Moving Opportunities : The Impact of Mixed-Income Public Housing Regenerations on Student Achievement

I use mixed-income public housing regenerations in London as a natural experiment to identify how schools affect low-income students’ educational achievement when affluent households flow into their neighborhood. I compare student achievement in schools of the same neighborhood located at different distance from a regeneration before and after its completion. To address potential endogenous mobility, I employ a grandfathering instrument for enrolment in treated schools. Students exposed to regenerations have higher test scores at the end of primary school. Gains are driven by changes in local schools brought about by incoming affluent families with strong preferences for school quality