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  3. American Economic Review
  4. March 2004
  5. Public Housing, Housing Vouchers, and Student Achievement: Evidence from Public Housing Demolitions in Chicago

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Public Housing, Housing Vouchers, and Student Achievement: Evidence from Public Housing Demolitions in Chicago

  • Brian A. Jacob
American Economic Review
vol. 94, no. 1, March 2004
(pp. 233–258)
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Abstract

This paper utilizes a plausibly exogenous source of variation in housing assistance generated by public housing demolitions in Chicago to examine the impact of high-rise public housing on student outcomes. I find that children in households affected by the demolitions do no better or worse than their peers on a wide variety of achievement measures. Because the majority of households that leave high-rise public housing in response to the demolitions move to neighborhoods and schools that closely resemble those they left, the zero effect of the demolitions may be interpreted as the independent impact of public housing.

Citation

Jacob, Brian, A. 2004. "Public Housing, Housing Vouchers, and Student Achievement: Evidence from Public Housing Demolitions in Chicago." American Economic Review, 94 (1): 233–258. DOI: 10.1257/000282804322970788

JEL Classification

  • H53 National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
  • R21 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Housing Demand
  • R38 Production Analysis and Firm Location: Government Policy