Immigrant Concentration in Schools: Peer Pressures in Place?

Abstract

This article explores the existence of negative peer pressures resulting from the concentration of foreigners in French lower secondary schools. Using three indicators of school attainment (number of years spent in lower secondary education, grades in 4th and 3rd year, and track selection in upper secondary), the article concludes that the results of the empirical analysis are sensitive to the assumptions and methods used. If we assume that the distribution of foreigners across social spaces is a random and exogenous process, then the multivariate analyses confirm negative peer effects. If, on the contrary, we consider it the result of prior sorting mechanisms of individuals accross school districts, the evidence indicates that the concentration of foreigners has no statistically significant impact on attainment.