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1. The Fiscal Impact of the MPCP in Milwaukee and Wisconsin: 1993-2008

Author

University of Arkansas, Education Working Paper Archive and Costrell, Robert M.

Abstract

Throughout the history of publicly-funded voucher programs--enacted and proposed--the impact on taxpayers has been a recurring issue. As the nation's longest-running program, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) provides an important case study. The fiscal impact of Milwaukee's program has evolved in very significant ways over its 18-year history, both in size (as the program grew) and in its allocation among different groups of taxpayers--Milwaukee property taxpayers, non-Milwaukee property taxpayers, and Wisconsin state taxpayers. This report closely examines the features of the MPCP funding formula, and its interaction with the state's regular district funding formula over the program's history to better understand the impact on taxpayers. Appendices include: (1) Review of selected previous literature; (2) Further Details in Funding Formulas; and (3) Equations Underlying Tables and Figures. (Contains 66 footnotes, 8 tables, and 9 figures.)

Published
2008

2. The Impact of School Finance Litigation on Resource Distribution: A Comparison of Court-Mandated Equity and Adequacy Reforms

Author

University of Arkansas, Education Working Paper Archive, Springer, Matthew G., Liu, Keke, and Guthrie, James W.

Abstract

While there is a wealth of research on school finance equity and adequacy, and school finance theory clearly documents differences between the two concepts, no study has examined whether the reforms engendered by each approach actually differ in terms of resource distribution. This study examines the issues using district level data on expenditure by function from two, large national datasets: U.S Census of Governments School System Finance File (F-33, 1972-2002) and the National Center for Education Statistics' Longitudinal School District Fiscal-Nonfiscal File (FNF, 1990-2000). A difference-in-differences estimator with state and year fixed effects indicates that both court-mandated equity and adequacy reforms decrease resource inequities. However, estimates based on data from the F-33 file show negligible differences between equity and adequacy reforms, while estimates based on data from the FNF file indicate adequacy reform does not decrease horizontal inequities as much as court-mandated equity reform. To examine these contradictory findings, we implement a two-stage regression approach to examine if court-mandated adequacy reform is associated with a state funding mechanism accounting for certain educational needs of students. Court-mandated adequacy reform does not result in the allocation of additional resources to low income districts when compared to states under court-mandated equity reform. We conclude that, contrary to school finance theory, resource distribution patterns following court-mandated equity and adequacy reforms are not statistically different. (Contains 14 footnotes and 7 tables.)

Published
2008

3. A Phenomenological Study of School Consolidation

Author

University of Arkansas, Education Working Paper Archive, Nitta, Keith, Holley, Marc, and Wrobel, Sharon

Abstract

This phenomenological study of school consolidation is an investigation of how education policy that dictates the reorganization of schools and districts impacts educational choices, learning environments, and school culture. Although quality studies of optimal school size for promoting student achievement and cutting costs have emerged in the consolidation literature, few rigorous studies exist that investigate the affective costs and benefits of school consolidation policies. We present the findings from twenty-five interviews in four Arkansas school districts with students, teachers, and administrators who moved as a result of district consolidation, as well as those who were already in receiving schools. In addition to evidence verifying and throwing into doubt arguments in the existing literature both supporting and opposing consolidation, we report evidence of three new themes: 1) those moving schools and in receiving schools have different experiences, with those moving much more affected; 2) adults and children are affected differently, with children much more adaptable; and 3) some promising consolidation strategies to mitigate the problems of consolidation have begun to emerge. (Contains 2 tables.)

Published
2008

4. Rethinking Nudges

Author

Mongin, Philippe, Cozic, Mikaël, Haldemann, Antoine, Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC (GREGH), Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Lettres, Idées, Savoir (LIS), Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12), and HEC Paris Research Paper Series

Subjects
nudge, policy analysis, liberal paternalism, jel:D03, JEL: D - Microeconomics/D.D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making/D.D7.D70 - General, 0502 economics and business, 050602 political science & public administration, behavioural economics, 050207 economics, jel:D70, JEL: M - Business Administration and Business Economics • Marketing • Accounting • Personnel Economics/M.M3 - Marketing and Advertising/M.M3.M38 - Government Policy and Regulation, Thaler and Sunstein, 05 social sciences, JEL: K - Law and Economics/K.K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law/K.K3.K39 - Other, 16. Peace & justice, law and economics, 0506 political science, jel:K32, jel:D18, jel:K39, JEL: K - Law and Economics/K.K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law/K.K3.K32 - Environmental, Health, and Safety Law, JEL: D - Microeconomics/D.D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics/D.D1.D18 - Consumer Protection, rational choice theory, [SHS.GESTION]Humanities and Social Sciences/Business administration, jel:M38, [SHS.GESTION] Humanities and Social Sciences/Business administration
Abstract

Nudge is a semantically multifarious concept that originates in Thaler and Sunstein's (2008) popular eponymous book. In one of its senses, it is a policy for redirecting an agent's choices by only slightly altering his choice conditions, in another sense, it is concerned with bounded rationality as a means of the policy, and in still another sense, it is concerned with bounded rationality as an obstacle to be removed by the policy, when the latter has a benevolent aim. The paper centres on the interrelations, both semantic and factual, of these three nudge concepts. It argues that the first and second are basically disconnected on Thaler and Sunstein's major examples of nudges, and that this has gone unnoticed to them because they wrongly equate the second with the third concept, and also because they overestimate the explanatory power of behavioural economics, compared with that of classical rational choice theory, to account for successful interventions. After completing this analysis, the paper moves to some of the normative issues raised by Thaler and Sunstein. Their thought-provoking claim that liberalism and paternalism can be reconciled within one and the same doctrine of social ethics - libertarian paternalism – has been subjected to thorough philosophical criticism. Rather than following this abstract line, the paper takes the shortcut of arguing that Thaler and Sunstein lose their best defence of libertarian paternalism after the nudge concepts are disentangled. They had effectively based their case on the view that slight interventions could have powerful effects through a clever use of bounded rationality, and it has been shown that the latter is not really at work in the interventions they consider. The paper finally concludes that the three nudge concepts are worth pursuing, though independently of each other, and in particular that the third one, which involves correcting the pitfalls of bounded rationality, should receive sustained attention from policy analysts.

Published
2014