Are the school choices of indigenous students affected by discrimination? Evidence from Chile
2021
Álvaro Hofflinger, Cristóbal Villalobos, Loreto Cárdenas & Ernesto Treviño
Abstract
One of the most common criticisms of school choice programs is that instead of improving student achievement, they would increase school segregation. From the supply side, schools can select their student body, especially those students who they perceive to be easier and less costly to educate. From the demand side, parents can use different criteria to choose a school, such as their proximity to the school, school quality or the school’s ethnic/racial composition. As a result, the system would be segregated based on the parents’ preferences. This research examines indigenous parents’ school preferences and whether ethnic discrimination influences their decision-making process. We use national-level data from Chile, a country with national school choice since 1981. The results show that indigenous students and particularly those who have suffered ethnic discrimination in middle school, prefer high schools with a higher percentage of indigenous students. Furthermore, we found that the level of acts discrimination occurred in middle schools due to the students’ ethnicity increases as the percentage of indigenous students rises; however, when the proportion of indigenous and non-indigenous students is similar, indigenous students are less likely to face ethnicity-based discrimination.
Growth with Equity? Pay Inequality in Chile During The Democratic Era (1990-2006)
2008
Laura Spagnolo, Álvaro Hofflinger, y Viviana Salinas
Abstract
This paper explores the evolution of pay inequality in Chile between 1990 and 2006, disaggregated by economic sectors, occupational groups and regions. We use the between-groups component of Theil’s T Statistic to obtain decompositions along these lines that are not available in previous studies of economic inequality in Chile. Betweensectors pay inequality increased from 1990 to 1996, after which it decreased, returning to 1990 levels by 2006. This rise and fall is explained primarily by changes in the relative position of the financial sector. Pay inequality between occupational groups did not change significantly during the period of study. Finally, inequality decomposed by region varies mainly with the relative position of Santiago, the richest and largest economic region.
Alvaro Hofflinger 