Conference Agenda

Session Overview
Session
Track T5-6: Labor and the Finance of Human Capital
Time:
Tuesday, 21/May/2024:
2:45pm - 3:30pm

Session Chair: Elena Simintzi, UNC
Discussant: Carlos Fernando Avenancio-León, UCSD
Location: Room 1212


Presentations

Intergenerational Conflict in Education Financing: Evidence from A Decade of Bond Referenda

Livia Yi

Boston College

I examine how population aging affects voter support for and the efficiency of public education provision. Analyzing a decade of school bond referendum data, I find that school districts with older populations are less likely to approve bond proposals to finance school investments. I leverage variations in historical fertility trends to separate the effect of aging-in-place from that of endogenous sorting. Comparing narrowly passed and failed referenda, I find that house prices do not appreciate after bond approvals in older-population districts, despite increased spending. These results align with generational political divisions over education investment but do not indicate inefficiency.


Yi-Intergenerational Conflict in Education Financing-255.pdf