Abstract

This chapter discusses assumptions about the school choice marketplace, including whether and how charter schools generate competitive effects in traditional public schools. The chapter outlines key assumptions, presents the empirical literature that tests them, and discusses their conceptual and methodological implications. The chapter focuses first on research that examines whether competitive effects occur, and second on research that examines how competitive effects may occur. The chapter concludes by offering some suggestions for further research that could increase knowledge and understanding of the competitive effects of charter schools.