Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0


Author-Name: Elisa Facchetti
Author-X-Name-First: Elisa
Author-X-Name-Last: Facchetti
Author-Name: Lorenzo Neri
Author-X-Name-First: Lorenzo
Author-X-Name-Last: Neri

Author-Name: Marco Ovidi
Author-X-Name-First: Marco
Author-X-Name-Last: Ovidi
Author-Email: marco.ovidi@unicatt.it
Author-Workplace-Name: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Author-Workplace-Name: Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore




Title: Should you Meet The Parents? The impact of information on non-test score attributes on school choice


Abstract: We study whether parents value non-test score attributes when choosing school. We exploit
an intervention designed to provide hard-to-find information about school environment
and day-to-day life at local public-sector institutions. School choice in London provides
a unique setting where information on academic performance is already diffused and not
shifted by the programme we study. Difference-in-differences estimates show the treatment
increased enrolment in state-funded schools with respect to private institutions. We
uniquely document that the information particularly affected choices of students with high
socio-economic status. In addition, the programme has spillover effects on school choice
of unexposed parents. Survey data and text analysis of meeting minutes support the interpretation
of our results as effects of information on hard-to-find non-test score school
attributes. Our results imply that relatively simple interventions may increase state schools’
financial resources and the quality of the student intake. 
Length: 58
Creation-Date: 2021-12
File-URL: http://dipartimenti.unicatt.it/economia-finanza-def113.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: First version, 2021
Number: def113
Classification-JEL: I24, I28, H75. 
Keywords: School choice, Non-test score school attributes, Information intervention.
Handle: RePEc:ctc:serie1:def113