The present paper starts by discussing the principles of public funding of universities. The size of the social returns to investment in education gives an indication regarding the most efficient use of resources, while the difference between the private and the social rates relates to issues of equity. The available evidence is contrasted to higher education funding policies in several countries. It is concluded that there is a divide between the research findings regarding efficient and equitable financing, and the actual public funding of universities. The reasons for this divide are discussed in the context of political economy, rent-seeking by several stakeholders and, above all, vote-seeking by politicians.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Publisher Info
Article provided by Taylor and Francis Journals in its journal Education Economics.
Did you know? You can create a compilation of all publications of a group of people, say alumni of a program, your students or memers of an association.