Working Paper: NBER ID: w22808
Authors: Martin R. West; Ludger Woessmann; Philipp Lergetporer; Katharina Werner
Abstract: We study whether current spending levels and public knowledge of them contribute to transatlantic differences in policy preferences by implementing parallel survey experiments in Germany and the United States. In both countries, support for increased education spending and teacher salaries falls sharply when respondents receive information about existing levels. Treatment effects vary by prior knowledge in a manner consistent with information effects rather than priming. Support for salary increases is inversely related to salary levels across American states, suggesting that salary differences between the two countries could explain Germans’ lower support for increases. Information about the tradeoffs between different categories of education spending shifts preferences away from class-size reduction and towards alternative purposes.
Keywords: education spending; policy preferences; Germany; United States; survey experiments
JEL Codes: D72; D83; H52; I22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Information about current education spending levels (H52) | Support for increased education spending (H52) |
| Stating the need for higher taxes to finance increased spending (H59) | Support for increased education spending (H52) |
| Information about current teacher salary levels (J45) | Support for salary increases (M52) |
| Information about trade-offs between education spending categories (H52) | Preferences for class size reductions versus other spending categories (H52) |