Public–private convergence and the special case of voucher-receiving schools

Abstract

Many arguments in favour of school voucher programs are based upon libertarian free agency principles. Viewed at the organizational level, allowing persons to exercise choice in education would seem to offer incentives for all educational organizations within that framework to improve overall product quality and thus more effectively obtain the education good for both individual and society. However, analysis from the transcending institutional level shows that supra-organizational forces will progressively reduce choice and quality as both private and public organizations relinquish their distinctive curricula and philosophies as a de facto requirement for participation within the broader educational institution or 'market'. Acknowledging the costs of, and designing policy to maintain, particular information are both essential to effectively producing the education good within a competitive institutional structure.