Estimating the Impact on Educational Demand of Divesting in a Private School Voucher Policy: A Study of an Italian Region

ABSTRACT Voucher policies represent a market mechanism to support school choice, with the expected effect of stimulating competition among schools and, in turn, positively benefiting the educational outcomes. As the only Italian region adopting this policy to free private/public school choice, Lombardy is the subject of this study. In particular, we aim at understanding whether the voucher policy still affects private school enrollments, considering its de-financing in 2016. Findings show that this reduction did not impact private enrollments. Reasons could be probably found in the well-rooted motivations behind private school choice and in the low amount of the voucher, which does not cover the full private school enrollment.