools affect regression-discontinuity-based estimates of the effect of class size on student outcomes. We build a model in which schools are subject to a class-size cap and an integer constraint on the number of classrooms, and higher-income households sort into higher-quality schools. The key prediction, borne out in data from Chile's liberalized education market, is that schools at the class-size cap adjust prices (or enrollments) to avoid adding an additional classroom, which generates discontinuities in the relationship between enrollment and household characteristics, violating the assumptions underlying regression-discontinuity research designs. (JEL D12, I21, I28, O15)Citation
Urquiola, Miguel, and Eric Verhoogen. 2009. "Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity Design." American Economic Review, 99 (1): 179-215. DOI: 10.1257/aer.99.1.179Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration