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Public funding of higher education: Who gains, who loses?

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  • Ana Balcão Reis

Abstract

This paper analyses the effects of public funding of higher education on individuals’ welfare, taking into account the hierarchical nature of the education system and the fact that parents may complement basic public education with private tutoring. Although public funding financed by a proportional income tax increases access to higher education, some of the agents who gain access lose in welfare terms. Moreover, it is shown that the marginal agent regarding access to higher education would always prefer a pure private funding system in which he would not send his offspring to higher education but would also not pay tuition fees or pay taxes.

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  • Ana Balcão Reis, 2020. "Public funding of higher education: Who gains, who loses?," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 16(2), pages 196-215, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijethy:v:16:y:2020:i:2:p:196-215
    DOI: 10.1111/ijet.12176
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Who gains from public higher education?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2011-05-09 19:19:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Debora Di Gioacchino & Laura Sabani & Simone Tedeschi, 2016. "Differences in education systems across OECD countries: the role ofeducation policy preferences in a hierarchical system," Working Papers in Public Economics 177, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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