Demand (and supply) in an inter-district public school choice program

B-Tier
Journal: Economics of Education Review
Year: 2008
Volume: 27
Issue: 4
Pages: 402-416

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

This study examines parents' demand for sending their children to a public school located outside their residential school district. Using a unique data set that contains information concerning both inter-district transfers and rejections of transfer applications, I am able to identify which school district characteristics attract the greatest demand for incoming transfers. The analyses reveal that mean student test scores are stronger predictors of transfer demand than both students' socio-economic characteristics and school district spending, suggesting that parents care more about outcomes than inputs. In addition, while districts are only supposed to reject transfer students due to capacity concerns, districts' supply decisions are also correlated with differences in student performance across neighboring districts.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecoedu:v:27:y:2008:i:4:p:402-416
Journal Field
Education
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29