Examines Milwaukee Parental Choice Program data to determine whether students with unobserved characteristics correlated with achievement are more likely to apply to the voucher program. Nonapplicants have higher math and reading tests scores. However, applicants have no unmeasured characteristics (like motivation) that differ significantly from…

Study adds new evidence to the debate on the relative benefits of upper-secondary vocational education and of general education at the same level in Thailand. Using a probit model, finds that an individual from a well-to-do family is more likely to undertake vocational education. Also finds vocational education to give higher earnings returns than…

Explores existing research (based on the High School and Beyond study) to determine whether student achievement differences between public and private schools are significant enough to be relevant to policymakers considering choice proposals. Results are inconclusive. Similarly structured research efforts will probably never answer this question…

A system of separable and transferable property rights to attend a particular public school would allow families to buy into a better public school without having to buy a house in the local school's attendance zone. The system should increase competition among schools and accountability. Renters are omitted from the discussion. Includes 15…

Develops conceptual framework for analyzing school choice decisions, evaluates past empirical research, and estimates individual choice model using a data set merging 1980 individual-level census data with information about New York schools. Results suggest parents are sensitive to the relative quality of school offerings, the tuition of religious…

Survey data from 759 persons who voted in a voucher proposal that appeared on the November 1978 ballot in Michigan are analyzed. Results indicate that income and public school quality are inversely related to the support for the voucher. The probability of favoring the voucher increases among African Americans, Catholics, and families with…

Uses 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study data to explore whether public-private high school choice would help improve students' overall achievement. Applies estimated sectoral achievement differentials to a structural school choice model to determine if parents choose schools that academically benefit their children. Private schools do not…

Discusses problems of uncertainty and imperfect information that affect organizational choices for schools. Develops two models suggesting that schools, whether public or private, resemble each other while offering diverse curricula and outcomes. Considers the question of institutional choice by applying transaction cost economics to the options…

Explores the public/private school relationship in the Philippines, examining possible crowding-out effects. Using 10 years of regional data, estimates that the large expansion in the public secondary-education sector is negatively associated with private secondary enrollment. However, the crowding-out effect is insignificant at the primary and…

Edwin West's critique of the author's "Economics of Educational Choice" essay questions the wisdom of public financial support for schools, a challenge that Levin did not address. This rejoinder respectfully tackles West's assumptions concerning the costs of government versus private schooling and private education benefits for poor…

Considers both market choice and public choice mechanisms with respect to their efficiencies in producing social and private benefits. A market approach to education appears superior regarding private benefits, whereas the public choice appears superior regarding social benefits. Neither system is cost effective, although the market system yields…

Critiques Henry Levin's "Economics of Educational Choice" essay for confining discussion to a constrained, regulated voucher type of market system. Insists that public school/voucher systems involve significant welfare costs associated with tax collection and presents five other itemized responses to Levin. (four references) (MLH)

Reforms in many countries have attempted to increase the degree of competition in school markets. Analyzes school market outcomes utilizing a simple model of the type of local market created in England and Wales. Finds, for example, that the combination of quasi-market reforms do not appear to have produced incentives for all schools to increase…

The effects of perceived educational quality and net institutional costs on the school choices of students from families at different income levels are revealed in a study of 8,818 full-time, resident college freshmen who had been accepted for admission to at least one public and one private institution. (PGD)

The Netherlands educational system gives parents considerable choice among government-funded public and private schools. The Dutch government is committed to providing parents with reliable information about individual schools and compensating students with fewer educational opportunities. Schools with a higher proportion of disadvantaged students…