Trickle-down Research Articles

Educational Change by Commission: Attempting “Trickle Down” Reform

The national commission has proven to be a venerable and persistent source of reform ideas for American education. Nearly 100 years old, the national commission has become especially popular in the 1980s. In a generic configuration, it uses the elements of the expert panel and information analysis (if not controlled research), and produces a report that includes recommendations for change as a formula for dealing with whatever inadequacies are felt to encumber elementary and/or secondary schools. Despite their popularity, little systematic analysis of the processes and procedures of national commissions has been reported, and even less frequently are concepts from political science and policy analysis enlisted to help understand the phenomenon. This article responds to these inadequacies in two ways: (a) it reviews national commission reports published since the early 1890s and finds four elements of commonality in them—their longevity as an activity, the general nature of their recommendations, their lack of attention to implementation, and the limited direct impact they have had on schools and classrooms; and (b) it compares two competing explanations of the commission processes’ popularity—a rational, prescriptive approach and a symbols-and-ceremony depiction. Finally, a composite sociopolitical thesis is advanced, based on the economic image of “trickle down.”

The "Trickle-down" Myth

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe "Trickle-down" MythH. W. ArndtH. W. Arndt Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Economic Development and Cultural Change Volume 32, Number 1Oct., 1983 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/451369 Views: 287Total views on this site Citations: 36Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1983 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Eghosa Igudia, Robert Ackrill, Michael Machokoto Institutional incongruence, the everyday, and the persistence of street vending in Lagos: a demand-side perspective, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 54, no.66 (Mar 2022): 1256–1276.https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X221083989Andrew Copus, Petri Kahila, Matti Fritsch City region thinking, a zombie idea in regional and rural development? Scotland and Finland compared, Journal of Rural Studies 89 (Jan 2022): 348–356.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.11.019Jo-Anne Everingham, David Trigger, Julia Keenan The State’s Stakes at the Century Mine, 1992–2012, (Aug 2021): 279–312.https://doi.org/10.22459/AP.2021.09Neeraj C. Hanumante, Yogendra Shastri, Andrew Hoadley Sustainability in a Global Circular Economy: An Integrated Modeling Perspective, Frontiers in Chemical Engineering 2 (Nov 2020).https://doi.org/10.3389/fceng.2020.597474Ken E. Giller The Food Security Conundrum of sub-Saharan Africa, Global Food Security 26 (Sep 2020): 100431.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100431Leyla Firuze ARDA ÖZALP EN ÜST GELİR PAYI-BÜYÜME İLİŞKİSİ: AŞAĞI SIZDIRMA EKONOMİSİ, Hacettepe Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi (May 2020).https://doi.org/10.17065/huniibf.642388Helmut Herwartz, Yabibal M. Walle Do Rising Top Incomes Spur Economic Growth? Evidence From OECD Countries Based on a Novel Identification Strategy, Review of Income and Wealth 66, no.11 (Nov 2018): 126–160.https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12399Dietmar Stoian, Iliana Monterroso, Dean Current SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Potential Impacts on Forests and Forest-Dependent Livelihoods, (Dec 2019): 237–278.https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108765015.010Stella Zilian, Laura Zilian Die vierte Industrielle Revolution – eine neue Hoffnung? Technologischer Fortschritt und Ungleichheit, (Oct 2018): 145–164.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-22438-7_9 References, (Dec 2018): 155–178.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119453604.refsJohn Traxler Learning with mobiles: The Global South, Research in Comparative and International Education 13, no.11 (Apr 2018): 152–175.https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499918761509Ståle Holgersen, Guy Baeten Beyond a Liberal Critique of ‘Trickle Down': Urban Planning in the City of Malmö, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 40, no.66 (Feb 2017): 1170–1185.https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12446Chandani Panditharatne Institutional barriers in adapting to climate change: A case study in Sri Lanka, Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (Oct 2016): 73–78.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.06.003Mario Pansera Frugality, Grassroots and Inclusiveness: New Challenges for Mainstream Innovation Theories, African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development 5, no.66 (Aug 2013): 469–478.https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2013.820445Jeremiah I. Dibua Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations of Development Planning, (Jan 2013): 25–46.https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137286659_2Yannis Dafermos, Christos Papatheodorou What drives inequality and poverty in the EU? Exploring the impact of macroeconomic and institutional factors, International Review of Applied Economics 27, no.11 (Jan 2013): 1–22.https://doi.org/10.1080/02692171.2012.696590Y.Y. Brandon Chen, Colleen M. Flood Medical Tourism's Impact on Health Care Equity and Access in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Making the Case for Regulation, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 41, no.11 (Jan 2021): 286–300.https://doi.org/10.1111/jlme.12019J Miguel Imas, Nick Wilson, Alia Weston Barefoot entrepreneurs, Organization 19, no.55 (Sep 2012): 563–585.https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508412459996Candice Gartner, Judith Cukier Is tourism employment a sufficient mechanism for poverty reduction? A case study from Nkhata Bay, Malawi, Current Issues in Tourism 15, no.66 (Aug 2012): 545–562.https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2011.629719Lynn Ilon Can education equality trickle-down to economic growth? The case of Korea, Asia Pacific Education Review 12, no.44 (May 2011): 653–663.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-011-9166-9Svein Jentoft, Arne Eide, Maarten Bavinck, Ratana Chuenpagdee, Jesper Raakjær A Better Future: Prospects for Small-Scale Fishing People, (Jun 2011): 451–469.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1582-0_20Christophe Ehrhart Croissance, redistribution et lutte contre la pauvreté : l’évolution non linéaire de l’approche de la Banque mondiale, L'Actualité économique 82, no.44 (Sep 2007): 597–641.https://doi.org/10.7202/016405ar The Dialectic of Freedom, (Aug 2005): 45–51.https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203980729-11Amin Amini The distributional role of small business in development, International Journal of Social Economics 31, no.44 (Apr 2004): 370–383.https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290410523395Balakrishnan Rajagopal International Law from Below, 18 (Jul 2009).https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511494079Ted Trainer Development, charity and poverty, International Journal of Social Economics 29, no.1/21/2 (Jan 2002): 54–72.https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290210412985Noor Azlan Ghazali The Asia Pacific Regional Economic Crisis: A Diagnosis, Humanomics 17, no.11 (Jan 2001): 156–179.https://doi.org/10.1108/eb018867Luca Tacconi, Clem Tisdell Rural development projects in LDCs: Appraisal, participation and sustainability, Public Administration and Development 12, no.33 (Aug 1992): 267–278.https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230120305Nancy L. Spalding The relevance of basic needs for political and economic development, Studies In Comparative International Development 25, no.33 (Sep 1990): 90–115.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02687181Khalid Saeed Managing technology for development: a systems perspective, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 24, no.33 (Jan 1990): 217–228.https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0121(90)90004-QRiad G. Mahayni A Decentralized Approach to Urbanization: The Case of Syria, Journal of Planning Education and Research 9, no.22 (Jan 1990): 117–125.https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X9000900204F. E. Trainer Reconstructing Radical Development Theory, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political 14, no.44 (Oct 1989): 481–515.https://doi.org/10.1177/030437548901400405V.V. Bhanoji Rao INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN EAST ASIAN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, Asian-Pacific Economic Literature 2, no.11 (Mar 1988): 26–45.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8411.1988.tb00144.xJerry B Eckert Physical quality of life indices for South Africa∗, Development Southern Africa 3, no.11 (Feb 1986): 6–19.https://doi.org/10.1080/03768358608439204Benjamin Higgins Jan Boeke and The Doctrine Of ‘The Little Push’, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 20, no.33 (Aug 2006): 55–69.https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918412331334692Emilio Garcia Defining sustainability, (): 15–30.https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315629087-2

Trickle Down or Transfers? Postwar Determinants of Family Income Inequality

The expansion of social welfare has been promoted as one means of equalizing the distribution of economic well-being. Macroeconomic expansion has been touted as an alternative strategy for improving the lot of the poor. Focusing on the postwar era, this paper provides an empirical assessment of these two competing theories of income redistribution. For female-headed families and unrelated men and women, the growth of public transfers is seen to be the major force behind a reduction in income disparities. Only husband-wife families and men living apart from kin seem to have experienced any distributional impact of business cycles.

Tourism and cultural dependency in the West Indies

Traditionally dependency has been viewed as an economic and/or political relationship, but this article focuses instead on the concept of cultural dependency and then examines tourism as a possible agent for facilitating its development in the West Indies, probing in the process the interface between cultural and economic/political dependency. Scattered ideas from the tourism literature are gathered into four “implicit theories”—Trickle Down, Commodization, Mass Seduction, and Black Servility— which are then evaluated. The article recommends the use of a Commodization/Mass Seduction synthesis for future research to generate hypotheses which, if empirically verified, will represent not only a contribution to dependency theory and tourism studies in particular, but also to International Relations theory in general.

Trickle‐down and Leakage in the War on Poverty

Trickle‐down and Leakage in the War on Poverty

A Note on "Trickling Down"

I. Introduction, 171.—II. The poverty curve, 171.—III. Empirical results of the poverty curve approach, 173.—IV. A more direct approach, 174. —V. Further extensions, 177.