Bobba, MatteoAvitabile, CiroPariguana, Marco2015-11-042015-11-042015-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/22850Parents and students from different socioeconomic backgrounds value differently school characteristics, but the reasons behind this preference heterogeneity are not well understood. In the context of the centralized school assignment system in Mexico City, this study analyzes how a large household income shock affects choices over high school tracks exploiting the discontinuity in the assignment of the welfare program Oportunidades. The income shock significantly increases the probability of choosing the vocational track vis-a-vis the other more academic-oriented tracks. The findings suggest that the transfer relaxes the financial constraints that prevent relatively low-ability students from choosing the schooling option with higher labor market returns.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOSKILLSEMPLOYMENTUNIVERSITY DEGREECOLLEGEITSACADEMIC QUALITYTEACHERSINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYDROPOUT RATEEDUCATIONAL MODALITIESUPPER SECONDARY LEVELSCHOOLINGPUBLIC EDUCATIONTUITIONSTUDENT ABILITYENROLLMENTGROUPSHIGH SCHOOLHIGHER EDUCATIONCAREERPAPERSSCHOOL CENSUSBINDINGHIGHER TUITIONAVERAGE TREATMENT EFFECTEXAMHIGH SCHOOLSOPEN ACCESSKNOWLEDGEMIDDLE SCHOOLVOCATIONAL SCHOOLSPRINCIPALSSCHOOL PRINCIPALSTRAININGGEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONTESTSGRADUATESCHOOL DAYSACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTECONOMICS OF EDUCATIONMOBILITYSCHOLARSHIPSUNIVERSITY PROGRAMSSCHOOL PROGRAMSSECONDARY SCHOOLPARENTAL EDUCATIONSCHOOL CURRICULUMLETVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONLEARNINGRESEARCHSCHOOL QUALITYSCHOOL STUDENTSSCHOOL COMPLETIONMIDDLE SCHOOLSTEST SCORESSCHOOL LEVELGRANTSCOLLEGE EDUCATIONNUMBER OF STUDENTS PER TEACHERHUMAN CAPITALSCHOOL YEARTECHNICAL SCHOOLSSTUDYSCHOOL FACILITIESWORKERSSTUDIESCOMPLETIONTUITION FEESVALUESSTUDENT PREFERENCESSTUDENTSCHOOLSSCHOOL ATTENDANCEEDUCATION INSTITUTIONSPARTICIPATIONTECHNICAL TRACKSMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONGRADUATION RATESACHIEVEMENTSCHOOL SUPPLIESEDUCATION LEVELLITERATUREPEDAGOGICAL METHODSGRADE LEVELSLOWER SECONDARYVOUCHERSASSIGNMENT MECHANISMSECONDARY SCHOOLINGWORKSHOPSSCHOOL VOUCHERSTUITION COSTSCURRICULUMTEACHEREDUCATIONAL OUTCOMESTERTIARY LEVELUPPER SECONDARYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTEDUCATION PROGRAMSACHIEVEMENT STANDARDSEDUCATIONLOW-INCOME STUDENTSLOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLSTATISTICSETHNIC COMPOSITIONSECONDARY ENROLLMENTVOCATIONAL SCHOOLFACILITIESPUBLIC SCHOOLPUBLIC SCHOOLSUNIVERSITYSTUDENTSTECHNICAL EDUCATIONHIGH SCHOOL LEVELNUMBER OF STUDENTSSTUDENTS PER TEACHERUPPER SECONDARY EDUCATIONFEESHIGH SCHOOL STUDENTSLABOR MARKETSACCESS TO UNIVERSITYSCHOOL PROGRAMACADEMIC ABILITYSCHOOLSCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURESECONDARY EDUCATIONTERTIARY EDUCATIONELITE SCHOOLSELITE” SCHOOLSACADEMIC YEARRETURNS TO EDUCATIONWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7427