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

Elisabeth Grewenig, Katharina Wedel and Katharina Werner

No 12148, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Perceptions about students’ responsibility for their 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 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 backgrounds but does not affect demand for governmental redistributive education spending. This pattern is consistent with differences in 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
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12148

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