Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16398
Authors: Daron Acemoglu; Tuomas Pekkarinen; Kjell G. Salvanes; Matti Sarvimäki
Abstract: Upon assuming power for the first time in 1935, the Norwegian Labour Party delivered on its promise for a major schooling reform. The reform raised minimum instruction time in less developed rural areas and boosted the resources available to rural schools, reducingclass size and increasing teacher salaries. We document that cohorts more intensively affected by the reform significantly increased their education and experienced higher labor income. Our main result is that the schooling reform also substantially increased support for the Norwegian Labour Party in subsequent elections. This additional support persisted for several decades and was pivotal in maintaining support for the social democratic coalition in Norway. These results are not driven by the direct impact of education and are not explained by higherturnout, or greater attention or resources from the Labour Party targeted towards the municipalities most affected by the reform. Rather, our evidence suggests that cohorts that benefited from the schooling reform, and their parents, rewarded the party for delivering a major reformthat was beneficial to them.
Keywords: Education; Human Capital; Labor; Schooling Reform; Social Democracy; Voting
JEL Codes: P16; I28; J26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1936 schooling reform (I28) | educational attainment (I21) |
| 1936 schooling reform (I28) | labor income (J39) |
| 1936 schooling reform (I28) | electoral support for Norwegian Labour Party (K16) |