Essays on the economics of education in Mexico.

Summary In the first two chapters of my dissertation, I exploit the centralized high school admission system in Mexico City to analyze two effects. On the one hand, I study the effect of a change in demand for elite schools on the stratification of the educational system by family income. On the other hand, I estimate the effect of entering an elite school on students' expectations about their future wages, thus proposing a new measure of the value added of an educational choice. In my third chapter, I assess the impact of the teacher selection system on student performance. I exploit a recent reform in Mexico, where some teachers are hired via a standardized examination system, and others via the traditional discretionary system in which teachers' unions play a dominant role.