The market emerged in the educational environment decades ago and is presented by some authors as an alternative to regulation by public authorities likely to better meet the objectives set by educational systems. Based on a secondary analysis of the PISA 2006 database, this assumption is put to the test. Another assumption suggesting that quasi-markets increase segregation and its effects on students’ competencies instead of raising the average efficiency of educational systems is also scrutinised. Findings reveal that the quasi-market is linked to even more cross-school segregation and contributes to increasing the effects of this segregation due to the better performance of students schooled in the most socially privileged institutions.
Keywords
- education market
- autonomy
- choice of school
- comparative education
- inter-institutional competition