Avitabile, Ciro, Bobba, Matteo and Pariguana, Marco (2017) High School Track Choice and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Urban Mexico. TSE Working Paper, n. 16-661, Toulouse

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Abstract

We study how a large household windfall affects sorting of relatively disadvantaged youth over high school tracks by exploiting the discontinuity in the assignment of a welfare program in Mexico. The in-cash transfer is found to significantly increase the probability of selecting vocational schools as the most preferred options vis-a-vis other more academically oriented education modalities. We find support for the hypothe- sis that the receipt of unearned income allows some students to choose a schooling career with higher out-of-pocket expenditures and higher expected returns. The ob- served change in stated preferences across tracks effectively alters school placement, and bears a positive effect on later education outcomes.