A normative justification of compulsory education

Using a household production model of educational choices, we characterise a free market situation in which some agents (high-wagers) educate their children full-time and spend a sizable amount of resources on them, while others (low-wagers) educate them only partially. The free-market equilibrium is inefficient and iniquitous. Public policy is thus called for: however, redistributive taxation alone is counter-productive, as it forces some agents to move away from full-time education for their kids, and educational price subsidies are only moderately effective, since they only work on the intensive margin. It is instead socially optimal to introduce a compulsory education package, using a redistributive tax system to finance it. Redistributive taxation and compulsory education are therefore best seen as complementary policies.

We explore how the economically optimal selection of environmental policy instruments is influenced by information available to decision-makers. We also investigate the value of different types of information for environmental management. The focus is on nonpoint source water pollution regulation in the Susquehanna River Basin of Pennsylvania. An extended abstract: Imperfect information about costs and benefits can greatly complicate policy decisions to protect and restore water resources. This has become very apparent to water quality managers in the U.S. in recent years, as they have struggled to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Total Maximum Daily Load regulations. The slow progress has been attributed in large degree to the fact that key information for assessing the condition of streams, lakes, and estuaries, developing sensible plans to restore impaired waters was unavailable and costly to obtain [NRC 2000]. The relationship between agricultural production and damages from water pollution is complex, involving multiple physical and biological links that are not perfectly understood. For example, transport of pollutants off a field to water body depends on stochastic weather events and privately known management practices. The change in water quality, as measured by physical and biological indicators, in response to discharge of agricultural pollutants, is not completely known. Decision-makers have also significant uncertainty about pollution abatement costs, and even more so about economic benefits of water quality improvement. Choices about data collection and analysis to reduce uncertainty and improve water quality programs should be guided by the value of the information for management relative to costs. In this research we examine the value of different types of information, and the effect of information collection on environmental policy performance for the management of agricultural water pollution in the Susquehanna River Basin (SRB) (Pennsylvania). The analysis is based on a model that simulates the effects of water pollution control instruments on polluters' resource allocation decisions, the costs the polluters incur from changes in resource allocation, and the effects of polluters' choices on pollution loads. We group all uncertain factors into three broad categories: economic uncertainty about polluters' abatement costs, hydrologic uncertainty related to the effect of changes in agricultural practices on pollution loads, and damage cost uncertainty, which includes biophysical responses of the water body to pollution and economic valuation of the response. The imperfect knowledge is captured by randomizing the values of model parameters, which affect abatement costs, pollution load resulting from agricultural practices, and the benefits of load reductions. We model five information collection strategies: 1 - no additional information is collected; 2 - 4 - hydrologic, economic or damage uncertainty is resolved; and 5 - perfect information about all uncertain parameters is collected. For each information collection strategy, two types of policy instruments - input taxes and quantity controls - are considered. The expected net benefit maximization is used as criteria for estimating environmental policy performance. The value of information collection is estimated as the expected gain in policy performance due to utilizing information. The results show that performance of price and quantity control differs significantly when economic information is not available, with price mechanisms always outperforming the quantity control. The value of information to the large extent depends on the instrument used in environmental policy. The value of information is greater for quantity controls than for price mechanisms. Even in the case when no additional information is collected, introduction of price control results in significant increase in expected net benefits, while quantity control brings smaller expected net benefit gain. When perfect information is collected, price and quantity instruments perform the same. As a result, the expected increase in net benefits due to information gathering (i.e. the value of information) is smaller for price control than for the quantity control. Information about pollution damage has the highest value for both quantity and price controls. An interesting result is that economic information is more valuable for environmental policy than hydrologic information. Environmental pollution is an economic activity, and addressing the problem requires analysis of environmental policy effects on economic choices (which, in turn, determine pollution loads) and the study of the costs of changes in resource allocation. Our analysis confirms that economic information on both benefits and costs is essential for sound environmental policy design. Reference: National Research Council (NRC). 2000. Assessing the TMDL Approach to Water Quality Management. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

The aim of the publication is the analysis of formation and development of the primary school in the post-reform period in rural areas of the Perm province in terms of its strategic perspective which suggests transition to compulsory primary education as an integral part of the process of creating social and cultural environment of modern times. Methods. Education is observed in terms of institutional and systemic approaches, and the post-reform stage of its development is analyzed in the context of the modernization theory. Historical-dynamic analysis and comparative-historical method are mostly used when systemizing factual data. Results. The article reveals basic stages and characteristics of elementary public schools in the Perm province countryside during pre-vseobuch (compulsory education) period. The dynamics of the educational process in reference to the number of schools and enrollments is shown; the scale of the process and the participation of the «zemstvo system» (i.e. district council) and the Orthodox Church in it are estimated. The clergy’s view on parochial schools as a special type of educational institutions is also described. Difficulties faced by public school policy during the implementation of rural compulsory education in the province are marked. It is shown that to achieve total literacy in the rural areas in the pre-revolutionary period was impossible in spite of the accelerated speed of the school education and substantial progress in the organization of the compulsory primary education. Scientific novelty. Turning to the history of compulsory elementary schools in terms of the «compulsory education paradigm» offers the possibility to set clear criteria for assessing the level of development of the education system and show how the compulsory education environment was formed. Practical significance. The results of the study and the facts introduced into scientific use can be adopted as a part of academic courses on the history and sociology of education.

Previous articleNext article No AccessAn Empirical Analysis of Compulsory Schooling Legislation, 1940-1960Linda Nasif EdwardsLinda Nasif Edwards Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Law and Economics Volume 21, Number 1Apr., 1978 Sponsored by The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and The University of Chicago Law School Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/466917 Views: 9Total views on this site Citations: 22Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1978 The University of Chicago Law SchoolPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Olivia G. Carr Promoting priorities: Explaining the adoption of compulsory schooling laws in Africa, International Journal of Educational Development 88 (Jan 2022): 102523.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102523James R. Muir Against the Sophists: The First Virtues of the Educator and the Limits of Education, (Jun 2022): 91–134.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-00971-6_4Ainoa Aparicio Fenoll, Zoë Kuehn Immigrants move where their skills are scarce: Evidence from English proficiency, Labour Economics 61 (Dec 2019): 101748.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2019.101748Ainhoa Aparicio Fenoll, Zoë Kuehn Compulsory Schooling Laws and Migration Across European Countries, Demography 54, no.66 (Oct 2017): 2181–2200.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-017-0615-xStephanie M. Noble, Kang Bok Lee, Russell Zaretzki, Chad Autry Coupon clipping by impoverished consumers: Linking demographics, basket size, and coupon redemption rates, International Journal of Research in Marketing 34, no.22 (Jun 2017): 553–571.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.08.010Emily Rauscher Does Educational Equality Increase Mobility? Exploiting Nineteenth-Century U.S. Compulsory Schooling Laws, American Journal of Sociology 121, no.66 (May 2016): 1697–1761.https://doi.org/10.1086/685443Gregory A. Gilpin, Luke A. Pennig Compulsory schooling laws and school crime, Applied Economics 47, no.3838 (Mar 2015): 4056–4073.https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2015.1023944Emily Rauscher Hidden Gains, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 36, no.44 (Dec 2014): 501–518.https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373714527787Melvin Stephens, Dou-Yan Yang Compulsory Education and the Benefits of Schooling, American Economic Review 104, no.66 (Jun 2014): 1777–1792.https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.6.1777Peter McHenry The relationship between schooling and migration: Evidence from compulsory schooling laws, Economics of Education Review 35 (Aug 2013): 24–40.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.03.003Gregory Gilpin, Luke Pennig Compulsory Schooling Laws and In-School Crime: Are Delinquents Incapacitated?, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2012).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2037842Stephen J Appold Research parks and the location of industrial research laboratories: an analysis of the effectiveness of a policy intervention, Research Policy 33, no.22 (Mar 2004): 225–243.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(03)00124-0 Adriana Lleras‐Muney Were Compulsory Attendance and Child Labor Laws Effective? An Analysis from 1915 to 1939 Lleras‐Muney, The Journal of Law and Economics 45, no.22 (Jul 2015): 401–435.https://doi.org/10.1086/340393Daron Acemoglu, Joshua D. Angrist How Large Are The Social Returns To Education? Evidence From Compulsory Schooling Laws, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2000).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.237472Kamal P Upadhyaya, Jeannie E Raymond, Franklin G Mixon The economic theory of regulation versus alternative theories for the electric utilities industry: A simultaneous probit model, Resource and Energy Economics 19, no.33 (Aug 1997): 191–202.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0928-7655(96)00010-3Joshua D. Angrist, Alan B. Krueger The Effect of Age at School Entry on Educational Attainment: An Application of Instrumental Variables with Moments from Two Samples, Journal of the American Statistical Association 87, no.418418 (Jun 1992): 328–336.https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1992.10475212Joyce A. Lanning, Michael A. Morrisey, Robert L. Ohsfeldt Endogenous hospital regulation and its effects on hospital and non-hospital expenditures, Journal of Regulatory Economics 3, no.22 (Jun 1991): 137–154.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140955Michael A. Morrisey, Douglas A. Conrad, Stephen M. Shortell, Karen S. Cook Hospital rate review, Journal of Health Economics 3, no.11 (Apr 1984): 25–47.https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-6296(84)90024-9Ronald S. Warren Maximizing models of legislative choice, Public Choice 42, no.33 (Jan 1984): 287–294.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00124947James D. Adams Daylight Savings: An endogenous law, Public Choice 36, no.22 (Jan 1981): 345–349.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123791John E. Craig Chapter 4: The Expansion of Education, Review of Research in Education 9, no.11 (Jun 2016): 151–213.https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X009001151Claudia Goldin, Lawrence F. Katz, David Eltis, Frank D. Lewis, Kenneth L. Sokoloff Why the United States Led in Education: Lessons from Secondary School Expansion, 1910 to 1940, (): 143–178.https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511605390.007

Introduction. In the history of education, there is still considerable shortfall of the question on mechanisms realization of the general literacy idea in Russia in the beginning of the last century, which gained its popularity around the world at the turn of the 19–20th centuries. Meanwhile, the stage of preparation for cosmopolitan diffusion of compulsory primary education in the Russian Empire, marked by emergence of the special bill drafted by the Ministry of National Education in 1907, is of great interest to the research of opportunities of interaction of the state institutes and regional local self-government bodies (Zemstvo in the Russian language). The aim of the publication is to show the efficiency of joint activities of local self-government bodies and national administrative bodies with reference to example of the system of primary national education formation during 1908–1913 in the Perm province. Methodology and research methods. The methodological base of the present research is based on: the “center-periphery” conceptual model; methods of the retrospective chronological analysis, synthesis, generalization and interpretation of archival documents. Results and scientific novelty. The methodological perspective of studying the history of primary schools organization in pre-revolutionary Russia is proved. The choice of regional (provincial) scale of this process enables to consider features of the public educational policy at the subcountry level; the center-periphery approach to the discussed subject makes it possible to understand more deeply the essence and purposes of the major educational reform. The assessment of the contents on the introduction of compulsory primary education in the Russian Empire is given; the draft bill established standards, new to educational practice, can be listed as follows: “normal duration of training”, “normal school age”, “normal number of children”, “normal school area” (“normal school radius”) and “normal school kit”. The key value and importance of the document consisted in differentiation of powers: in contrast to the Ministry of National Education, the structures of territorial and municipal government bodies had greater freedom of action and were assigned a leading part to put the idea of a compulsory education (Vseobuch in the Russian language) into reality. Dynamics of statistical data on financial government aid to national education is analysed. Activities of all-imperial and provincial school building funds are characterized. It is proved that the essential growth of public financial recourses against the background of vigorous territorial activity not only led to rapid increase in number of schools, but also turned them from local-regional into ministerial-local ones. The conclusion is drawn that due to close cooperation of the Ministry of National Education with local government bodies, the period 1907– 1913 was a key stage of an institutionalization of the Russian compulsory education during the pre-revolutionary times. Practical significance . The results of the research can be adopted when preparing academic courses on the History and Sociology of Education, as well as the Economics of Knowledge.

An important function of public policies is to distribute public resources rationally. But for a long time, our public policies have been so “city-oriented” that public resources are allocated unfairly and majority of high-quality education resources are concentrated in cities. This has already led to a serious unbalanced development in compulsory education and to a tremendous gap in conditions in schools—running and enrollment chances for the school-age children between rural and urban areas, which tend to be enlarged. The unbalanced development in compulsory education has not only blocked the realization of public interest and equity of compulsory education but also restricted the harmonious social and economic development between urban and rural areas. It is necessary to look into public policies that have influence on the division of public resources and criticize them rationally. These policies include land institutions, tax systems, social security systems, policies for the input of compulsory education, and policies for teachers, etc. New policies should be made to distribute public resources fairly and rationally, narrowing the gap in compulsory education between urban and rural areas.

Education poverty alleviation is one of the important development strategies during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, and it is a precise poverty alleviation method. So far, China has implemented a number of education poverty alleviation projects, which have significantly improved the education level of individuals, but there is a lack of scientific evaluation on the effect of macro projects on micro individual human capital accumulation. Based on the first phase of National Compulsory Education Project in Poor Areas （hereinafter referred to as the “compulsory education project”） from 1995 to 2000, this paper uses the follow-up survey data of China Labor-force Dynamics Survey （CLDS） in 2012 and 2014 to identify the specific county-level unit where the policy is implemented according to the unpublished county-level code, so as to evaluate the long-term human capital accumulation effect of education poverty alleviation on micro-individuals. In addition, this paper argues that the differences in the length of education beyond the compulsory stage, the quality of education and the beneficiary groups are the internal mechanism of the compulsory education project to promote the continuous improvement of individual education level, which realizes the original intention of public policies to change the accumulated disadvantage of individuals. On this basis, through analyzing the internal mechanism of education and the impact of education on long-term income, this paper further discusses the impact on the future economic status of workers. The study finds that: （1） The compulsory education project makes up for the lack of universal compulsory education years under the Compulsory Education Law, increases the opportunities for students in poor areas to receive education, increases the education years of individuals in poor areas on an absolute and relative level, and significantly reduces the phenomenon of dropping out of school and delaying reading. In this sense, the compulsory education project has realized the original intention of the education poverty alleviation policy. （2） However, the impact of the implementation of the compulsory education project on male and female workers has some differences. After the implementation of the project, there is still a large gap between the investment and expenditure of education at the per capita level, and the popularization quality of this compulsory education is relatively poor. Most workers do not further receive education above junior high school, resulting in relatively poor professional skills in the labor market. （3） The policy does not promote the workers to continue to receive education beyond the compulsory education stage, resulting in relatively low wage income and slow growth rate. With the continuous improvement of the average social education level, the positive effect of the project is gradually declining. Further improving the education level of poor areas has become an important content of targeted poverty alleviation in the new period. This paper puts forward two plans to alleviate the problem that the policy dividend of compulsory education project is weakening day by day, and the role of changing the accumulated disadvantage of individuals is also gradually decreasing: （1） Further bringing senior high school education into the compulsory education stage, and promoting the improvement of individual education years by increasing the legal years of education. （2） Continuing to issue continuing education policies for poor areas, and encouraging individuals to continuously improve their education level and professional skills. At the same time, continuing to implement the dynamic monitoring of education projects to ensure the effective implementation of relevant policies.

ABSTRACTObjective.To present and assess evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on public policies and targeted programs which may have influenced variations in adolescent pregnancy or its proximate determinants, and to identify knowledge gaps that require further research.Methods.A systematic review was performed based on the 2015 PRISMA protocol. Five databases were searched for articles published between 2000 and 2019 that refer to at least one country in LAC. The outcomes of interest were adolescent pregnancy or its proximate determinants (sexual behavior, contraceptive use, and/ or abortion). Only studies exploring correlations between the outcomes of interest and public policies or targeted programs were included in the analysis.Results.Thirty studies spanning 14 countries were selected for analysis. Twenty-three of these (77%) were not included in prior systematic reviews on adolescent pregnancy. Public policies related to conditional cash transfers and compulsory education have the strongest evidence of correlation with adolescent pregnancy prevention. Emerging research points to the potential positive impact of life-skills programs for adolescents. Evidence from public health policies and programs was limited.Conclusions.Further research which incorporates an intersectional analysis is needed to better understand which policies and programs could lead to steeper declines in adolescent pregnancy in the region. Evidence on effects of expanded family planning services and secondary school attainment upon adolescent pregnancy are particularly absent.

Combining price and quantity controls to mitigate global climate change

Although it is primarily concerned with the value of liberty and the justification of compulsory education, what lies behind much of this paper is the question ‘;Why treat children like children?’ The fact is that we do not regard children as having the same rights, privileges and liberties as adults, and children may not be thought of as deserving the same degree of respect or consideration as their seniors. In the past this has led to some horrific states of affairs, and while matters have undoubtedly improved, it is still the case that most people accept what Graham Haydon describes as ‘;the assumption that one thing can go for children and quite another for adults’. One likely consequence of this, and an important example of the different treatment reserved for children is compulsory education. Illiterate and innumerate adults are not compelled to practise their letters or play with counters or watch prescribed television programmes. Even when, to quote Mill, we have an adult ‘;who shows rashness, obstinacy and self-conceit—who cannot live within moderate means—who cannot restrain himself from hurtful indulgencies—who pursues animal pleasures at the expense of those of feeling and intellect’, we do not subject him to character-building games or uplifting scripture readings, or initiate him into the mysteries of home economics, or read Shakespeare at him. But we compulsorily do all of this and more to children. Moreover, compulsory education, as we have it, is not something from which the young can gain remission. The law that requires ‘;every child of compulsory school age…to receive an efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability, and aptitude’ effectively defines an approach where what counts is the arbitrariness of chronology, not standards or excellence.

Although it is primarily concerned with the value of liberty and the justification of compulsory education, what lies behind much of this paper is the question ‘;Why treat children like children?’ The fact is that we do not regard children as having the same rights, privileges and liberties as adults, and children may not be thought of as deserving the same degree of respect or consideration as their seniors. In the past this has led to some horrific states of affairs, and while matters have undoubtedly improved, it is still the case that most people accept what Graham Haydon describes as ‘;the assumption that one thing can go for children and quite another for adults’. One likely consequence of this, and an important example of the different treatment reserved for children is compulsory education. Illiterate and innumerate adults are not compelled to practise their letters or play with counters or watch prescribed television programmes. Even when, to quote Mill, we have an adult ‘;who shows rashness, obstinacy and self-conceit—who cannot live within moderate means—who cannot restrain himself from hurtful indulgencies—who pursues animal pleasures at the expense of those of feeling and intellect’, we do not subject him to character-building games or uplifting scripture readings, or initiate him into the mysteries of home economics, or read Shakespeare at him. But we compulsorily do all of this and more to children. Moreover, compulsory education, as we have it, is not something from which the young can gain remission. The law that requires ‘;every child of compulsory school age…to receive an efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability, and aptitude’ effectively defines an approach where what counts is the arbitrariness of chronology, not standards or excellence.

BackgroundIn 2015, the World Health Organization recommended that all people living with HIV begin antiretroviral treatment (ART) regardless of immune status, a policy known as ‘Treat-All to end AIDS’, commonly referred to as Treat-All. Almost all low- and middle-income countries adopted this policy by 2019. This study describes how linkage to treatment of newly diagnosed persons changed between 2015 and 2018 and how complementary policies may have similarly increased linkage for 13 African countries. These countries adopted and implemented Treat-All policies between 2015 and 2018 and were supported by the U.S. Government’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The focuses of this research were to understand 1) linkage rates to ART initiation before and after the adoption of Treat-All in each country; 2) how Treat-All implementation differed across these countries; and 3) whether complementary policies (including same-day treatment initiation, task-shifting, reduced ART visits, and reduced ART pickups) implemented around the same time may have increased ART linkage.MethodsHIV testing and treatment data were collected by PEPFAR country programs in 13 African countries from 2015 to 2018. These countries were chosen based on the completeness of policy data and availability of program data during the study period. Program data were used to calculate proxy linkage rates. These rates were compared relative to the Treat All adoption period and the adoption of complementary policies.ResultsThe 13 countries experienced an average increase in ART linkage of 29.3% over the entire study period. In examining individual countries, all but two showed increases in linkage to treatment immediately after Treat All adoption. Across all countries, those that had adopted four or more complementary policies showed an average increased linkage of 39.8% compared to 13.9% in countries with fewer than four complementary policies.ConclusionsEleven of 13 country programs examined in this study demonstrated an increase in ART linkage after Treat-All policy adoption. Increases in linkage were associated with complementary policies. When exploring new public health policies, policymakers may consider which complementary policies might also help achieve the desired outcome of the public health policy.

Let’s Make a Deal: Price Sensitivity and Willingness to Pay in the American Broadband Market

Using higher education as a context, this article explores public policy and policy analysis in relation to language policy studies and argues for greater consideration of language issues in public policy and policy analysis. Conversely, language policy studies must also expand to integrate elements of public policy analysis in order to reveal the complexities of language practices and policies in societies where linguistic heterogeneity is the norm. This article is divided in two parts, with the first part drawing on a literature review to explore language issues in public policy for higher education. Using data from various studies on Francophone students’ access to and postsecondary experiences in a minority context, the second part will examine higher education in Ontario, Canada, from a public policy and a language policy perspective.*The author wishes to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments, the participants of the 2010 Language Policy and Planning Invited Symposium for the dialogism of our first meeting, and Professor Emeritus Stacy Churchill for his mentorship, his stewardship to the field of LPP and his inspiring work.

The aim of this study is the analysis of the choice behaviour of the students after the compulsory education. In particular, the attention is focused on two aspects: identifying the main determinants of the intention and of the choice of leaving the school just over the two years following the end of the compulsory school and testing the existence of a time dependence in the choices. The empirical analysis is performed by discrete choice models and time-sequence logit models; the estimation of such models shows that the decision of leaving the school depends above all on a not regular past schooling history (one or more failures) and on a low family educational level. The time-sequence logit model has a better fit to the data, confirming the opportunity of a dynamic approach in the school-leaving analysis.