in Johnes, G. & Johnes, J., (eds.), International Handbook on the Economics of Education, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 368-414
Reviews the literature on the economics of secondary schooling, and assesses the impact of the ‘quasi-market’ in secondary education on outcomes and segregation.
The authors note the blurred and inconclusive nature of the evidence regarding education production functions. The impact of class sizes, per-pupil spending and personal characteristics on educational attainment are not well understood.
For both the US and the UK, the authors note evidence that greater competition between schools and between school districts leads to better educational outcomes, as measured by exam results.
In the empirical section of this paper, the authors estimate the efficiency and equity effects of the quasi-market on secondary education, using a first-difference model.
Key results:
Using published school performance data, the authors find ‘firm support’ for the view that competition between schools has led to an improvement in exam performance.
A 1-point improvement in the exam performance of other schools in the same district is associated with an improvement of 0.41 point for schools in metropolitan areas.
The authors also find some evidence that the quasi-market has contributed to the increase in the social segregation of pupils between schools – but not to an (economically) significant extent.
The authors conclude that the introduction of market forces into the secondary education sector has had a beneficial impact on educational performance, without a significant cost in terms of increased polarisation of pupils between schools.
