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Equal Living Conditions vs. Cultural Sovereignty? Federalism Reform, Educational Poverty and Spatial Inequalities in Germany

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  • Helge Arends

Abstract

By focusing on the relevance of Germany’s first fiscal federalism reform of 2005 for the education sector, I investigate how two key constitutional principles, namely the principle of equal living conditions across regions and the principle of cultural sovereignty of the states, relate to each other. In a first step, I investigate the determinants of the newly decentralized competences to determine teachers’ salaries and the impact on educational poverty. In a second step, I discuss whether these new sub-central competences have led to an increase in spatial educational inequalities. The results indicate that federal states make use of the new competences in a rational manner. Higher teacher pay, in turn, has a significant and conducive effect on the outcome of the federal states’ education sectors. There is some evidence that this has led to increasing spatial inequalities; however, the evidence is not unambiguous.

Suggested Citation

  • Helge Arends, 2017. "Equal Living Conditions vs. Cultural Sovereignty? Federalism Reform, Educational Poverty and Spatial Inequalities in Germany," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 673-706.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:publus:v:47:y:2017:i:4:p:673-706.
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