TY  - JOUR
AU  - Imberman,Scott
AU  - Kugler,Adriana D.
AU  - Sacerdote,Bruce
TI  - Katrina's Children: Evidence on the Structure of Peer Effects from Hurricane Evacuees
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15291
PY  - 2009
Y2  - August 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15291
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15291.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Scott A. Imberman
Department of Economics
University of Houston
204 McElhinney Hall
Houston, TX 77204
Tel: 713/743-3839
Fax: 713/743-3798
E-Mail: simberman@uh.edu

Adriana D. Kugler
Georgetown University
Georgetown Public Policy Institute
37th and O Streets NW, Suite 311
Washington, DC 20057
Tel: 202/687-5716
Fax: 202/687-5544
E-Mail: ak659@georgetown.edu

Bruce Sacerdote
6106 Rockefeller Hall
Department of Economics
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755-3514
Tel: 603/646-2121
Fax: 603/646-2122
E-Mail: Bruce.I.Sacerdote@dartmouth.edu
AB  - In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced many children to relocate across the Southeast. While schools quickly enrolled evacuees, receiving families worried about the impact of evacuees on non-evacuee students. Data from Houston and Louisiana show that, on average, the influx of evacuees moderately reduced elementary math test scores in Houston. We reject linear-in-means models of peer effects and find evidence of a highly non-linear but monotonic model - student achievement improves with high ability and worsens with low ability peers. Moreover, exposure to undisciplined evacuees increased native absenteeism and disciplinary problems, supporting a "bad apple" model in behavior.
ER  -