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The Efficiency of the Supply of Public Education

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  • Theodore C. Bergstrom
  • Judith Roberts
  • Daniel L. Rubinfeld
  • Perry Shapiro

Abstract

The question of whether governments spend too much or too little has been a frequent subject of debate, but has been infrequently analyzed.This paper proposes and then applies a methodology which checks to see whether the "Samuelson condition" for the efficient provision of local public education is satisfied, i.e. whether the sum over the school district of individual marginal rates of substitution between public education and a private numeraire equals the marqinal rate of technical substitution between these two qoods. The econometric methodology uses a micro-based approach to the estimation of marginal rate of substitution functions which accounts for possible biases associated with the selection of school districts by individual households.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore C. Bergstrom & Judith Roberts & Daniel L. Rubinfeld & Perry Shapiro, 1986. "The Efficiency of the Supply of Public Education," NBER Working Papers 1901, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1901
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Rubinfeld, Daniel L & Shapiro, Perry, 1982. "Micro-Based Estimates of Demand Functions for Local School Expenditures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(5), pages 1183-1205, September.
    2. Brueckner, Jan K., 1982. "A test for allocative efficiency in the local public sector," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 311-331, December.
    3. Gramlich, Edward M & Rubinfeld, Daniel L, 1982. "Micro Estimates of Public Spending Demand Functions and Tests of the Tiebout and Median-Voter Hypotheses," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(3), pages 536-560, June.
    4. Courant, Paul N & Gramlich, Edward M & Rubinfeld, Daniel L, 1979. "Public Employee Market Power and the Level of Government Spending," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(5), pages 806-817, December.
    5. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Cornes, Richard C, 1983. "Independence of Allocative Efficiency from Distribution in the Theory of Public Goods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(6), pages 1753-1765, November.
    6. Howard R. Bowen, 1943. "The Interpretation of Voting in the Allocation of Economic Resources," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 58(1), pages 27-48.
    7. Bergstrom, Ted C, 1979. " When Does Majority Rule Supply Public Goods Efficiently?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 81(2), pages 216-226.
    8. Brennan,Geoffrey & Buchanan,James M., 2006. "The Power to Tax," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521027922.
    9. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    10. Alan Williams, 1966. "The Optimal Provision of Public Goods in a System of Local Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 18-33.
    11. Barlow, Robin, 1970. "Efficiency Aspects of Local School Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(5), pages 1028-1040, Sept.-Oct.
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