PEER EFFECTS AND RELATIVE PERFORMANCE OF VOUCHER SCHOOLS IN CHILE

The empirical literature developed to evaluate the voucher system in Chile faced, up until late 1999, methodological and/or data limitations. Since then, the literature has used individual data and introduced a correction for selection bias. However, the treatment parameters do not take into account that voucher schools work with different budgets. Also, the importance of the peer effect has not been discussed in the treatment literature. In the first section of this paper we control for the amount of additional per capita government funds received by public schools. We find that when public and private voucher schools receive similar per capita subsidies, the effect of treatment on the treated (where treatment is attendance to a private voucher school) is large in magnitude and statistically significant. Since this result could be the consequence of sorting and the peer effect, and not of the effectiveness of private voucher schools, in the second section of the paper we estimate new treatment parameters, controlling for peer group characteristics. However, even when we condition on peer group characteristics, we find a treatment parameter that is positive, large in magnitude and statistically significant (when public and private voucher schools receive similar per capita subsidies). Hence, positive treatment effects are not due to the peer effect and/ or sorting