Religion, Religiosity, and Private Schools (original) (raw)
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Private School Choice: The Effects of Religion and Religiosity
2006
The effects of religion and religiosity on the demand for private schooling are considered both theoretically and empirically. Probit estimates of private school attendance and multinomial logit estimates of attendance at different types of private schools including Catholic schools, Protestant schools, and nonsectarian private schools are undertaken. It is shown that both religion and religiosity have important effects on the demand for the different types of private schools. Further, it is shown that if religiosity is not taken into account (the usual case), the effect of religion on demand is biased. The effects of race, ethnicity, family background, and location on the demand for private schooling are also considered. Data from the National Opinion Research Center's "General Social Survey" are used.
Journal of Urban Economics, 2008
In this paper, we quantify the religious factor in private education in the United States by estimating a random utility model of school-choice in which households choose among public, private-nonsectarian, Catholic and Protestant schools. The model is estimated using a multinomial logit regression of attendance at different types of private schools using individual data from the General Social Survey. We find that both religion and religiosity have important effects on the demand for private schools. We also provide evidence that previous studies that do not take into account religiosity probably overestimate the positive influence of private schools on measures of educational attainment. Evidence on the magnitude of this bias is presented.
Private school choice: The effects of religious affiliation and participation
2007
In this paper, we quantify the religious factor in private education in the United States by estimating a Random Utility Model of school-choice in which households choose among public, private-nonsectarian, Catholic and Protestant schools. In our model households differ not only in their income levels but also in their religion and religiosity levels. The model is then estimated using multinomial logit and multinomial probit regressions of attendance at different types of private schools using individual data from the General Social Survey. We find that both religion and religiosity have important effects on the demand for the different types of private schools. Further, it is shown that if religiosity is not taken into account (the usual case), the effect of religion on demand is biased. Our results imply that previous studies on the treatment effect of Catholic schools that have not taken into account the selection of highreligiosity youth into Catholic schools overestimate the positive influence of Catholic schools.
Religiosity and parochial school choice: cause or effect
Education Economics, 2011
In this study, we examine the effect of religiosity as measured by attendance at religious services on religious school choice. Particular attention is given to the possibly endogenous relationship between school choice and religiosity. We find that religiosity has an important causal effect on the demand for parochial schools. It is also shown that religiosity is substantially biased downward in OLS and probit estimates of parochial school choice. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for estimating the treatment effect of private school attendance on student outcomes.
The Religious Factor in Private Education. Occasional Paper
2002
This paper quantifies the religious factor in education demand by calibrating a political economy model of education finance and school choice in which parents who differ in the advantage they attribute to religious education choose from among public, private-nonsectarian, and religious schools. The calibrated distribution of religious preferences indicates that the revealed advantage of religious education is strongly contingent on its high levels of subsidization. The results of the calibration are applied to compare the effect of publicly funded vouchers that do not exclude religious schools-to which the Supreme Court recently opened a door in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris-with vouchers restricted to nonsectarian schools. It supports the implicit conclusion of the Supreme Court, that participation of religious schools in the Cleveland voucher program was essential for achieving its goal of helping low-income parents in a failing school district. Larger vouchers would have reduced the share of religious schools in the program, though they would still have attracted a majority of students. (Contains 40 references, 44 endnotes, 8 tables, and 4 figures.) (Author/SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
The religious factor in private education
Journal of Urban Economics, 2005
This paper quantifies the religious factor in education demand by calibrating a political economy model of education finance and school choice in which parents who differ in the advantage they attribute to religious education choose from among public, privatenonsectarian and religious schools. The calibrated distribution of religious preferences indicates that the revealed advantage of religious education is strongly contingent on its high levels of subsidization. The results of the calibration are applied to compare the effect of publicly funded vouchers that do not exclude religious schools-to which the Supreme Court recently opened a door in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris-with vouchers restricted to nonsectarian schools. It supports the implicit conclusion of the Court, that participation of religious schools in the Cleveland voucher program was essential for achieving its goal of helping low-income parents in a failing school district. Larger vouchers would have reduced the share of religious schools in the program, though they would still have attracted a majority of students.
The Exit-Voice Choice: Religious Cleavages, Public Aid, and America's Private Schools
In America’s culture wars denominations increasingly ally with one another despite differences in theology, church organization and membership. But these developments are not reflected in America’s private K-12 school system or in patterns of public aid for children who attend them where divisions between religious traditions remain stark. I demonstrate, by means of an analysis of critical junctures in American political development supported by statistical analysis, that Catholics who desire a religious education for their children have historically tended to exit for the parochial sector while Evangelicals having similar desires lobbied for reform of the public school system. These differential group responses stem from differing conceptions of identity and belonging, theological understanding and institutional structure. In American education policy, differences between religious groups are surprisingly tenacious.
Religion as a Determinant of Educational Attainment: An Economic Perspective
Social Science Research, 1999
This paper uses data from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households to study how the religion in which individuals are brought up influences the number of years of schooling that they complete. In multivariate analyses where a large number of other family background factors are held constant, significant differences by religion are uncovered: educational attainment is highest among Jews and lowest among fundamentalist Protestants, with Catholics and mainline Protestants at the center of the distribution. Various channels through which religion may influence the level of schooling are considered, within the framework of a human capital model that distinguishes between supply and demand factors. The empirical findings suggest that while demand influences are most important in explaining the high education of Jews, the relatively low schooling level of fundamentalist Protestants reflects supply and demand forces of similar strength. Analyses of schooling transitions shed light on the stages of the process at which the divergences occur. 1999 Academic Press I am indebted to Barry Chiswick, Carmel Chiswick, and two anonymous referees for many helpful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper.
The Effects of Catholic Schools on Religiosity, Education, and Competition. Occasional Paper
2001
Four criteria that have been suggested to evaluate the effects of private schooling and education vouchers are: (1) freedom of choice, (2) productive efficiency, (3) equity, and (4) social cohesion. This study uses these criteria to evaluate some of the effects of Catholic schooling in the United States. Catholic schools are shown to increase the ability of Catholic families to promote Catholic values and beliefs. That is, Catholic schools increase the ability of Catholic families to provide a faith-based education for their children. The effect of Catholic schools on productive efficiency is mixed. Data from Illinois suggest that private school competition does not improve the quality of public schooling. Further, national data indicate that Catholic schools at best only have modest positive effects on educational outcomes for white students. However, Catholic schools seem to have significant and substantial positive effects on educational outcomes for black and Hispanic students. For this reason, Catholic schools have favorable effects on equity.