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Expansion of Higher Education and Time-Consistent Taxation

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  • Panu Poutvaara

Abstract

This paper analyzes educational choices and political support for subsidies to higher education in the presence of a time-consistency problem in income redistribution. There may be political support for so generous subsidization that it motivates the median voter to obtain higher education. As a result of increasing own income, the median voter prefers in the future lower taxes than without higher education. Therefore, the expansion of participation in higher education during the second half of the 20th century may have partly been driven by the aim to limit the political support for overly generous income redistribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Panu Poutvaara, 2007. "Expansion of Higher Education and Time-Consistent Taxation," CESifo Working Paper Series 2101, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2101
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    Cited by:

    1. Jha, Priyaranjan & Gozgor, Giray, 2019. "Globalization and taxation: Theory and evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 296-315.
    2. Björn Kauder & Niklas Potrafke, 2013. "Government Ideology and Tuition Fee Policy: Evidence from the German States," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 59(4), pages 628-649, December.
    3. Haupt, Alexander, 2012. "The evolution of public spending on higher education in a democracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 557-573.
    4. Anderberg, Dan, 2013. "Post-compulsory education: Participation and politics," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 134-150.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; time-consistency problem; voting; subsidies to education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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