IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v40y2003i4p797-807.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local Politics and the Demand for Public Education

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher B. Colburn

    (Economics Department, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, USA. ccolburre@odu.edu)

  • John B. Horowitz

    (Economics Department, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana 47306, USA. jhorowitz@bsu.edu)

Abstract

This paper expands on the school finance literature by using a political fragmentation index to calculate how political power affects educational spending in Virginia, USA. The methodology allows the comparison of different political voices relative to each other and the consideration of the role of the distribution of political power. Political fragmentation is considered across several different dimensions, including race, age, income and political parties. Using a demand for local public goods model, it is found that, along with traditional demand variables, the interest-group pressures dominated by the primary beneficiaries (teachers and students) increase educational spending while higher income and a larger percentage of African-Americans in the population reduce educational spending.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher B. Colburn & John B. Horowitz, 2003. "Local Politics and the Demand for Public Education," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(4), pages 797-807, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:40:y:2003:i:4:p:797-807
    DOI: 10.1080/0042098032000083812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/0042098032000083812
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/0042098032000083812?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bergstrom, Theodore C & Goodman, Robert P, 1973. "Private Demands for Public Goods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(3), pages 280-296, June.
    2. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    3. Ladd, Helen F. & Murray, Sheila E., 2001. "Intergenerational conflict reconsidered: county demographic structure and the demand for public education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 343-357, August.
    4. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    5. Cornes,Richard & Sandler,Todd, 1996. "The Theory of Externalities, Public Goods, and Club Goods," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521477185.
    6. Orr, Larry L, 1976. "Income Transfers as a Public Good: An Application to AFDC," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(3), pages 359-371, June.
    7. Melville L. McMillan & Joe Amoako-Tuffour, 1991. "Demands for Local Public Sector Outputs in Rural and Urban Municipalities," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(2), pages 313-325.
    8. James M. Poterba, 1997. "Demographic structure and the political economy of public education," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 48-66.
    9. Munley, Vincent G, 1984. "Has the Median Voter Found a Ballot Box That He Can Control?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(3), pages 323-336, July.
    10. Alberto Alesina & Reza Baqir & William Easterly, 1999. "Public Goods and Ethnic Divisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1243-1284.
    11. Lovell, Michael C, 1978. "Spending for Education: The Exercise of Public Choice," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(4), pages 487-495, November.
    12. Falch, Torberg & Rattso, Jorn, 1999. "Local public choice of school spending: disaggregating the demand function for educational services," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 361-373, June.
    13. Dunne, Stephanie & Reed, W Robert & Wilbanks, James, 1997. "Endogenizing the Median Voter: Public Choice Goes to School," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 93(1-2), pages 99-118, October.
    14. Stevens, Joe B & Mason, Robert, 1996. "Political Markets, Property Tax Referenda, and Local School Spending," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 86(3-4), pages 257-277, March.
    15. Thomas A. Downes, 1996. "Do Differences in Heterogeneity and Intergovernmental Competition Help Explain Variation in the Private School Share? Evidence From Early California Statehood," Public Finance Review, , vol. 24(3), pages 291-318, July.
    16. John Conlon & Mwangi Kimenyi, 1991. "Attitudes towards race and poverty in the demand for private education: The case of Mississippi," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 5-22, December.
    17. Miller, Cynthia, 1996. "Demographics and spending for public education: a test of interest group influence," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 175-185, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marie-Estelle Binet, 2013. "The Linear Expenditure System and the Demand for Municipal Public Services: The Median Voter Specification Revisited," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1689-1703, July.
    2. Ivo Bischoff & Julia Hauschildt, 2017. "Vocational Schools as an Instrument of Interregional Competition – Empirical Evidence from German Counties," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201722, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    3. Ivo Bischoff & Ferry Prasetyia, 2015. "Determinants of local public expenditures on education: empirical evidence for Indonesian districts between 2005 and 2012," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201532, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    4. Guido Sechi & Dmitrii Zhitin & Zaiga Krisjane & Maris Berzins, 2022. "Post-Soviet Suburbanization as Part of Broader Metropolitan Change: A Comparative Analysis of Saint Petersburg and Riga," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-21, July.
    5. Ivo Bischoff & Julia Hauschildt, 2019. "Vocational schools as an instrument of interregional competition—Empirical evidence from German counties [Berufsschulen als Instrument im interregionalen Wettbewerb – Ergebnisse einer Analyse für d," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 39(1), pages 65-89, February.
    6. Olugbenga Ajilore, 2009. "Elderly Ethnic Fragmentation and Support for Local Public Education," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(2), pages 217-230, March.
    7. Paul N. Thompson & Joseph Whitley, 2017. "The effect of school district and municipal government financial health information on local tax election outcomes: evidence from fiscal stress labels in Ohio," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 265-288, March.
    8. Marie-Estelle Binet, 2011. "Reconsidering the Demand for Municipal Public Goods Specification : Evidence from French Municipalities," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 201120, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.
    9. Niklas Potrafke, 2006. "Parties Matter in Allocating Expenditures: Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 652, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    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. Samuel H. Baker, 2005. "Why Executive Power Centralizes Government," Public Finance Review, , vol. 33(6), pages 747-766, November.
    2. John M. Foster & Jacob Fowles, 2018. "Ethnic Heterogeneity, Group Affinity, and State Higher Education Spending," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(1), pages 1-28, February.
    3. Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2001. "Group Loyalty and the Taste for Redistribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 500-528, June.
    4. Maria da Conceição Sampaio e Sousa, 2011. "Locally Provided Public Schooling in Brazilian Municipalities," Economia, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics], vol. 12(3), pages 427-444.
    5. Britta Baum & Helmut Seitz, 2003. "Demographischer Wandel und Bildungsausgaben: empirische Evidenz für die westdeutschen Länder," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 72(2), pages 205-219.
    6. Christopher Berry, 2008. "Piling On: Multilevel Government and the Fiscal Common‐Pool," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 802-820, October.
    7. Eric J. Brunner & Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Is the Median Voter Decisive? Evidence of 'Ends Against the Middle' From Referenda Voting Patterns," Working papers 2009-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised May 2010.
    8. Ueli Grob & Stefan C. Wolter, 2007. "Demographic Change and Public Education Spending: A Conflict between Young and Old?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 277-292.
    9. Francisco Martínez-Mora, 2009. "Population ageing, inequality and the political economy of public education," Discussion Papers in Economics 09/3, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    10. Ismael Sanz & Francisco Javier Velázquez, 2002. "Determinants of the Composition of Government Expenditure by Functions," European Economy Group Working Papers 13, European Economy Group.
    11. 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.
    12. Olugbenga Ajilore, 2009. "Elderly Ethnic Fragmentation and Support for Local Public Education," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(2), pages 217-230, March.
    13. Hilber, Christian A.L. & Mayer, Christopher, 2009. "Why do households without children support local public schools? Linking house price capitalization to school spending," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 74-90, January.
    14. Hall, Joshua C., 2015. "Local Government Border Congruence and the Fiscal Commons: Evidence from Ohio School Districts," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 45(2).
    15. Busemeyer, Marius R. & Goerres, Achim & Weschle, Simon, 2008. "Demands for redistributive policies in an era of demographic aging: The rival pressures from age and class in 15 OECD countries," MPIfG Discussion Paper 08/3, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    16. 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.
    17. Victor R. Fuchs, 2018. "Public Support for National Health Insurance: The Roles of Attitudes and Beliefs," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Health Economics and Policy Selected Writings by Victor Fuchs, chapter 28, pages 311-337, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Gilat Levy, 2005. "The Politics of Public Provision of Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(4), pages 1507-1534.
    19. Brunner, Eric J. & Ross, Stephen L., 2010. "Is the median voter decisive? Evidence from referenda voting patterns," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 898-910, December.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    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:sae:urbstu:v:40:y:2003:i:4:p:797-807. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    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.