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Expense Preference and Student Achievement in School Districts

Author

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  • Thomas S. Dee

    (Department of Economics, Swarthmore College)

Abstract

There is little direct evidence on the widely held view that school districts spend too few of available resources on student instruction. I find evidence of such an expense preference by assessing the effect of competition from private schools on the allocation of resources by school districts. I also examine the effects of instructional and non-instructional spending on high school completion rates. The results suggest that school districts direct too few of available resources towards instruction. The results also demonstrate, however, that money spent on instruction is highly effective when conditioned on the decision to spend outside the classroom.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas S. Dee, 2005. "Expense Preference and Student Achievement in School Districts," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 23-44, Winter.
    • Handle: RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:31:y:2005:i:1:p:23-44
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher C. Klein, 2007. "Causality Tests for Public School Performance and Funding," Working Papers 200715, Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Economics and Finance.
    2. Mensah, Yaw M. & Schoderbek, Michael P. & Sahay, Savita P., 2013. "The effect of administrative pay and local property taxes on student achievement scores: Evidence from New Jersey public schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-16.
    3. Molly Sherlock, 2011. "The Effects of Financial Resources on Test Pass Rates: Evidence from Vermont’s Equal Education Opportunity Act," Public Finance Review, , vol. 39(3), pages 331-364, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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