The Economics of School Choice.

An NBER Conference on "The Economics of School Choice," organized by Caroline M. Hoxby, Director of the NBER's Program on the Economics of Education, also of Harvard University, took place on February 22-24. The following papers and discussion made up the agenda:

Eric A. Hanushek, NBER and Stanford University, and Steven G. Rivkin Amherst College, "Does Public School Competition Affect Teacher Quality?"

Discussant: Joseph Altonji, NBER and Northwestern University

Paul E. Peterson, William G. Howell, Patrick J. Wolff, and David E. Campbell, Harvard University, "School Vouchers: Results from Randomized Experiments"

Discussant: Derek Neal, NBER and University of Wisconsin

Thomas Nechyba, NBER and Duke University, "Introducing School Choice into Multi-District Public School Districts"

Discussant: Charles Manski, NBER and Northwestern University

Caroline M. Hoxby, "School Choice and School Productivity"

Discussant: John Chubb, Edison Schools

Raquel Fernandez, NBER and New York University, and Richard Rogerson, NBER and University of Pennsylvania, "Vouchers: A Dynamic Analysis"

Discussant: Ananth Seshadri University of Wisconsin, Madison

David Figlio, NBER and University of Florida, and Marianne Page, University of California, Davis, "Can School Choice and School Accountability Successfully Coexist?"

Discussant: Helen Ladd, Duke University

Julie Berry Cullen, NBER and University of Michigan, and Steven G. Rivkin, "The Role of Special Education in School Choice"

Discussant: Richard Murnane, NBER and Harvard University

Dennis N. Epple, NBER and Carnegie Mellon University, and Richard E. Romano, University of Florida, "Neighborhood Schools, Choice and the Distribution of Educational Benefits"

Discussant: Michael Kremer, NBER and Harvard University Tom Kane, NBER and Harvard University, Jane Hannaway, The Urban Institute, and Chester Finn, The Fordham Foundation,

Panel Discussion: The Uses and Abuses of Research on School Choice in the Policy Debate

Under most conceivable scenarios of expanded choice, even with private school vouchers, the public school system will still remain the majority supplier of schooling. Therefore, it is important to know what might happen to quality and outcomes in the remaining public schools. Hanushek and Rivkin first compare estimates of differences in average school quality in metropolitan areas across Texas to the amount of public school competition in each district. At least for the largest metropolitan areas, the...