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Income Contingency and the Electorates Support for Tuition

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  • Lergetporer, P

    (Technical University of Munich and ifo Institute, CESifo)

  • Woessmann, L

    (University of Munich and ifo Institute, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, CESifo, IZA and CAGE)

Abstract

We show that the electorate’s preferences for using tuition to finance higher education strongly depend on the design of the payment scheme. In representative surveys of the German electorate (N>18,000), experimentally replacing regular upfront by deferred income-contingent payments increases public support for tuition by 18 percentage points. The treatment turns a plurality opposed to tuition into a strong majority of 62 percent in favor. Additional experiments reveal that the treatment effect similarly shows when framed as loan repayments, when answers carry political consequences, and in a survey of adolescents. Reduced fairness concerns and improved student situations act as strong mediators.

Suggested Citation

  • Lergetporer, P & Woessmann, L, 2022. "Income Contingency and the Electorates Support for Tuition," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 606, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:606
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jonneke Bolhaar & Sonny Kuijpers & Dinand Webbink & Maria Zumbuehl, 2023. "Does replacing grants by income-contingent loans harm enrolment? New evidence from a reform in Dutch higher education," CPB Discussion Paper 451, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    3. Bietenbeck, Jan & Leibing, Andreas & Marcus, Jan & Weinhardt, Felix, 2023. "Tuition fees and educational attainment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Sebastian Blesse & Philipp Lergetporer & Justus Nover & Katharina Werner, 2023. "Transparency and Policy Competition: Experimental Evidence from German Citizens and Politicians," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 387, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    5. Jessen, Lasse J. & Koehne, Sebastian & Nüß, Patrick & Ruhose, Jens, 2024. "Socioeconomic Inequality in Life Expectancy: Perception and Policy Demand," IZA Discussion Papers 16780, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Grewenig, Elisabeth & Lergetporer, Philipp & Simon, Lisa & Werner, Katharina & Woessmann, Ludger, 2023. "Can internet surveys represent the entire population? A practitioners’ analysis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    tuition; higher education finance; income-contingent loans; voting JEL Classification: H52; I22; D72;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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