How information affects support for education spending: Evidence from survey experiments in Germany and the United States

Philipp Lergetporer, Guido Schwerdt, Katharina Werner, Martin R. West and Ludger Woessmann

Journal of Public Economics, 2018, vol. 167, issue C, 138-157

Abstract: To study whether current spending levels and public knowledge of them contribute to transatlantic differences in policy preferences, we implement parallel survey experiments in Germany and the United States. In both countries, support for increased education spending and teacher salaries falls when respondents receive information about existing levels. Treatment effects vary by prior knowledge in a manner consistent with information effects rather than priming. Support for salary increases is inversely related to salary levels across American states, suggesting that higher salaries could explain much of Germans' lower support for increases. Information about the tradeoffs between specific spending categories shifts preferences from class-size reduction towards alternative purposes. Additional German experiments indicate that information effects extend to specific reform proposals and to other areas of public spending.

Keywords: Policy preferences; Cross-country comparison; Germany; United States; Education spending; Information; Survey experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D83 H52 I22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (83)

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Related works:
Working Paper: How information affects support for education spending: Evidence from survey experiments in Germany and the United States (2018)
Working Paper: How Information Affects Support for Education Spending: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Germany and the United States (2017)
Working Paper: How Information Affects Support for Education Spending: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Germany and the United States (2016)
Working Paper: How Information Affects Support for Education Spending: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Germany and the United States (2016)
Working Paper: How Information Affects Support for Education Spending: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Germany and the United States (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:167:y:2018:i:c:p:138-157

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.09.011

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