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Gray Peril or Loyal Support? The Effects of the Elderly on Educational Expenditures

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  • Michael B. Berkman
  • Eric Plutzer

Abstract

Objectives. Do large concentrations of elderly represent a “gray peril” to maintaining adequate educational expenditures? The gray peril hypothesis is based on an assumption of instrumental self‐interest in political behavior. In contrast, we argue that loyalty to community schools competes with economic self‐interest and that older citizens are heterogeneous in their preferences. Methods. We test these arguments and their implications for public school finance using a data set of more than 9,000 school districts. Results. The data show that longstanding older residents represent a source of support for educational expenditures while elderly migrants lower spending. Further, this divide among the elderly and their impact on policy outputs depends on how states finance local public education and on aspects of state and local tax policy. Conclusions. Elderly concentrations are a financial asset for a school district unless the senior community includes a large number of new arrivals. The design of tax policy can have enormous impact on the depth of political cleavages and their ultimate impact on public policy. The results are consistent with the idea that loyalty—an emotional bond between residents and their community's institutions—competes with and often trumps instrumental self interest.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael B. Berkman & Eric Plutzer, 2004. "Gray Peril or Loyal Support? The Effects of the Elderly on Educational Expenditures," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1178-1192, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:85:y:2004:i:5:p:1178-1192
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.00270.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Cattaneo, M. Alejandra & Wolter, Stefan C., 2009. "Are the elderly a threat to educational expenditures?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 225-236, June.
    2. Dayton M. Lambert & Christopher D. Clark & Michael D. Wilcox & William M. Park, 2009. "Public Education Financing Trends and the Gray Peril Hypothesis," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 619-648, December.
    3. 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.
    4. Monique O. Durant & Mary McCarthy, 2013. "Generational Differences In Attitudes Toward Deficit Reduction Policy," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 5(1), pages 71-84.
    5. 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.
    6. Joshua C. Hall & Justin M. Ross, 2010. "Tiebout Competition, Yardstick Competition, and Tax Instrument Choice: Evidence from Ohio School Districts," Public Finance Review, , vol. 38(6), pages 710-737, November.
    7. Geoffrey Propheter, 2023. "Partisanship and Property Tax Redistribution: Evidence From Repealing Colorado's Gallagher Amendment," Public Finance Review, , vol. 51(5), pages 619-648, September.
    8. Kurban, Haydar & Gallagher, Ryan M. & Persky, Joseph J., 2012. "Estimating Local Redistribution Through Property-Tax-Funded Public School Systems," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(3), pages 629-651, September.
    9. Joshua C. Hall & Peter T. Leeson, 2010. "Racial Fractionalization and School Performance," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 736-758, April.
    10. Olugbenga Ajilore, 2009. "Elderly Ethnic Fragmentation and Support for Local Public Education," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(2), pages 217-230, March.
    11. Goerres, Achim, 2007. "Can we reform the welfare in times of grey majorities? The myth of an electoral opposition between younger and older voters in Germany," MPIfG Working Paper 07/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    12. 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.
    13. Matthew J. Burbank & Daniel Levin, 2015. "Community Attachment and Voting for School Vouchers," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1169-1177, November.
    14. Jason Giersch, 2014. "Effects of vacation properties on local education budgets," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1-9, December.
    15. 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.
    16. Saito, Hitoshi, 2017. "The effects of population ageing on public education in Japan : A reinterpretation using micro data," MPRA Paper 79848, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Georges Casamatta & L. Batté, 2016. "The Political Economy of Population Aging," Post-Print hal-02520521, HAL.
    18. Casamatta, G. & Batté, L., 2016. "The Political Economy of Population Aging," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 381-444, Elsevier.
    19. Feng Pan & Keyi Zhu & Lin Wang, 2022. "Impact Analysis of Population Aging on Public Education Financial Expenditure in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-14, November.

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