Discussion Papers no. 508

Using exogenous tax variation to identify effects of school resources on pupil achievement

Pennies from heaven

Publisert:

Åpne og les publikasjonen i PDF (44 sider)

Despite important policy implications associated with the allocation of education resources, evidence on the effectiveness of school inputs remains inconclusive. In part, this is due to endogenous allocation; families sort themselves non-randomly into school districts and school districts allocate money based in order to compensate (or reinforce) differences in child abilities, which leaves estimates of school input effects likely to be biased. Using variation in education expenditures induced by the location of natural resources in Norway, we examine the effect of school resources on pupil outcomes. We find that higher school expenditures, triggered by higher revenues from local taxes on hydropower plants, have a significantly positive effect on pupil performance at age 16. The IV estimates contrast with the standard cross-sectional estimates that reveal no effects of extra resources.

Om publikasjonen

Tittel

Pennies from heaven. Using exogenous tax variation to identify effects of school resources on pupil achievement

Ansvarlige

Torbjørn Hægeland, Kjell G. Salvanes, Oddbjørn Raaum

Serie og -nummer

Discussion Papers no. 508

Utgiver

Statistics Norway

Emne

Discussion Papers

Antall sider

44

Målform

Engelsk

Om Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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