ЭЛЕМЕНТАРНАЯ МОДЕЛЬ ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛЬНЫХ ...

Description

• cours - matière potentielle : representatives
• cours - matière potentielle : the game

Sukharev Oleg Sergeevich : ELEMENTARY MODEL OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE AND ECONOMIC WELFARE 55 ELEMENTARY MODEL OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE AND ECONOMIC WELFARE ЭЛЕМЕНТАРНАЯ МОДЕЛЬ ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛЬНЫХ ИЗМЕНЕНИЙ И ЭКОНОМИКА БЛАГОСОСТОЯНИЯ ELEMENTARNI MODEL INSTITUCIONALNIH PROMJENA I EKONOMIJA BLAGOSTANJA SUKHAREV OLEG SERGEEVICH Institut Economy Russian Academy of Science, Moscow e-mail: Summary: The article discussed problems of influence to institutional change, rate its change, for eco- nomic systems, wealthy and efficiency.

• institutional changes
• rg
• economic welfare
• fact of such behaviour of neoclassical schools representatives
• victory
• game
• change
• model
• system

Sujets

• Legislature
• The Game
• Economy
• Changé
• Changes
• System
• Victory

Informations

• Publié par: istyo
• Nombre de lectures: 22
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

ARE THERE CIVIC
RETURNS TO EDUCATION?
Thomas S. Dee
Swarthmore College
[e-mail]
CIRCLE WORKING PAPER 08
JULY 2003
I N T R O D U C T I O N CIRCLE Working Paper 08: July 2003 Are There Civic Returns to Education? CIRCLE W CIRCLE Working Paper 08: July 2003orking Paper 08: July 2003 Are There Civic Returns to Education?
“…since the achievement of American Independence, the universal and ever-repeated argument in
favor of Free Schools has been, that the general intelligence which they are capable of diffusing, and
which can be imparted by no other human instrumentality, is indispensable to a republican form of
government.”
Horace Mann (1846)
However, these correlations could actually be quite INTRODUCTION
misleading since both schooling and civic outcomes
are simultaneously infuenced by a wide variety of Economists typically justify the
inherently unobservable traits specifc to individuals government’s extensive and varied involvement
and the families and communities in which they were in the market for education by appealing to
reared. For example, individuals who grew up in distributional concerns and several types of market
cohesive families and communities that stressed civic failures. The most frequently discussed types of
responsibility may also be more likely to remain in market failure involve the positive externalities that
school. The plausible existence of such unobservables might be associated with schooling. For example,
implies that conventionally estimated correlations some have argued that education generates
may spuriously overstate the true civic returns to external social benefts by reducing the prevalence
education.2of crime and by promoting knowledge spillovers
This study attempts to construct less and technology diffusion in the workplace.1
ambiguous empirical evidence on this policy-relevant However, the externality that is arguably featured
issue by identifying the causal effects of additional most prominently in discussions about education
schooling on civic behaviors and knowledge. The involves civic behaviors and attitudes. Specifcally,
research designs adopted here essentially parallel the it is widely believed that education is an essential
extensive, empirical literature on the labor-market component of a stable democratic society because
returns to schooling (e.g., Angrist and Krueger 1999, it encourages citizens to participate in democratic
Card 1999). More specifcally, these inferences rely processes and prepares them to do so in an
critically on instrumental variables that generated informed and intelligent manner. The putative
possibly exogenous variation in individual levels of existence of such civic returns to education
schooling but that should otherwise be unrelated motivated the proliferation of common schools
to adult civic outcomes.3 First, using data from thin the early 19 century and early educational
the High School and Beyond (HS&B) longitudinal reformers like Horace Mann and continues to
study, I estimate the effects of college entrance on provide one of the most important justifcations
adult voter and volunteer participation by relying for the many public policies and institutions that
on the geographic proximity and density of junior promote access to all levels of education.
and community colleges as a teen. Then, using data An extensive, empirical literature in political
from the 1972-2000 General Social Surveys (GSS), science has documented a strong correlation
I estimate the effects of years of schooling on adult between educational attainment and various
voter participation, on group memberships and on civic behaviors. In particular, this literature has
attitudes towards free speech by relying on changes demonstrated that higher levels of schooling are
in teen exposure to child labor laws (Acemoglu and associated with substantive increases in voter
Angrist 2000). Using the GSS data, I also estimate turnout. Political scientists generally interpret
the effects of additional schooling on the frequency this literature as providing strong support for
of newspaper readership, an outcome that is closely the view that education is effective at promoting
related to measures of civic awareness. The results of the quantity and quality of civic participation.
these evaluations suggest that additional schooling,
www.civicyouth.org www.civicyouth.org
1 CIRCLE Working Paper 08: July 2003 Are There Civic Returns to Education? CIRCLE Working Paper 08: July 2003 Are There Civic Returns to Education?
both at the secondary and post-secondary levels, Interestingly, an economic perspective
had large and statistically signifcant effects on could also suggest alternative mechanisms by
voter participation. I also fnd that the additional which additional schooling might actually reduce
secondary schooling signifcantly increased the civic engagement. For example, by raising the
frequency of newspaper readership as well as the opportunity cost of an individual’s time, increased
amount of support for allowing most forms of possibly schooling could reduce the amount of time
controversial free speech. and attention allocated to civic activity. This
could be particularly relevant for volunteering,
which, unlike voting, can involve a substantial EDUCATION AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
commitment of time. However, education could

also reduce voter participation by promoting an
One of the fundamental mechanisms by which
awareness of voting as an essentially expressive
education has long been thought to generate civic
act with an infnitesimally small probability of
externalities involves improvements in the quality
infuencing actual policy.6 Nonetheless, the
of civic participation and awareness. Specifcally,
available empirical evidence seems to provide an
it is widely alleged that increases in education
emphatic confrmation of the conventional view
generate broad social benefts by allowing citizens
that education does promote civic engagement.
to make more informed evaluations of the complex,
Numerous studies over the last ffty years have
social, political and technological issues that might
demonstrated that higher levels of individual
be embedded in campaign literature, legislative
schooling are strongly associated with civic
initiatives and ballot referenda. However, the
behaviors and knowledge.7 For example, in a
contemporary literature among political scientists
widely repeated interpretation of this empirical
has also put a particular stress on the positive
evidence, Converse (1972) refers to educational
effects that schooling may have on the likelihood of
attainment as the “universal solvent” of political
civic participation, in particular, voter turnout (e.g.,
participation. Similarly, Putnam (2001) notes
Wolfnger and Rosenstone 1980). Education could
that “education is by far the strongest correlate
promote civic participation through at least two broad
that I have discovered of civic engagement in all
channels. First, schooling may reduce the effective
its forms” (emphasis mine). Also, in their earlier
costs of certain forms of civic participation. In
study of voting participation, Wolfnger and
particular, this is thought to occur because increased
Rosenstone (1980) suggest that their core fnding
cognitive ability makes it easier to process complex
is the “transcendent importance of education.”
political information, to make decisions and to
However, they also note that an individual’s level of
circumvent the various bureaucratic and technological
schooling could easily proxy for unobserved traits
impediments to civic participation.4 Second,
that also infuence civic behaviors (pages 19-20).
education may increase the perceived benefts
For example, they suggest that the types of family
of civic engagement by promoting “democratic
backgrounds that promote increased schooling
enlightenment” or, stated differently, by shaping
may also promote increased socialization into civic
individual preferences for civic activity. Similarly, it
activities like voting. Wolfnger and Rosenstone
is often alleged that education plays an important
(1980), like other researchers in this feld, have
public role by directly inculcating students with
attempted to control for the possible bias in the
other fundamental democratic and pluralistic values
estimated effect of education by introducing a
(e.g., support for free speech, for the separation of
few additional control variables (e.g., income and
church and state, etc.).5 However, it is also possible
occupational measures) into multiple regression
that additional schooling shapes civic preferences
models. The apparent robustness of the
indirectly