The Role of Information for Public Preferences on Education – Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments

The aim of this doctoral project is an empirical analysis of questions concerning economics of education, in particular education policy. The first key aspect is the relationship between public opinion and the level of information of the population. As part of this, a first research project collected data on the similarities and differences in opinion of the American and German public. Respondents in both countries hold different views on a variety of issues, but they react to information in very similar ways. This suggests that the difference in policy outcomes between the U.S. and Germany is largely driven by institutional differences, rather than divergent preferences. A second research project focuses on public opinion on state spending for different areas of education. This research shows that providing respondents with the information that according to numerous studies, early childhood education has larger beneficial effects than other types of education spending raises support for increased spending for preschools. These information effects are driven by pervasive underestimation of positive effects of investment in early education.
A second key aspect focuses on the question how to reduce the correlation between children’s education outcomes and parental background. A first research project analyses the opinion of the adult population on structural reform of the education system that aims to increase educational opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. As it turns out, the majority of the German public perceives inequality in educational opportunities as problematic and supports reforms in this area. A second research project investigates divergence in educational aspirations of different socio-economic groups. Results show that information on earnings and unemployment rates of university graduates, as well as information on the tuition fees and student aid, raise the aspirations for their children’s education less among respondents without university education than for respondents with university education. This suggests limited scope for information interventions to reduce the large gap in educational aspirations between children from different socio-economic backgrounds.