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Individual preferences for public education spending: Does personal income matter?

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  • Di Gioacchino, Debora
  • Sabani, Laura
  • Tedeschi, Simone

Abstract

Standard redistributive arguments suggest that the impact of household income on preferences for public education spending should be negative, because wealthier families are likely to oppose the redistributive effect of public funding. However, the empirical evidence does not confirm this prediction. This paper addresses this ‘puzzle’ by focusing on the role of the inclusiveness of the education system and the allocation of public spending between tiers of education in shaping the impact of income on preferences. By using data from the International Social Survey Programme (2006), we show that, when access to higher levels of education is restricted (low inclusiveness) and when the share of public spending on tertiary education is high, the poor are less likely to support public education spending. This result suggests that reforming the education system towards greater inclusiveness might contribute to increase political backing for public investment in education from the relatively poor majority of the population.

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  • Di Gioacchino, Debora & Sabani, Laura & Tedeschi, Simone, 2019. "Individual preferences for public education spending: Does personal income matter?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 211-228.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:82:y:2019:i:c:p:211-228
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2019.01.007
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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, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.
    2. Shuang Yu & Xiaojun Zhao, 2021. "How Do Different Households Respond to Public Education Spending?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Di Gioacchino, Debora & Verashchagina, Alina, 2020. "Mass media and preferences for redistribution," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
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    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

    Redistribution; Public education expenditure; Individual preferences; Education system;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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