Full Citation

Title: Competitive Effects of Means-Tested School Vouchers

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2010

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Abstract: We study the effects of private school competition on public school students test scores in the wakeof Floridas Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship program, now known as the Florida Tax Credit ScholarshipProgram, which offered scholarships to eligible low-income students to attend private schools. Specifically,we examine whether students in schools that were exposed to a more competitive private school landscapesaw greater improvements in their test scores after the introduction of the scholarship program, thandid students in schools that faced less competition. The degree of competition is characterized byseveral geocoded variables that capture students ease of access to private schools, and the varietyof nearby private school options open to students. We find that greater degrees of competition areassociated with greater improvements in students test scores following the introduction of the program;these findings are robust to the different variables we use to define competition. These findings arenot an artifact of pre-policy trends; the degree of competition from nearby private schools mattersonly after the announcement of the new program, which makes nearby private competitors more affordablefor eligible students. We also test for several moderating factors, and find that schools that we wouldexpect to be most sensitive to competitive pressure see larger improvements in their test scores asa result of increased competition.

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Authors: Hart, Cassandra M.D.; Figlio, David N.

Conference Name: CESifo

Publisher Location: Munich, Germany

Data Collections: IPUMS International

Topics: Education

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