Educational Inequality and Public Policy Preferences: Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments

51 Pages Posted: 28 Aug 2018 Last revised: 5 May 2023

See all articles by Philipp Lergetporer

Philipp Lergetporer

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute

Katharina Werner

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - ifo Center for the Economics of Education

Ludger Woessmann

Ifo Institute for Economic Research; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research); University of Munich - Ifo Institute for Economic Research

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Abstract

To study how information about educational inequality affects public concerns and policy preferences, we devise survey experiments in representative samples of the German population. Providing information about the extent of educational inequality strongly increases concerns about educational inequality but only slightly affects support for equity-oriented education policies, which is generally high. The small treatment effects are not due to respondents' failure to connect policies with educational inequality or aversion against government interventions. Support for compulsory preschool is the one policy with a strong positive information treatment effect, which is increased further by informing about policy effectiveness.

Keywords: information, education, inequality, survey experiment

JEL Classification: D30, H52, I24, H11, D63, D83, D72, P16

Suggested Citation

Lergetporer, Philipp and Werner, Katharina and Woessmann, Ludger, Educational Inequality and Public Policy Preferences: Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments. IZA Discussion Paper No. 11730, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3238555 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3238555

Philipp Lergetporer (Contact Author)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

Dresden Branch
Einsteinstraße 3
Dresden, 01069
Germany

Katharina Werner

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, 01069
Germany

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - ifo Center for the Economics of Education ( email )

Munich
Germany

Ludger Woessmann

Ifo Institute for Economic Research ( email )

Poschingerstr. 5
Munich
Germany
++49 89 9224 1699 (Phone)
++49 89 9224 1460 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.cesifo.de/link/woessmann_l.htm

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

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Munich, DE-81679
Germany

University of Munich - Ifo Institute for Economic Research

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Munich, 80539
Germany

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