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The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 104 No. 3 2022

Peers with Special Needs: Effects and Policies

Simone Balestra1; Beatrix Eugster1; Helge Liebert2

1 University of St.Gallen · 2 University of Zurich

Abstract

In light of the debate over inclusive education, this paper evaluates the impact of exposure to special needs (SN) peers. More classroom peers with SN lower performance, the probability of entering postcompulsory education, and income at ages 17 to 25. SN students and students at the lower end of the achievement distribution suffer most from higher inclusion. We analyze the effects of reallocation policies to alleviate negative externalities, and demonstrate that inclusion is preferable to segregation in terms of maximizing average test scores.

DOI
10.1162/rest_a_00960
Volume
104
Issue
3
Pages
602-618
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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