Luck Or Effort: Perceptions of the Role of Circumstances in Education and Demand for Targeted Spending

Elisabeth Grewenig, Katharina Wedel and Katharina Werner
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Elisabeth Grewenig: Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW)
Katharina Wedel: ifo Institute, University of Munich
Katharina Werner: Business School Pforzheim, ifo Institute

No 543, Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series from CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition

Abstract: Perceptions about students’ personal responsibility for their own success might have crucial implications for public approval of targeted financial support. Using a survey experiment among the German adult population, we find that information about the correlation of education outcomes and parental background strongly increases the perception that external circumstances determine educational success. These effects persist in a follow-up survey conducted two weeks later. Information also significantly increases private donations to charities supporting students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds but does not affect demand for redistributive education spending by the government. This pattern of results is consistent with differences in the perceived opportunity costs of funds used in both spending decisions.

Keywords: circumstances; effort; information; survey experiment; charitable donations; equality of opportunity; policy preferences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 D64 D83 H11 H52 I24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-08-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
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