IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v241y2026ics0167268125005049.html

Education and market liberal preferences

Author

Listed:
  • Nye, John VC
  • Bryukhanov, Maksym
  • Litman, Cheryl
  • Polyachenko, Sergiy

Abstract

Nowadays very little attention has been paid to the worldwide and cross-generation stabilitsy of the relationship between education and pro-market preferences. More importantly, does economic development condition the effect of education on pro-market views? Using data from international surveys (WVS, LITS, ESS, ISSP), the Russian national longitudinal survey (RLMS-HSE) and the Russian survey of Trajectories in Education and Careers (TREC), we show that there is a robust positive relationship between education and free market views in most developed and developing countries. Notably, in the former Soviet Union, the link between more education and greater support for liberal market values holds for both the post-Soviet educated young and the old, who presumably received their education under the Soviet Union. Thus, education is not only correlated with higher support for liberal market values worldwide but, even in the case of the USSR with its anti-market educational content, a change in required years of schooling saw an increase in pro-market sentiment among those people affected.

Suggested Citation

  • Nye, John VC & Bryukhanov, Maksym & Litman, Cheryl & Polyachenko, Sergiy, 2026. "Education and market liberal preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:241:y:2026:i:c:s0167268125005049
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2025.107387
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268125005049
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2025.107387?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4km7l02j139aj8hl7kcccmqk9s is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Nikolaj Malchow-Møller & Jakob Munch & Sanne Schroll & Jan Skaksen, 2009. "Explaining Cross-Country Differences in Attitudes Towards Immigration in the EU-15," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 91(3), pages 371-390, May.
    3. Hayo, Bernd, 2004. "Public support for creating a market economy in Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 720-744, December.
    4. Ravallion, Martin & Lokshin, Michael, 2000. "Who wants to redistribute?: The tunnel effect in 1990s Russia," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 87-104, April.
    5. Janina Frentzel‐Zagorska & Krzysztof Zagorski, 1993. "Polish public opinion on privatisation and State Interventionism," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 705-728.
    6. Anna Maria Mayda, 2006. "Who Is Against Immigration? A Cross-Country Investigation of Individual Attitudes toward Immigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 510-530, August.
    7. Scheve, Kenneth F. & Slaughter, Matthew J., 2001. "What determines individual trade-policy preferences?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 267-292, August.
    8. Volha Belskaya & Klara Sabirianova Peter & Christian M. Posso, 2020. "Heterogeneity in the Effect of College Expansion Policy on Wages: Evidence from the Russian Labor Market," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 84-121.
    9. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 2018. "Returns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 445-458, September.
    10. Rode, Martin & Sáenz de Viteri, Andrea, 2018. "Expressive attitudes to compensation: The case of globalization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 42-55.
    11. Winters, John V., 2015. "Estimating the returns to schooling using cohort-level maternal education as an instrument," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 25-27.
    12. Schmidt, Katja, 2021. "The dynamics of attitudes toward immigrants: Cohort analyses for Western EU member states," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 62(4), pages 281-310.
    13. repec:nos:voprec:y:2016:id:245 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Riccardo Rovelli & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2013. "Did support for economic and political reforms increase during the post-communist transition, and if so, why?," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 21(2), pages 193-240, April.
    15. Eber, Nicolas & François, Abel & Weill, Laurent, 2021. "Gender, age, and attitude toward competition," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 668-690.
    16. Natela Doghonadze, 2009. "Business Education in Post Soviet Countries," IBSU Scientific Journal, International Black Sea University, vol. 3(2), pages 19-33.
    17. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Regulation of Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 1-37.
    18. James C. Garand & Ping Xu & Belinda C. Davis, 2017. "Immigration Attitudes and Support for the Welfare State in the American Mass Public," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(1), pages 146-162, January.
    19. Filippin, Antonio & Gioia, Francesca, 2018. "Competition and subsequent risk-taking behaviour: Heterogeneity across gender and outcomes," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 84-94.
    20. Irina Denisova & Markus Eller & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2010. "What do Russians think about transition?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(2), pages 249-280, April.
    21. Hainmueller, Jens & Hiscox, Michael J., 2006. "Learning to Love Globalization: Education and Individual Attitudes Toward International Trade," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 469-498, April.
    22. Duch, Raymond M., 1993. "Tolerating Economic Reform: Popular Support for Transition to a Free Market in the Former Soviet Union," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(3), pages 590-608, September.
    23. Philippe Aghion & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc & Andrei Shleifer, 2010. "Regulation and Distrust," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1015-1049.
    24. Mayda, Anna Maria & Rodrik, Dani, 2005. "Why are some people (and countries) more protectionist than others?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 1393-1430, August.
    25. William B. Walstad, 1997. "The Effect of Economic Knowledge on Public Opinion of Economic Issues," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 195-205, September.
    26. Magnus Bergquist & Andreas Nilsson & Niklas Harring & Sverker C. Jagers, 2022. "Meta-analyses of fifteen determinants of public opinion about climate change taxes and laws," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(3), pages 235-240, March.
    27. Vladimir Gimpelson & Aleksey Oshchepkov, 2012. "Does more unemployment cause more fear of unemployment?," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-26, December.
    28. Huang, Jian & Maassen van den Brink, Henriëtte & Groot, Wim, 2009. "A meta-analysis of the effect of education on social capital," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 454-464, August.
    29. Arnaud Chevalier & Colm Harmon & Vincent O’ Sullivan & Ian Walker, 2013. "The impact of parental income and education on the schooling of their children," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-22, December.
    30. V. Gimpelson., 2016. "Does the Russian economy need human capital? Ten doubts," VOPROSY ECONOMIKI, N.P. Redaktsiya zhurnala "Voprosy Economiki", vol. 10.
    31. Petrik Runst, 2014. "Popular Attitudes Toward Market Economic Principles and Institutional Reform in Transition Economies," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(1), pages 83-115, March.
    32. Dee, Thomas S., 2004. "Are there civic returns to education?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 1697-1720, August.
    33. Kyui, Natalia, 2016. "Expansion of higher education, employment and wages: Evidence from the Russian Transition," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 68-87.
    34. Walstad, William B. & Rebeck, Ken, 2002. "Assessing the economic knowledge and economic opinions of adults," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 921-935.
    35. Giorgio Brunello & Margherita Fort & Nicole Schneeweis & Rudolf Winter‐Ebmer, 2016. "The Causal Effect of Education on Health: What is the Role of Health Behaviors?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 314-336, March.
    36. Casey B. Mulligan & Andrei Shleifer, 2005. "The Extent of the Market and the Supply of Regulation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(4), pages 1445-1473.
    37. Hans Pitlik & Ludek Kouba, 2014. "Does Social Distrust Always Lead to a Stronger Support for Government Intervention? WWWforEurope Policy Paper No. 8," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47113.
    38. Shushanik Margaryan & Annemarie Paul & Thomas Siedler, 2021. "Does Education Affect Attitudes towards Immigration?: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(2), pages 446-479.
    39. Meyer, Andrew G., 2017. "The impact of education on political ideology: Evidence from European compulsory education reforms," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 9-23.
    40. Jian Huang & Henriëtte den Brink & Wim Groot, 2011. "College Education and Social Trust: An Evidence-Based Study on the Causal Mechanisms," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 287-310, November.
    41. Hans Pitlik & Ludek Kouba, 2015. "Does social distrust always lead to a stronger support for government intervention?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 355-377, June.
    42. Baron, Jonathan & Kemp, Simon, 2004. "Support for trade restrictions, attitudes, and understanding of comparative advantage," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 565-580, October.
    43. Dahmann, Sarah C., 2017. "How does education improve cognitive skills? Instructional time versus timing of instruction," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 35-47.
    44. Filipe R. Campante & Davin Chor, 2012. "Schooling, Political Participation, and the Economy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(4), pages 841-859, November.
    45. Cavaille, Charlotte & Marshall, John, 2019. "Education and Anti-Immigration Attitudes: Evidence from Compulsory Schooling Reforms across Western Europe," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(1), pages 254-263, February.
    46. Chevalier, Arnaud & Harmon, Colm & O'Sullivan, Vincent & Walker, Ian, 2013. "The Impact of Parental Income and Education on the Schooling of Children," Papers WP468, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    47. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong Wha, 1996. "International Measures of Schooling Years and Schooling Quality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 218-223, May.
    48. Sandra E Black & Paul J Devereux & Petter Lundborg & Kaveh Majlesi, 2018. "Learning to Take Risks? The Effect of Education on Risk-Taking in Financial Markets," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(3), pages 951-975.
    49. Dimitrova-Grajzl, Valentina & Grajzl, Peter & Guse, A. Joseph, 2012. "Trust, perceptions of corruption, and demand for regulation: Evidence from post-socialist countries," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 292-303.
    50. Philippe Aghion & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc & Andrei Shleifer, 2010. "Regulation and Distrust," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 125(3), pages 1015-1049.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John V. Nye & Maksym Bryukhanov & Sergiy Polyachenko, 2016. "Does Higher Education Contribute to a Change in Attitudes to Government Price Control in Russia?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 146/EC/2016, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Polyachenko Sergiy, 2016. "Do changes in social and economic characteristics affect attitude towards price control?," EERC Working Paper Series 16/05e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    3. Pál Czeglédi, 2022. "Why does the confidence in companies, but not the confidence in the government, affect the demand for regulation differently across countries?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 193(3), pages 211-231, December.
    4. Ekaterina Borisova & Timothy Frye & Koen Schoors & Vladimir Zabolotskiy, 2022. "Fear, Trust and Demand for Regulation: Evidence from the Covid-19 Pandemic in Russia," CESifo Working Paper Series 10156, CESifo.
    5. Nathaniel P.S. Cook & Robert L. Underwood, 2012. "Attitudes Toward Economic Globalization: Does Knowledge Matter?," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Eiichi Tomiura & Banri Ito & Hiroshi Mukunoki & Ryuhei Wakasugi, 2016. "Individual Characteristics, Behavioral Biases, and Trade Policy Preferences: Evidence from a Survey in Japan," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 1081-1095, November.
    7. Eiichi TOMIURA & Banri ITO & Hiroshi MUKUNOKI & Ryuhei WAKASUGI, 2014. "Reciprocal Versus Unilateral Trade Liberalization: Comparing individual characteristics of supporters," Discussion papers 14067, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    8. Hayat, Muhammad Azmat & Farvaque, Etienne, 2012. "Public attitudes towards central bank independence: Lessons from the foundation of the ECB," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 512-523.
    9. Peter T. Calcagno & Jeremy Jackson, 2026. "Social trust and markets: does regulation undermine the social foundation of exchange?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 1-38, December.
    10. Gordon H. Hanson & Kenneth Scheve & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2007. "Public Finance And Individual Preferences Over Globalization Strategies," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(1), pages 1-33, March.
    11. Eiichi TOMIURA & Banri ITO & Hiroshi MUKUNOKI & Ryuhei WAKASUGI, 2013. "Endowment Effect and Trade Policy Preferences: Evidence from a survey on individuals," Discussion papers 13009, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    12. Simon Kemp, 2008. "Lay attitudes to trade with low-wage countries," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 3, pages 335-343, April.
    13. Tomiura, Eiichi & Ito, Banri & Mukunoki, Hiroshi & Wakasugi, Ryuhei, 2021. "Individual characteristics and the demand for reciprocity in trade liberalization: Evidence from a survey in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    14. Ina Jäkel & Marcel Smolka, 2013. "Individual Attitudes Towards Trade: Stolper-Samuelson Revisited," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 731-761, September.
    15. Jacob, Robert & Christandl, Fabian & Fetchenhauer, Detlef, 2011. "Economic experts or laypeople? How teachers and journalists judge trade and immigration policies," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 662-671.
    16. Hainmueller, Jens & Hiscox, Michael J., 2006. "Learning to Love Globalization: Education and Individual Attitudes Toward International Trade," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 469-498, April.
    17. Albarrán, Pedro & Hidalgo-Hidalgo, Marisa & Iturbe-Ormaetxe, Iñigo, 2020. "Education and adult health: Is there a causal effect?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    18. William Pyle, 2021. "Russia’s “impressionable years”: life experience during the exit from communism and Putin-era beliefs," Post-Soviet Affairs, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 1-25, January.
    19. Gabriel Felbermayr & Toshihiro Okubo, 2022. "Individual preferences on trade liberalization: evidence from a Japanese household survey," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 158(1), pages 305-330, February.
    20. Markus Leibrecht & Hans Pitlik, 2014. "Generalised Trust, Institutional and Political Constraints on the Executive and Deregulation of Markets," WIFO Working Papers 481, WIFO.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:241:y:2026:i:c:s0167268125005049. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.