Working Paper

Evidence on the Production of Cognitive Achievement from Moving to Opportunity

Abstract: This paper performs a subgroup analysis on the effect of receiving a Moving to Opportunity (MTO) housing voucher on test scores. I find evidence of heterogeneity by number of children in the household in Boston, gender in Chicago, and race/ethnicity in Los Angeles. To study the mechanisms driving voucher effect heterogeneity, I develop a generalized Rubin Causal Model and propose an estimator to identify transition-specific Local Average Treatment Effects (LATEs) of school and neighborhood quality. Although I cannot identify such LATEs with the MTO data, the analysis demonstrates that membership in a specific demographic group is more predictive of voucher effects than is the group?s average change in school or neighborhood quality. I discuss some possible explanations.

Keywords: Two-Dimensional Treatment; Rubin Causal Model; School Effect; Neighborhood Effect; Local Average Treatment Effect; Education Production Function; EPF; Moving to Opportunity; ;

JEL Classification: C31; C36; C50; D04; I20; I38; R23;

https://doi.org/10.26509/frbc-wp-201707

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Part of Series: Working Papers (Old Series)

Publication Date: 2017-05-12

Number: 1707

Pages: 29 pages