Resumen

SAPELLI, Claudio  y  TORCHE, Arístides. SUBSIDIOS AL ALUMNO O A LA ESCUELA: EFECTOS SOBRE LA ELECCION DE COLEGIOS PUBLICOS. Cuad. econ. [online]. 2002, vol.39, n.117, pp.175-202. ISSN 0717-6821.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0717-68212002011700002.

In this paper we study the determinants of the choice between public and private subsidized schools in the Chilean voucher system. Our empirical results confirm the effects of parent's income and education: higher income and more education increase the probability of choosing a private subsidized school. Perhaps the most remarkable results have to do with two policy issues regarding the structure of the voucher system. First, we explore the effects of several targetted programs. Books, materials and food are distributed in the schools to, allegedly, the poorest kids. We find that these subsidies are channeled in such a way that those targetted are really kids in public schools, not poor kids. This implies that poor kids that opt out of the public system have a high probability of losing the subsidies. We find this operates like a tax on moving a kid from one school to the other, reducing the incentives that the portable voucher provides. This could imply that other subsidies that are designed to go to the school and not to the child have the same effect, interfering in the operation of the voucher system. Second, we test whether parents act as if they know the test scores of the schools in a national test. Critics of the system have asked parents whether they know the scores and concluded they made decisiones with poor information. We find that although parents may not know the scores, they act 'as if' they do

Palabras clave : Education; Voucher System; Portability.