Working Paper: NBER ID: w13335
Authors: Sun Go; Peter H. Lindert
Abstract: Three factors help to explain why school enrollments in the Northern United States were higher than those in the South and in most of Europe by 1850. One was affordability: the northern states had higher real incomes, cheaper teachers, and greater local tax support. The second was the greater autonomy of local governments. The third was the greater diffusion of voting power among the citizenry in much of the North, especially in rural communities. The distribution of local political voice appears to be a robust predictor of tax support and enrollments, both within and between regions.
Keywords: Public Schools; Education; Political Voice; Local Government
JEL Codes: H52; H75; I22; N11; N31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| political voice (D72) | tax support (H20) |
| political voice (D72) | school enrollments (I21) |
| local government autonomy (H70) | educational policies (I28) |
| educational policies (I28) | school enrollments (I21) |
| local government autonomy (H70) | tax support (H20) |
| political voice (D72) | educational outcomes (I26) |