Gobernanza educativa en América Latina ¿Autonomía con equidad?

Abstract

This article contributes to the debate on school autonomy as a mode of governance and its effect on quality and equity in Latin America. Using the contractual approach of the economics of transaction costs, we evaluate the effects of school autonomy on performance, as well as its implications in the achievement of equity goals in the educational system. From the governance aspects measured by the PISA program at the level of school organizations, we obtained the relevant econometric estimates for two performance measures: achievement and equity. The findings suggest that more autonomous educational systems are associated with better performance. However, the practice of autonomy could be biased towards schools that represent less risk in terms of transaction costs. In addition, school autonomy implies a governance structure that carries maladjustment risks that threaten the distributive nature of educational systems.