PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dustan, Andrew
AU  - de Janvry, Alain
AU  - Sadoulet, Elisabeth
TI  - Flourish or Fail? The Risky Reward of Elite High School Admission in Mexico City
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.52.3.0215-6974R1
DP  - 2016 Aug 17
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0215-6974R1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2016/08/15/jhr.52.3.0215-6974R1.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2016/08/15/jhr.52.3.0215-6974R1.full
AB  - Admission to an elite school imposes substantial risks on many students while offering modest academic benefits relative to admission in their most preferred non-elite school. Using variation in school assignment generated by the allocation mechanism, we find that admission to a system of elite public high schools in Mexico City increases the probability of high school dropout by 9.4 percentage points. Students with weaker middle school grades and whose commutes are lengthened by elite admission experience a larger rise in dropout probability. On the other hand, elite admission raises end-of-high school math test scores for the marginal admittee, even when accounting for potential bias due to admission-induced dropout.