Economics and Finance Seminar: Gabrielle Fack (Dauphine University – PSL)

The Effects of Affirmative Action on Targeted and Non-Targeted Students: Evidence from Low-Income Priorities in Paris High Schools » Gabrielle Fack (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL), Julien Grenet (Paris School of Economics), YingHua He (Rice University)

Since 2008, school choice in Paris has an income-based affirmative action component giving low-income students preferential treatment in high school admissions. This policy is implemented through a centralized school choice process that assigns students to public schools. Students’ priorities are determined by a point system that takes into account students’ academic performance and their district of residence. Low-income students, who make up about 20 percent of high school freshmen, receive in addition a large bonus that gives them full priority at all public high schools in their district. Using comprehensive administrative data, we use the implementation of this bonus in 2008 as a natural experiment to examine the effects of income-based affirmative action on high school outcomes and college access for both targeted and non-targeted students.

Room A406.