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On Education and Democratic Preferences

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  • Alberto Chong
  • Mark Gradstein

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="ecpo12061-abs-0001"> We make the point that preferences for democracy are positively correlated with level of education. This correlation is robust even after controlling for a range of personal characteristics, including country of residence, income, age, or using different definitions of preferences for democracy or using instrumental variables. Interestingly, the results hold across countries with different level of democracy. We use data from World Values Surveys and show that our results are consistent with a simple theoretical model in which education makes political accountability easier.

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  • Alberto Chong & Mark Gradstein, 2015. "On Education and Democratic Preferences," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 362-388, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecopol:v:27:y:2015:i:3:p:362-388
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecpo.2015.27.issue-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Valero, Anna & Van Reenen, John, 2019. "The economic impact of universities: Evidence from across the globe," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 53-67.
    2. Stephen L. Parente & Luis Felipe Sáenz & Anna Seim, 2022. "Income, education and democracy," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 193-233, June.
    3. Campante, Filipe R. & Chor, Davin, 2014. "“The people want the fall of the regime”: Schooling, political protest, and the economy," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 495-517.
    4. Piergiuseppe Fortunato & Ugo Panizza, 2015. "Democracy, education and the quality of government," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 333-363, December.
    5. Alexander Kemnitz & Martin Roessler, 2023. "The effects of economic development on democratic institutions and repression in non-democratic regimes: theory and evidence," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 145-164, June.
    6. Testa, Patrick A., 2018. "Education and propaganda: Tradeoffs to public education provision in nondemocracies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 66-81.
    7. Djemaï, Elodie & Kevane, Michael, 2023. "Effects of education on political engagement in rural Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    8. Ziyuan Lu & Xiaopeng Pang, 2022. "The Impact of Parental Migration on Offspring’s Education Investment: Evidence from Left-Behind Children in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • Y80 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Related Disciplines - - - Related Disciplines

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