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Modelling higher education financing reform for Ireland

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  • Chapman, Bruce
  • Doris, Aedín

Abstract

This paper examines the feasibility of various alternative student loan schemes for Ireland. Using data from a large employer survey, we model the life-cycle earnings distribution for Irish graduates. We then use these estimates to simulate the effects of alternative types of student loans, including mortgage-type loans and income-contingent loans of various designs, incorporating participation and migration patterns into the simulations. The results show that mortgage-type loans entail unsustainably high repayment rates for low income graduates. Through the specification of several alternative income-contingent loan schemes, it is demonstrated that this approach to higher education financing is feasible both in terms of affordability for graduates and with respect to implied government subsidies. There are some important policy design issues to be addressed and we conclude with some recommendations for a future Irish scheme.

Suggested Citation

  • Chapman, Bruce & Doris, Aedín, 2019. "Modelling higher education financing reform for Ireland," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 109-119.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:71:y:2019:i:c:p:109-119
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.06.002
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    1. Aedín Doris & Donal O’Neill & Olive Sweetman, 2015. "Wage flexibility and the great recession: the response of the Irish labour market," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Darragh Flannery & Cathal O’Donoghue, 2011. "The Life-cycle Impact of Alternative Higher Education Finance Systems in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 42(3), pages 237-270.
    3. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Cansin Arslan & Jean-Christophe Dumont & Zovanga Kone & Yasser Moullan & Caglar Ozden & Christopher Parsons & Theodora Xenogiani, 2015. "A New Profile of Migrants in the Aftermath of the Recent Economic Crisis," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 160, OECD Publishing.
    5. Gibson, John & McKenzie, David, 2011. "The microeconomic determinants of emigration and return migration of the best and brightest: Evidence from the Pacific," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 18-29, May.
    6. Chapman, Bruce & Lounkaew, Kiatanantha & Polsiri, Piruna & Sarachitti, Rangsit & Sitthipongpanich, Thitima, 2010. "Thailand's Student Loans Fund: Interest rate subsidies and repayment burdens," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 685-694, October.
    7. Denny, Kevin, 2014. "The effect of abolishing university tuition costs: Evidence from Ireland," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 26-33.
    8. Chapman, Bruce & Lounkaew, Kiatanantha, 2015. "An analysis of Stafford loan repayment burdens," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 89-102.
    9. Conefrey, Thomas & Smith, Richard, 2014. "On the Slide? Salary Scales for New Graduates 2004-2012," Economic Letters 01/EL/14, Central Bank of Ireland.
    10. Bruce Chapman & Andrew Leigh, 2009. "Do Very High Tax Rates Induce Bunching? Implications for the Design of Income Contingent Loan Schemes," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(270), pages 276-289, September.
    11. Sergio Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 953-973, May.
    12. Bruce Chapman & Timothy Higgins & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), 2014. "Income Contingent Loans," International Economic Association Series, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-41320-8, April.
    13. Chapman, Bruce & Liu, Amy Y.C., 2013. "Repayment burdens of student loans for Vietnamese higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 298-308.
    14. Chapman, Bruce, 2006. "Income Contingent Loans for Higher Education: International Reforms," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 25, pages 1435-1503, Elsevier.
    15. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2014. "Remarks on Income Contingent Loans: How Effective can they be at Mitigating Risk?," International Economic Association Series, in: Bruce Chapman & Timothy Higgins & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), Income Contingent Loans, chapter 2, pages 31-38, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. Bruce Chapman & Tim Higgins, 2013. "The Costs of Unpaid Higher Education Contribution Scheme Debts of Graduates Working Abroad," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 46(3), pages 286-299, September.
    17. Dynarski, Mark, 1994. "Who defaults on student loans? Findings from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 55-68, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dearden, Lorraine & Nascimento, Paulo Meyer, 2019. "Modelling alternative student loan schemes for Brazil," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 83-94.
    2. Cai, Yu & Chapman, Bruce & Wang, Qing, 2019. "Repayment burdens of mortgage-style student loans in China and steps toward income-contingent loans," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 95-108.
    3. Syeda Mubashira Batool & Zhimin Liu, 2021. "Exploring the relationships between socio-economic indicators and student enrollment in higher education institutions of Pakistan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Elza Elmira & Daniel Suryadarma, "undated". "Financing Higher Education in Indonesia: Assessing the Feasibility of an Income-Contingent Loan System," Working Papers 1882, Publications Department.
    5. Sarbjeet Kaur & Gurcharan Singh, 2020. "Financial Comparative Analysis of State Public Universities of Punjab," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 140-144.
    6. Aedín Doris, 2019. "Ireland’s Gender Wage Gap, Past and Present," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 50(4), pages 667-681.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Higher education finance; Ireland; Student loans; Income-contingent loans;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • H81 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Governmental Loans; Loan Guarantees; Credits; Grants; Bailouts

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