DOES SCHOOL DECENTRALIZATION RAISE STUDENT OUTCOMES?: THEORY AND EVIDENCE ON THE ROLES OF SCHOOL AUTONOMY AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Gunnarsson, Louise Victoria; Orazem, Peter F.; Sanchez, Mario; Verdisco, Aimee

DOES SCHOOL DECENTRALIZATION RAISE STUDENT OUTCOMES?: THEORY AND EVIDENCE ON THE ROLES OF SCHOOL AUTONOMY AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Autores

Gunnarsson, Louise Victoria

Orazem, Peter F.

Sanchez, Mario

Verdisco, Aimee

Descripción

Using data on primary schools in 10 Latin-American countries, we estimate the impact of decentralized school decision-making on student performance. We develop a model that shows that local autonomous effort will be jointly determined with student academic performance. The model predicts that least squares estimates are biased toward finding a positive impact of school autonomy on student performance. Empirical tests confirm these predictions. Least squares estimates show a strong positive effect of decentralized decision-making on test scores, but these results are reversed after correcting for the endogeneity of school autonomy. However, results support the role of parental participation in the schools as a positive influence on student achievement.