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School Bond Referendum, Capital Expenditure, and Student Achievement

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  • Hong Kai

    (Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, 295 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012, USA)

Abstract

In the United States, the reform of the financial system of capital expenditure is under consideration, as people believe the current system through local referenda contributes to inequality in student achievement across school districts. Several studies using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) find zero to modest positive effects of capital expenditure on student achievement; however, these studies identify only the effect of capital expenditure financed by a marginally passed bond with a vote share at the cutoff. In this paper I estimate the average effect of capital expenditure on student achievement by incorporating a latent factor model into the existing RDD framework, and comparing school districts that are similar in their underlying confounding variables, namely preferences for educational investment. The results show that, on average, capital expenditure financed by a passed bond does not have significant effect on student achievement.

Suggested Citation

  • Hong Kai, 2017. "School Bond Referendum, Capital Expenditure, and Student Achievement," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 1-26, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:17:y:2017:i:4:p:26:n:9
    DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2016-0341
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ali Enami, 2017. "Labor versus Capital in the Provision of Public Services: Estimating the Marginal Products of Inputs in the Production of Student Outcomes," Working Papers 1718, Tulane University, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2017.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    bond referendum; capital expenditure; latent factor; student achievement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures

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