Expanding parental choice in education may increase system-wide productivity if parents select schools that form a specifically good match with their children. I investigate the effect of attending a preferred school on student achievement in London primary schools. I exploit as good as random...

The 2010 primary school reform in the UK aimed at giving schools more autonomy and freedom from local council's control, by giving them the option to become academies. Once converted, schools need to choose between remaining a standalone academy or joining an academy chain. However, the majority...

School-based management programs aim to improve education outcomes by involving parents in allocation decisions about external funds transferred to the school. This paper explores the effects of two school-based management programs on parental investment in schools via voluntary contributions....

This paper analyzes the impact of longer school days on student achievement in Colombia. To identify the impact of longer schools days, this study exploits plausibly exogenous within school variation in the length of the school day. Using test score data from 5th and 9th graders in 2002, 2005,...

Many nations allow private entities to manage publicly funded schools and grant them greater flexibility than traditional public schools. However, isolating the causal effect of attending these privately managed public schools relative to attending traditional public schools is difficult because...