ABSTRACT
In this chapter we build upon Chapter 3 by developing our analysis of parental choice in the context of market reforms. We use the term ‘parental choice’ to refer to the combined choice of parents and children. We focus in this chapter on parental choice in an open enrolment system, developing our analysis of item 9 in Box 4.1. In such a system parents do not have an opportunity to ‘top up’ the state allocated per-pupil funding, although they may financially support the school through parent-teacher organisations. We retain the assumption that parental preference follows from their estimation of consumption and investment benefits from schooling compared to the costs of accessing that schooling. However, parents evaluate these benefits within the context of their time preference, their degree of uncertainty about the outcomes of their child’s education and their response to that uncertainty. As we noted in Chapters 1 and 3, this uncertainty encourages decision-makers to follow the choices of their peer group and is likely to encourage the use of simple heuristics.
