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On the Political Economy of Social Security and Public Education

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Author Info
Panu Poutvaara (CEBR)

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Abstract

I analyze simultaneous voting on the wage tax rate and investment in public education using a model with three overlapping generations and ability differences inside each cohort. Wage tax revenue finances public education and social security benefits. I derive the results both for a once-and-for-all voting system with commitment and for repeated voting. My model allows demographic change and productivity growth. Even when cohorts are of the same size, the median voter may be a young uneducated citizen.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Public Economics with number 0303001.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: 03 Mar 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:0303001

Note: Type of Document - Pdf; prepared on IBM PC; to print on Xerox3N1; pages: 36 ; figures: included. This is a revised version of CESifo Working Paper No. 424 (February 2001) and CEBR Discussion Paper 2002-02.
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Related research
Keywords: Social security; Public education; Voting; Implicit intergenerational contract; Structure-induced equilibrium;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Models of Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Michael Kaganovich & Volker Meier, 2008. "Social Security Systems, Human Capital, and Growth in a Small Open Economy," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  2. Michael Kaganovich & Itzhak Zilcha, 2008. "Alternative Social Security Systems and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  3. Sita Nataraj Slavov, 2001. "Age Bias in Fiscal Policy: Why Does the Political Process Favor the Elderly?," Occidental Economics Working Papers 1, Occidental College, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2006. [Downloadable!]
  4. Marko Köthenbürger & Panu Poutvaara & Paola Profeta, 2005. "Why are More Redistributive Social Security Systems Smaller? A Median Voter Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Alison Booth & Facundo Sepulveda, 2007. "Endogenous Fertility Policy And Unfunded Pensions," CAMA Working Papers 2007-06, Australian National University, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  6. Mehmet S. Tosun, 2005. "Global Aging and Fiscal Policy with International Labor Mobility: A Political Economy Perspective," IMF Working Papers 05/140, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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