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Social security reform and the support for public education

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  • Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe
  • Guadalupe Valera

Abstract

The provision of pensions for the old and public education for the young represent a large share of public budgets. In most Western countries, current Social Security systems are under a big financial stress. Several reforms have been proposed to solve this problem. This paper deals with the impact that some of these reforms have, through a political process, on publicly financed education. We develop a model linking both public transfer schemes, in which heterogeneous individuals vote the educational tax. Our findings show that most of the proposals that entail a partial privatization of the pension system have a negative impact on public education and, thus, on economic growth.
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Suggested Citation

  • Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe & Guadalupe Valera, 2012. "Social security reform and the support for public education," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 609-634, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:25:y:2012:i:2:p:609-634
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-010-0338-4
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ono, Tetsuo & Uchida, Yuki, 2018. "Human capital, public debt, and economic growth: A political economy analysis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Tetsuo Ono, 2014. "Intergenerational Politics, Government Debt, and Economic Growth," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 14-23-Rev.2, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics, revised Jun 2015.
    3. Tetsuo Ono, 2014. "Economic Growth and the Politics of Intergenerational Redistribution," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 14-17-Rev., Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics, revised Sep 2015.
    4. Ono, Tetsuo & Uchida, Yuki, 2016. "Pensions, education, and growth: A positive analysis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 127-143.
    5. Yanagihara, Mitsuyoshi & Lu, Chen, 2013. "Cash-in-advance constraint, optimal monetary policy, and human capital accumulation," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 278-288.
    6. Emerson, Patrick M. & Knabb, Shawn D., 2018. "Demographic Uncertainty and Generational Consumption Risk with Endogenous Human Capital," IZA Discussion Papers 11358, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Tetsuo Ono, 2015. "Public education and social security: a political economy approach," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-25, February.
    8. Cheng Yuan & Chengjian Li & Lauren A. Johnston, 2018. "The intergenerational education spillovers of pension reform in China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 671-701, July.
    9. Uchida, Yuki & Ono, Tetsuo, 2022. "Politics of Public Education and Pension Reform with Endogenous Fertility," MPRA Paper 112748, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Michael Kaganovich & Volker Meier, 2012. "Social Security Systems, Human Capital, and Growth in a Small Open Economy," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 14(4), pages 573-600, August.
    11. Torben M. Andersen & Joydeep Bhattacharya, 2013. "The Intergenerational Welfare State," CESifo Working Paper Series 4359, CESifo.
    12. Georges Casamatta & L. Batté, 2016. "The Political Economy of Population Aging," Post-Print hal-02520521, HAL.
    13. Casamatta, G. & Batté, L., 2016. "The Political Economy of Population Aging," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 381-444, Elsevier.
    14. Emerson, Patrick & Knabb, Shawn, 2020. "A demographic headwind: Will an aging society reduce the real interest rate and potential growth?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    15. Emerson Patrick M. & Knabb Shawn D., 2020. "Education Spending, Fertility Shocks and Generational Consumption Risk," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 1-26, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social security reform; Public education; Voting; D72; H55; I22;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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