Did Tuition Fees in Germany Constrain Students' Budgets? New Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Stephan Thomsen and Friederike von Haaren ()
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Friederike von Haaren: NIW Hannover, Leibniz Universität Hannover

No 8623, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Less than a decade ago, several German states introduced tuition fees for university education. Despite their comparatively low level, fees were perceived by the public to increase social injustice, and have been abolished. Whereas other studies have shown no effect on enrollment, we analyze the effects on students' budgets. To identify causal effects, we exploited the natural experiment established by the introduction of fees. They did not affect students' spending behavior independently of social background, but females experienced a small negative effect. Effects on other outcomes indicate that students increased their budgets only marginally; fees did not increase social inequality.

Keywords: natural experiment; student spending; tuition fees; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I22 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2014-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - revised version published in: IZA Journal or European Labor Studies , 2016, 5:6

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Journal Article: Did tuition fees in Germany constrain students’ budgets? New evidence from a natural experiment (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8623

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