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What Parents Want

School Preferences and School Choice

Bibliographic Data

ID9704834
AuthorsStephen Burge (0000-0001-7206-3674, University of Bristol), Simon Burgess (University of Bristol), Ellen Greaves (0000-0002-2124-2645, Institute for Fiscal Studies), Anna Vignoles (0000-0002-9268-212X, University of Cambridge), Deborah Wilson (0000-0003-0573-9034, University of Bristol)
Year2015
Volume125
Issue587
Pages1262-1289
Publication date2015-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/ecoj.12153
OpenAlexW2169477753
LanguageEN
Citations received116
References cited22

We investigate parents' preferences for school attributes in a unique data set of survey, administrative, census and spatial data. Using a conditional logit, incorporating characteristics of households, schools and home–school distance, we show that most families have strong preferences for schools' academic performance. Parents also value schools' socio‐economic composition and distance, which may limit the potential of school choice to improve academic standards. Most of the variation in preferences for school quality across socio‐economic groups arises from differences in the quality of accessible schools rather than differences in parents' preferences, although more advantaged parents have stronger preferences for academic performance

Economics · School choice · Sociology · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities · Psychology · School Choice and Performance

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Unique citing works116
Citations per year8,29
Citation span2012 - 2026 (15)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedYes
Citation typesNeutral: 115
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