The Efficiency of the Supply of Public Education

25 Pages Posted: 8 Jul 2004 Last revised: 12 Sep 2022

See all articles by Theodore C. Bergstrom

Theodore C. Bergstrom

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Judith Roberts

Independent

Daniel L. Rubinfeld

University of California at Berkeley - School of Law; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); NYU Law School

Perry Shapiro

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) - Department of Economics; University of Melbourne - Department of Economics

Date Written: April 1986

Abstract

The question of whether governments spend too much or too little has been a frequent subject of debate, but has been infrequently analyzed.This paper proposes and then applies a methodology which checks to see whether the "Samuelson condition" for the efficient provision of local public education is satisfied, i.e. whether the sum over the school district of individual marginal rates of substitution between public education and a private numeraire equals the marqinal rate of technical substitution between these two qoods. The econometric methodology uses a micro-based approach to the estimation of marginal rate of substitution functions which accounts for possible biases associated with the selection of school districts by individual households.

Suggested Citation

Bergstrom, Theodore C. and Roberts, Judith and Rubinfeld, Daniel L. and Shapiro, Perry, The Efficiency of the Supply of Public Education (April 1986). NBER Working Paper No. w1901, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=344744

Theodore C. Bergstrom

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) - Department of Economics ( email )

2127 North Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
United States

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Judith Roberts

Independent

Daniel L. Rubinfeld (Contact Author)

University of California at Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

215 Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States
(510) 642-1959 (Phone)
(510) 642-3767 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/rubinfeldd

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
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NYU Law School ( email )

44 West Fourth Street, Suite 9-53
New York, NY 10012-1126
United States
(212) 992 8834 (Phone)

Perry Shapiro

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) - Department of Economics ( email )

2127 North Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
United States

University of Melbourne - Department of Economics ( email )

Victoria 3010, 3010
Australia