School access and city structure
New version of my JMP!
The location choices of households with children connect housing, labor, and school markets. I study how school catchment areas affect location choices, welfare, and city structure. I estimate a quantitative spatial model of the three markets for Madrid, and use a decomposition of market access to show that the policy binds most in the center, where schools are densest. Compared with free choice, catchment areas shorten school trips by about 40% but lower parents’ welfare by about 7.5%, via lost schooling options. Parents suburbanize, and the city becomes more segregated and marginally more productive, with gains falling short of parents’ losses.