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The Economic Structure of Higher Education : Subsidies, Customer-Inputs, and Hierarchy

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  • Gordon C. Winston

Abstract

Misurderstanding its economic structure will make it more difficult to predict the effects of changes that are sweeping higher education : increasing price competition, the weakening of tenure, taxpayer revolts, new technologies, the reduction in research support, etc. This paper follows Hansmann, James, Rothschild-White, Baku, and Clotfelter, inter alia, to describe the economic structure of higher education and identify its unique characteristics and circumstances.

Suggested Citation

  • Gordon C. Winston, 1996. "The Economic Structure of Higher Education : Subsidies, Customer-Inputs, and Hierarchy," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-40, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    • Handle: RePEc:wil:wilehe:40
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    File URL: http://sites.williams.edu/wpehe/files/2011/06/DP-40.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Philip J. Cook & Robert H. Frank, 1993. "The Growing Concentration of Top Students at Elite Schools," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education, pages 121-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hansmann, Henry, 1990. "Why Do Universities Have Endowments?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 3-42, January.
    3. Charles T. Clotfelter & Michael Rothschild, 1993. "Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number clot93-1, July.
    4. Estelle James, 1978. "Product Mix and Cost Disaggregation: A Reinterpretation of the Economics of Higher Education," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 13(2), pages 157-186.
    5. Rothschild, Michael & White, Lawrence J, 1995. "The Analytics of the Pricing of Higher Education and Other Services in Which the Customers Are Inputs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(3), pages 573-586, June.
    6. Clotfelter, Charles T. & Rothschild, Michael (ed.), 1993. "Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226110547, December.
    7. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1996. "Buying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher Education," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number clot96-1, July.
    8. Gordon C. Winston & Lewis, E.G., 1996. "Physical Capital and Capital Costs in US Colleges and Universities: 1993," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-35, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    9. Susan Rose-Ackerman, 1996. "Altruism, Nonprofits, and Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 701-728, June.
    10. Gordon C. Winston & Valerie Weber, 1994. "The Economic Performance of Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Wellesley 1988-9 to 1992-3: A Global Comparison," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-28, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    11. Basu, Kaushik, 1989. "A Theory of Association: Social Status, Prices and Markets," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(4), pages 653-671, October.
    12. Gordon C. Winston & Yen, I.C., 1995. "Costs, Prices, Subsidies, and Aid in U.S. Higher Education," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-32, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    13. Harris, John R & Todaro, Michael P, 1970. "Migration, Unemployment & Development: A Two-Sector Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 126-142, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Winston, G.C., 1998. "A Guide to Measuring College Costs," Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education DP-46, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    2. David J. Zimmerman, 2003. "Peer Effects in Academic Outcomes: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 9-23, February.
    3. Jonathan Pincus, 1998. "Is the Treasury subsidising Australian Undergraduates? or, Investing in Higher Education," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 1998-15, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    EDUCATION; SUBSIDIES;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

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