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An empirical inquiry into the determinants of public education spending in Europe

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  • Catalin Dragomirescu-Gaina

Abstract

This paper makes two important contributions. Firstly, it uncovers some of the main economic determinants driving the dynamics of public education spending in Europe. Drawing mainly on the insights provided by Baumol’s cost theory, the baseline specification uses unit labour costs and real GDP per capita as its main determinants. Some important institutional rigidities are also highlighted. The results confirm the fast relative increase in education costs, exposing the long-term affordability challenge of public education investment. Secondly, by including a policy objective and translating the empirical specification into a decision rule, the paper touches on some less mentioned determinants, such as policy commitment. Unfortunately, there is only weak overall evidence that public education spending would increase in response to a lack of progress in the policy objective. Finally, policy implications are discussed. JEL: D78, H41, H52, I22 Copyright Dragomirescu-Gaina. 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Catalin Dragomirescu-Gaina, 2015. "An empirical inquiry into the determinants of public education spending in Europe," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-24, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izaels:v:4:y:2015:i:1:p:1-24:10.1186/s40174-015-0049-7
    DOI: 10.1186/s40174-015-0049-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Dragomirescu-Gaina, Catalin & Freitas, Maria, 2017. "The social and economic preferences of a tech-savvy generation," MPRA Paper 84232, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Guarini, Giulio & Laureti, Tiziana & Garofalo, Giuseppe, 2020. "Socio-institutional determinants of educational resource efficiency according to the capability approach: An endogenous stochastic frontier analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Jyotsna Rosario & K. R. Shanmugam, 2023. "Impact of transfers on elementary education expenditure and measuring equalisation transfers to Indian States," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 141-168, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education spending; Baumol cost disease; Policy commitment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

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