Schooling and Political Participation in a Neoclassical Framework: Theory and Evidence

Filipe Campante and Davin Chor

No 178, CID Working Papers from Center for International Development at Harvard University

Abstract: We investigate how the link between individual schooling and political participation is affected by country characteristics. We introduce a focus on a set of variables - namely factor endowments - which influence the relative productivity of human capital in political versus production activities. Using micro data on individual behavior, we find that political participation is more responsive to schooling in land-abundant countries, and less responsive in human capital-abundant countries, even while controlling for country political institutions and cultural attitudes. We develop these ideas in a model where individuals face an allocation decision over the use of their human capital. A relative abundance of land (used primarily in the least skill-intensive sector) or a scarcity of aggregate human capital will increase both the level of political participation and its responsiveness to schooling, by lowering the opportunity cost of production income foregone. In an extension, we further consider the problem of how much schooling a utility-maximizing ruler would choose to provide. An abundance of land tends to increase political participation ex post, and hence will lead the ruler to discourage human capital accumulation, a prediction for which we find broad support in the cross-country data. Our model thus offers a framework which jointly explains patterns of political participation at the individual level and differences in public investment in education at the country level.

Keywords: Education; Human capital; Political participation; Voting; Factor endowments; Culture; State provision of schooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D78 I20 I21 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-09
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Schooling and Political Participation in a Neoclassical Framework: Theory and Evidence (2008)
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