The Political Economy of Higher Education Finance: How Information and Design Affect Public Preferences for Tuition

Philipp Lergetporer and Ludger Woessmann

No 12175, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Public preferences for charging tuition are important for determining higher education finance. To test whether public support for tuition depends on information and design, we devise several survey experiments in representative samples of the German electorate (N>19,500). The electorate is divided, with a slight plurality opposing tuition. Providing information on the university earnings premium raises support for tuition by 7 percentage points, turning the plurality in favor. The opposition-reducing effect persists two weeks after treatment. Information on fiscal costs and unequal access does not affect public preferences. Designing tuition as deferred income-contingent payments raises support by 16 percentage points, creating a strong majority favoring tuition. The same effect emerges when framed as loan payments. Support decreases with higher tuition levels and increases when targeted at non-EU students.

Keywords: earnings premium; information; survey experiments; political economy; higher education; tuition; income-contingent loans; voting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D83 H52 I22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 68 pages
Date: 2019-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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Working Paper: The political economy of higher education finance: how information and design affect public preferences for tuition (2019)
Working Paper: The Political Economy of Higher Education Finance: How Information and Design Affect Public Preferences for Tuition (2019)
Working Paper: The Political Economy of Higher Education Finance: How Information and Design Affect Public Preferences for Tuition (2019)
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