Participation and Schooling in a Public System of Higher Education
45 Pages Posted: 2 Aug 2006
There are 2 versions of this paper
Participation and Schooling in a Public System of Higher Education
Date Written: May 2006
Abstract
We analyze the determinants of participation (whether to study) and schooling (where and what to study) in a public system of higher education, based on a unique dataset of all eligible high school pupils in an essentially closed region (Flanders). We find that pupils perceive the available institutions and programs as close substitutes, implying an ambiguous role for travel costs: they hardly affect the participation decisions, but have a strong impact on the schooling decisions. In addition, high school background plays an important role in both the participation and schooling decisions. To illustrate how our empirical results can inform the debate on reforming public systems, we assess the effects of tuition fee increases. Uniform cost-based tuition fee increases achieve most of the welfare gains; the additional gains from fee differentiation are relatively unimportant. These welfare gains are quite large if one makes conservative assumptions on the social cost of public funds, and there is a substantial redistribution from students to outsiders.
Keywords: Higher education, participation, policy reform, schooling
JEL Classification: I2, I23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Guide to Reform of Higher Education: A European Perspective
By Bas Jacobs and Rick Van Der Ploeg
-
Efficient Tuition Fees, Examinations, and Subsidies
By Robert J. Gary-bobo and Alain Trannoy
-
Efficient Tuition & Fees, Examinations and Subsidies
By Robert J. Gary-bobo and Alain Trannoy
-
Returns to the Market: Valuing Human Capital in the Post-Transition Czech and Slovak Republics
By Randall K. Filer, Stepan Jurajda, ...
-
Responses of Private and Public Schools to Voucher Funding: The Czech and Hungarian Experience
By Daniel Munich and Randall K. Filer
-
Responses of Private and Public Schools to Voucher Funding: The Czech and Hungarian Experience
By Randall K. Filer and Daniel Munich
-
Differential Grading Standards and University Funding: Evidence from Italy
By Manuel Bagues, Mauro Sylos Labini, ...
-
Income Tax, Consumption Value of Education, and the Choice of Educational Type