Increasing Access to Selective High Schools through Place-Based Affirmative Action: Unintended Consequences

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Year: 2020
Volume: 12
Issue: 4
Pages: 135-63

Authors (3)

Lisa Barrow (Federal Reserve Bank of Clevel...) Lauren Sartain (not in RePEc) Marisa de la Torre (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We investigate whether elite Chicago public high schools differentially benefit high-achieving students from more and less affluent neighborhoods. Chicago's place-based affirmative action policy allocates seats based on achievement and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). Using regression discontinuity design (RDD), we find that these schools do not raise test scores overall, but students are generally more positive about their high school experiences. For students from low-SES neighborhoods, we estimate negative effects on grades and the probability of attending a selective college. We present suggestive evidence that these findings for students from low-SES neighborhoods are driven by the negative effect of relative achievement ranking.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejapp:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:135-63
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24