Are There Civic Returns to Education?

Thomas Dee

No 9588, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The hypothesized effects of educational attainment on adult civic engagement and attitudes provide some of the most important justifications for government intervention in the market for education. In this study, I present evidence on whether these externalities exist. I assess and implement two strategies for identifying the effects of educational attainment. One is based on the availability of junior and community colleges; the other, on changes in teen exposure to child labor laws. The results suggest that educational attainment has large and statistically significant effects on subsequent voter participation and support for free speech. I also find that additional schooling appears to increase the quality of civic knowledge as measured by the frequency of newspaper readership

JEL-codes: H1 I2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (40)

Published as Dee, Thomas S. "Are There Civic Returns To Education?," Journal of Public Economics, 2004, v88(9-10,Aug), 1697-1720.

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