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Length of compulsory education and voter turnout—evidence from a staged reform

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  • Panu Pelkonen

Abstract

In this study, a long-term impact of additional schooling at the lower end of the educational distribution is measured on voter turnout. Schooling is instrumented with a staged Norwegian school reform, which increased minimum attainment by two years - from seven to nine. The impact is measured at two levels: individual, and municipality level. Both levels of analysis suggest that the additional education has no effect on the turnout rates. At the individual level, the impact of education is also tested on various measures of civic outcomes. Of these, only the likelihood of signing a petition is positively affected by education.
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  • Panu Pelkonen, 2012. "Length of compulsory education and voter turnout—evidence from a staged reform," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 51-75, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:150:y:2012:i:1:p:51-75
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-010-9689-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Thang Dang, 2019. "Quasi-experimental evidence on the political impacts of education in Vietnam," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 207-221, March.
    2. Almén, Daniel & Elinder, Mikael & Engström, Per & Erixson, Oscar & Lundberg, Erik & Palme, Mårten, 2025. "Does Education Foster Civic-Minded Citizens? Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform," Working Paper Series 1515, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Chevalier, Arnaud & Doyle, Orla, 2012. "Schooling and Voter Turnout: Is there an American Exception?," IZA Discussion Papers 6539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Naci Mocan & Luiza Pogorelova, 2014. "Compulsory Schooling Laws and Formation of Beliefs: Education, Religion and Superstition," NBER Working Papers 20557, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Claus Michelsen & Peter Boenisch & Benny Geys, 2014. "(De)Centralization and voter turnout: theory and evidence from German municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 469-483, June.
    6. Yuanyuan Ma, 2017. "Civic Returns to Education: Voter Turnout in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 48(2), pages 145-169.
    7. Fu, Yuan Chih, 2024. "The role of education in shaping voting behavior: Insights from the Taiwan 2021 Referendum," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    8. Naci Mocan & Luiza Pogorelova, 2014. "Compulsory Schooling Laws and Formation of Beliefs: Education, Religion and Superstition," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 1423, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    9. Daniel Aaronson & Mark Borgschulte & Sunny Liu & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2024. "Schooling and Political Activism in the Early Civil Rights Era," Working Paper Series WP 2024-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    10. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2017. "Effects Of Welfare Reform On Women'S Voting Participation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1430-1451, July.
    11. Rainald Borck, 2018. "Political Participation and the Welfare State," CESifo Working Paper Series 7128, CESifo.
    12. Raphael Brade & Marc Piopiunik, 2016. "Education and Political Participation," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(1), pages 70-73, 05.
    13. Borgonovi Francesca & d'Hombres Beatrice & Hoskins Bryony, 2010. "Voter Turnout, Information Acquisition and Education: Evidence from 15 European Countries," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-34, September.
    14. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2021. "Education and political engagement," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. Raphael Brade & Marc Piopiunik & Raphael Brade, 2016. "Education and Political Participation," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(01), pages 70-73, May.
    16. Bellani, Luna & Hidalgo-Hidalgo, Marisa, 2023. "Educate Some to Represent Many? Education and Female Political Representation in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 16539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Mocan, Naci & Pogorelova, Luiza, 2014. "Compulsory Schooling Laws and Formation of Beliefs: Education, Religion and Superstition," IZA Discussion Papers 8698, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Harka, Elona & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2022. "Studying more to vote less. Education and voter turnout in Italy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. Bernt Bratsberg & Andreas Kotsadam & Jo Thori Lind & Halvor Mehlum & Oddbjørn Raaum, 2019. "Election Turnout Inequality - Insights from Administrative Registers," CESifo Working Paper Series 7465, CESifo.
    20. repec:ces:ifodic:v:14:y:2016:i:1:p:19204346 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Persson, Mikael & Lindgren, Karl-Oskar & Oskarsson, Sven, 2016. "How does education affect adolescents’ political development?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 182-193.
    22. Mohamed Amara & AbdelRahmen El Lahga, 2016. "Tunisian constituent assembly elections: how does spatial proximity matter?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 65-88, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Externalities; Voter turnout; School reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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