Starting Off On the Right Foot: Impact of a Better Elementary School

Using several data sources from Chile, we study the impact of starting in a better elementary school on several short and long run outcomes. The endogeneity of school choice is addressed by the use of a quasi experimental... [ view full abstract ]

Using several data sources from Chile, we study the impact of starting in a better elementary school on several short and long run outcomes. The endogeneity of school choice is addressed by the use of a quasi experimental variation that comes from differences in the available school set in a context of a fuzzy RD-design. First, we show that the set of available schools induces a relevant shift in the opportunity to start in a better school measured by non high stake examination. Using this quasi-experimental variation, our results reveal an important reduction in the likelihood of dropping out, an increase in the probability that a child would follow an academic track and a reduction in the probability that a student switches schools over her/his school life. For the majority of these outcomes, we show that the impact is larger among students whose parents have lower levels of education.