Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Marco Tonello
Author-X-Name-First: Marco
Author-X-Name-Last: Tonello
Author-Email: marco.tonello@unicatt.it
Author-Workplace-Name: DISCE, Universitŕ Cattolica
Title: Social interactions between native and non-native students: mechanisms and evidence
Abstract: This paper focuses on mechanisms of ‘social interactions’ between native and
non-native students. We present a theoretical framework based on Lazear
(2001) education production function and test the theoretical predictions
exploiting an extremely rich and totally new dataset of Italian junior high
schools. Our results show that non-native school share has small and negative
impacts on Language test scores of natives’ peers, while it does not
significantly affect Math test scores. The ‘disruptive mechanism of native/nonnatives
peer interactions’ is partly rejected by the empirical analysis, which
rather support the ‘integration model’. In fact, as long as non-native school
share is sufficiently low, non-native students presence is not able to generate
negative spillovers on natives’ outcomes suggesting that an ‘integration
mechanism’ is at work. In particular, for sufficiently low values of non-native
school share (below 10%), non-native students do not significantly affect
natives’ attainment. Interestingly, all the results show that Language skills are
the most influenced by peer interactions between natives and non-natives.
Length: 60
Creation-Date: 2012-1
File-URL: http://www.unicatt.it/Istituti/EconomiaImpresaLavoro/Quaderni/ieil0065.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: First version, 2012
Number: ieil0065
Classification-JEL: J15, I21, I28
Keywords: peer effects, native and non-native students, social interactions mechanisms.
Handle: RePEc:ctc:serie4:ieil0065