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Multistage public education, voting, and income distribution

Author

Listed:
  • Katsuyuki Naito

    (Asia University)

  • Keigo Nishida

    (Fukuoka University)

Abstract

This paper proposes a theory to study the formulation of education policies and human capital accumulation. The government collects income taxes and allocates tax revenue to primary and higher education. The tax rate and the allocation rule are both endogenously determined through majority voting. The tax rate is kept at a low level, and public funding for higher education is not supported unless the majority of individuals have human capital above some threshold. Although public support for higher education promotes aggregate human capital accumulation, it may create long-run income inequality because the poor are excluded from higher education.

Suggested Citation

  • Katsuyuki Naito & Keigo Nishida, 2017. "Multistage public education, voting, and income distribution," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 65-78, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:120:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s00712-016-0513-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s00712-016-0513-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Debora Di Gioacchino & Laura Sabani & Stefano Usai, 2023. "Why does education expenditure differ across countries? The role of income inequality, human capital and the inclusiveness of education systems," Working Papers in Public Economics 236, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    2. Alessandro Balestrino & Lisa Grazzini & Annalisa Luporini, 2021. "On the political economy of compulsory education," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 1-25, September.
    3. Daxue Kan & Lianju Lyu & Weichiao Huang & Wenqing Yao, 2022. "The Impact of Urban Education on the Income Gap of Urban Residents: Evidence from Central China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Vincenzo Prete & Claudio Zoli, 2019. "The political economy of educational policies and inequality of opportunity," Working Papers 2019:14, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    5. Xiangting Hu & Xiangbo Liu & Chao He & Tiantian Dai, 2020. "Education policies, pre-college human capital investment and educated unemployment," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 241-270, April.
    6. Debora Di Gioacchino & Laura Sabani & Stefano Usai, 2022. "Intergenerational Upward (Im)mobility and Political Support of Public Education Spending," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 8(1), pages 49-76, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Majority voting; Public education; Multistage education; Human capital accumulation; Income distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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