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The Influence of the Elderly on School Spending in a Median Voter Framework

Author

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  • Deborah Fletcher

    (Department of Economics, Miami University)

  • Lawrence W. Kenny

    (Department of Economics, University of Florida)

Abstract

How do the elderly influence school spending if they are a minority of the population? We estimate the determinants of school spending in a median voter model, comparing four assumptions about how the elderly influence the identity of the median voter. Using a county-level panel, we find that elderly preferences are best characterized by assuming all elderly or all elderly migrants vote with the poor. Having more elderly results in a median voter who is further down the community's income distribution. This median voter is poorer, which lowers preferred school spending, and faces a lower tax price, which raises preferred school spending. The evidence suggests that the income effect is slightly larger than the price effect, so the elderly on net cause a very small drop in spending. Thus the widespread concern about the negative impact of population aging on school funding seems to be misplaced. © 2008 American Education Finance Association

Suggested Citation

  • Deborah Fletcher & Lawrence W. Kenny, 2008. "The Influence of the Elderly on School Spending in a Median Voter Framework," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 3(3), pages 283-315, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:3:y:2008:i:3:p:283-315
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    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/edfp.2008.3.3.283
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    Cited by:

    1. Luiz Mello & Simone Schotte & Erwin R. Tiongson & Hernan Winkler, 2017. "Greying the Budget: Ageing and Preferences over Public Policies," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 70-96, February.
    2. Klien, Michael & Melki, Mickael & Pickering, Andrew, 2021. "Voter turnout and intergenerational redistribution," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 603-626.
    3. Berardino Cesi, 2010. "Local Public Education and Childless Voting: The Arising of an “Ends with the Middle” Coalition," The IUP Journal of Public Finance, IUP Publications, vol. 0(1 & 2), pages 74-102, February .
    4. Gu Jiafeng & Shen Tiyan & Zhang Jiadong, 2015. "Can Financial Shortages in China’s Education Be Contagious?," Journal of Systems Science and Information, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 193-213, June.
    5. Paul N. Thompson & Joseph Whitley, 2017. "The effect of school district and municipal government financial health information on local tax election outcomes: evidence from fiscal stress labels in Ohio," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 265-288, March.
    6. Brunner, Eric J. & Ross, Stephen L., 2010. "Is the median voter decisive? Evidence from referenda voting patterns," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 898-910, December.
    7. Figlio, David N. & Fletcher, Deborah, 2012. "Suburbanization, demographic change and the consequences for school finance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 1144-1153.
    8. Rajashri Chakrabarti & Max Livingston & Joydeep Roy, 2014. "Did Cuts in State Aid During the Great Recession Lead to Changes in Local Property Taxes?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(4), pages 383-416, October.
    9. Michael Reed & Patrick O’Reilly & Joshua Hall, 2019. "The Economics and Politics of Carbon Taxes and Regulations: Evidence from Voting on Washington State’s Initiative 732," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-12, July.
    10. Epple, Dennis & Romano, Richard & Sieg, Holger, 2012. "The intergenerational conflict over the provision of public education," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 255-268.
    11. Jason Giersch, 2014. "Effects of vacation properties on local education budgets," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. John M. Foster & Jacob Fowles, 2018. "Ethnic Heterogeneity, Group Affinity, and State Higher Education Spending," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(1), pages 1-28, February.
    13. Trang Hoang & Craig S. Maher, 2022. "Fiscal condition, institutional constraints, and public pension contribution: are pension contribution shortfalls fiscal illusion?," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 93-124, December.
    14. Eric J. Brunner & Mark D. Robbins & Bill Simonsen, 2021. "Experimental evidence about property tax word aversion," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 50-70, December.
    15. Brunner, Eric J. & Ross, Stephen L. & Simonsen, Becky K., 2015. "Homeowners, renters and the political economy of property taxation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 38-49.
    16. Francisco Martínez Mora, 2009. "Population Ageing, Inequality and the Political Economy of Public Education," Working Papers 2009-03, FEDEA.
    17. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Is the Median Voter Decisive? Evidence of 'Ends Against the Middle' From Referenda Voting Patterns," Working papers 2009-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised May 2010.
    18. Antti Saastamoinen & Mika Kortelainen, 2020. "When Does Money Stick in Education? Evidence from A Kinked Grant Rule," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 708-735, Fall.
    19. Haug, Peter, 2009. "Shadow Budgets, Fiscal Illusion and Municipal Spending: The Case of Germany," IWH Discussion Papers 9/2009, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    20. Brunner, Eric J. & Johnson, Erik B., 2016. "Intergenerational conflict and the political economy of higher education funding," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 73-87.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    elderly; aging population; school spending; median voter model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

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