Diversity in Schools: Immigrants and the Educational Performance of US-Born Students

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Figlio, David; Giuliano, Paola; Marchingiglio, Riccardo; Ozek, Umut; Sapienza, Paola
• 署名单位: University of Rochester; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Analysis Group Inc.; RAND Corporation; Northwestern University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdad047
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 972-1006
• 关键词: Private schools; white flight; outcomes; QUALITY; natives; classroom; CHILDREN; attainment; mechanisms; impacts

摘要

We study the effect of exposure to immigrants on the educational outcomes of U.S.-born students, using a unique dataset combining population-level birth and school records from Florida. This research question is complicated by the substantial school selection of U.S.-born students, especially among White and comparatively affluent students, in response to the presence of immigrant students in the school. We propose a new identification strategy, comparing sibling outcomes with the inclusion of family fixed effects, to partial out the unobserved non-random selection of native-born families into schools. We find that the presence of immigrant students has a positive effect on the academic achievement of U.S.-born students, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Moreover, the presence of immigrants does not negatively affect the performance of affluent U.S.-born students, who typically show a higher academic achievement compared to immigrant students. We provide suggestive evidence on potential channels.