Private School Choice: The Effects Of Religion And Religiosity

Abstract

The effects of religion and religiosity on the demand for private schooling are considered both theoretically and empirically. Probit estimates of private school attendance and multinomial logit estimates of attendance at different types of private schools including Catholic schools, Protestant schools, and nonsectarian private schools are undertaken. It is shown that both religion and religiosity have important effects on the demand for the different types of private schools. Further, it is shown that if religiosity is not taken into account (the usual case), the effect of religion on demand is biased. The effects of race, ethnicity, family background, and location on the demand for private schooling are also considered. Data from the National Opinion Research Center’s “General Social Survey” are used.