Does immigration induce “native flight” from public schools?

For more than a century, parents in Denmark could enroll their children into privately operated “free schools.” Results from this study indicate an increase in native Danes’ propensity to enroll their children in free schools as the share of children with immigrant background becomes larger in their municipality of residence. The effect is most pronounced in small, and medium-sized municipalities, while it seems absent in larger municipalities. The study explores changes in the immigrant population in Danish municipalities 1992–2004, a period marked by a substantial influx of refugees, where a state-sponsored placement policy restricted their initial choice of residence. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2013