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[ D] The financing of education is an important field of research, since education benefits both the individual who is educated and society. Possible positive effects for the individual are higher earnings and a higher social status, while society benefits from higher tax receipts, lower crime rates and higher growth when its population has reached a high educational level. This raises the question what kind of education is a public good and who should finance it. While compulsory education is almost totally publicly financed and organised, the funding of higher education is much more controversial. Research in this field examines the costs of education and compares them with the benefits. Further research questions arise from the financial limitations of students to pay for their own education and deal with the effects of student grants and loans (BAföG).
Since the publication of the latest results of the PISA Study, the German educational system has been the topic of broad discussions in the public and among policy-makers. Questions which arise are, for instance whether the rather poor performance of German secondary school students in PISA or the (somewhat better) performance of German primary school children in PIRLS are connected with the specific educational system and what changes could be made in order to improve the educational outcome.
Research at the ZEW concerning educational policy focuses on
We plan to deepen our understanding of these topics in future research projects.
