We theorized that student test score performance will be positively related to the percentage of school district revenues raised from local taxes and with salary levels of school district administrators. Using both fixed and random effects panel analyses, we examine data for 217 Kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school districts in New Jersey for the years…

Despite a large literature examining the effect of litigation on education finance and student achievement, there is relatively little recent evidence about how extra resources generated by litigation are spent. This paper uses national data to examine the effects of high court finance rulings from 1991 to 2002 on school districts' education…

Evidence on the effectiveness of school inputs remains inconclusive, partly due to the challenge of identification as families sort themselves into school districts and resources are potentially allocated to compensate (or reinforce) differences in pupil abilities. Using variation in school resources induced by the location of waterfalls in…

This paper estimates the impact of the Michigan school finance reform, "Proposal A," on education inputs and test scores. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, I find that school districts in Michigan used the increase in educational spending generated through "Proposal A" to increase teacher salaries and reduce…

This study examines parents' demand for sending their children to a public school located outside their residential school district. Using a unique data set that contains information concerning both inter-district transfers and rejections of transfer applications, I am able to identify which school district characteristics attract the greatest…

An extensive data set on upstate New York school district is used to test whether competition from private schools and competition within the public school sector positively affect public school output and again whether different types of expenditures affect output differently. It finds generally significant positive effects of private competition…

Retiring public school teachers receive a pension typically equalling 75 percent of the average salary earned during the three peak years. The pension subsidy, an important component of the per pupil cost of instruction, is highly correlated with school district income and wealth. Several alternative reform measures are considered. Includes 26…

This paper uses data from the state of Michigan and a translog cost function to estimate and compare three measures of elasticities of factor substitution--Allen, Morishima, and Shadow--in the production of education. (Author)

Shows that teachers ending their first employment assignments are more likely to transfer to another teaching position when state teacher salaries and noninstructional staff salaries are increased or when their districts have high central-office spending. The research was based on a new longitudinal data set providing career history information…

Extends Feldstein's notion of wealth neutrality to embrace fiscal neutrality, using a representative consumer context. Employs an "ideal" demand system to model school district expenditures in a general equilibrium framework. Rejects constant price and income elasticity demand models. Supports the fiscally neutral elasticity model…

This article examines a method of determining school aid, potential sources of abrupt changes arising from revaluation, an illustrative case, and policy options. It finds many problems caused by jurisdictional fragmentation and time lags inherent in the equalization process. Tables include full-value determinations and school district property…

Investigates the effect of state and federal grants on South Carolina local revenues for 1978 and 1982. Although local revenues are stimulated by federal aid, some of the latter is used for tax relief. (MLF)