The Unintended Consequences of Education Barriers for Migrant Children on the Academic Performance of Local Students: Evidence from Random Class Assignment in China

Abstract This paper examines whether education barriers for migrant children have negative effects on local students as well. By exploiting the random assignment of students to classes within each grade of a school, we find migrant peers who are prevented by policies from attending local senior high schools have negative effects on the academic performance of local students in China. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the negative effects primarily exist in the subjects of Chinese and English, and are more pronounced to urban students and students with middle and high scores. Mechanism analysis suggests that the negative effects may come from the lowered learning time investment and the worsened learning environment. The findings of this paper suggest that education barriers targeting migrant children can also have adverse effects on local students. Therefore, relevant reforms are needed to promote the integration of migrant and local students.