Studiengebühren: Zwischen Effizienz und Verteilungsgerechtigkeit

Hansjürgens Bernd

ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, 1999, vol. 50, issue 1, 259-284

Abstract: It is frequently argued that charging fees for higher education would cause a conflict between efficiency and social equity. The author discusses the allocative and distributive effects that an introduction of fees for higher education would entail. First, the necessity of state intervention in higher education is questioned. The hypothesis of market failure cannot be justified either on allocative, or distributive, or meritoric grounds. Higher education has predominantly the characteristics of a private good, which would support a financing by fees. Positive allocative effects are to be expected if higher education is financed by fees rather than by taxes. The analysis of the distributive effects has produced surprising results: The effects of fees on personal income distribution will be negligible. An appropriate institutional design of fees would not jeopardize the principle of equal opportunities and would thus avoid a potential deterrent effect on disadvantaged groups. There is no trade-off between efficiency and distribution in this case. The efficiency gains that can be expected from the introduction of fees for higher education - although difficult to quantify - suggest a change in the system.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1515/ordo-1999-0118

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