Demographic changes and education expenditures: A reinterpretation

Haydar Kurban (), Ryan Gallagher () and Joseph Persky ()

Economics of Education Review, 2015, vol. 45, issue C, 103-108

Abstract: Several empirical studies have estimated a negative relationship between the share of an area's elderly population and per-pupil education spending. These findings have often been interpreted as evidence that an aging population has hindered the growth in per-pupil expenditures. We offer a reinterpretation of these oft-cited estimates and demonstrate that the population has aged in a way not reflected in these earlier studies’ empirical designs. After fully accounting for actual U.S. population trends, we demonstrate that a rise in the elderly share of the population has resulted in a rise in per-pupil education spending, not a decline.

Keywords: Demographic change; Aging population; Intergenerational conflict; Elderly support for schools; Local education finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H23 H71 I22 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:45:y:2015:i:c:p:103-108

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.01.001

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