Paying for Priority in School Choice: Capitalization Effects of Charter School Admission Zones

Abstract

We exploit a unique characteristic of some charter schools in the metropolitan Atlanta area to identify property value capitalization of access to charter schools. The charter schools in this study designate small geographic areas within their attendance areas as priority zones. Each of the study charter schools has at least two priority zones: households located in priority one zones have a higher probability of admission than households located in priority two zones. We use this spatial variation in the likelihood of attending a charter school to identify the capitalization effect of increased charter school admission probabilities as the difference-in-differences within priority zone one and two border areas. Our results indicate that prices increased by six to eight percent for priority one zone homes compared to priority two zone homes after the opening of a new charter school. We also find that capitalization is stronger for homes with underperforming traditional public schools.

Keywords: Charter Schools, Property Value Capitalization, School Choice, Hedonic Difference-in-differences

JEL Classification: H75, I21, R21