The achievement and course-taking effects of magnet schools: Regression-discontinuity evidence from urban China

We examine the effects of attending elite magnet schools on the subsequent academic performance of high-school students in urban China. Using a novel data set of the students who entered high school from 2006 to 2008 in a Chinese city, our fuzzy regression discontinuity estimates exploit the threshold values of the high school entrance exam scores. Passing the thresholds significantly reduces the financial cost and raises the probability of attending a magnet school. However, attending such an elite school does not meaningfully improve the academic performance of the marginal student.