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Why Do School District Budget Referenda Fail?

Author

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  • Ehrenberg, Ronald G.

    (Cornell University)

  • Ehrenberg, Randy A.

    (affiliation not available)

  • Smith, Christopher L.

    (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)

  • Zhang, Liang

    (Pennsylvania State University)

Abstract

Our paper analyzes historical data for New York State on the percentage of school board budget proposals that are defeated each year and panel data that we collected for individual school districts in the state. We find that changes in state aid have little impact on budget vote success. Defeating a budget in one year increases the likelihood that the voters will defeat a budget in the next year. Finally, districts have a larger probability of having their budget proposals defeated when their school board members have longer terms.

Suggested Citation

  • Ehrenberg, Ronald G. & Ehrenberg, Randy A. & Smith, Christopher L. & Zhang, Liang, 2004. "Why Do School District Budget Referenda Fail?," IZA Discussion Papers 1053, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1053
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gramlich, Edward M & Rubinfeld, Daniel L, 1982. "Micro Estimates of Public Spending Demand Functions and Tests of the Tiebout and Median-Voter Hypotheses," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(3), pages 536-560, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marc Meredith, 2009. "The Strategic Timing Of Direct Democracy," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 159-177, March.
    2. Lee, Kyung-Gon & Polachek, Solomon, 2014. "Do School Budgets Matter? The Effect of Budget Referenda on Student Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 8056, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Shannon Suldo & E. Huebner, 2006. "Is Extremely High Life Satisfaction During Adolescence Advantageous?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(2), pages 179-203, September.
    4. Huan Gong & Cynthia L. Rogers, 2014. "Does Voter Turnout Influence School Bond Elections?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(1), pages 247-262, July.
    5. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, 2017. "Coauthors and Collaborations," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 62(1), pages 3-18, March.
    6. Yaw M. Mensah & Michael P. Schoderbek & Min Cao & Savita A. Sahay, 2023. "The disciplinary effect of taxpayer balloting on public spending: some empirical evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 791-819, February.
    7. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, 2005. "Involving Undergraduates in Research To Encourage Them To Undertake Ph.D. Study in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 184-188, May.
    8. 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.
    9. Rockoff, Jonah E., 2010. "Local response to fiscal incentives in heterogeneous communities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 138-147, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    school budget votes;

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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