Title: Determinants of public education expenditure: evidence from Indian states

Authors: Monojit Chatterji; Sushil Mohan; Sayantan Ghosh Dastidar

Addresses: Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge, Sidney Street, Cambridge CB2 3HU, UK ' University of Brighton, Mithras House, Lewes Road, Brighton, BN2 4AT, UK ' University of Dundee, 3 Perth Road, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK

Abstract: Public education expenditure varies significantly across Indian states. Using data on 16 Indian states from 2001-2010, the paper tries to identify the determinants of per capita education expenditure of state governments in India. The econometric findings indicate that richer states spend more on education compared to the poorer states. A lower share of child population (0-14 years) is found to significantly enhance education expenditure at the state level. We do not find any evidence that political factors such as political ideology of the ruling party and level of corruption affect education expenditure of state governments.

Keywords: public education expenditure; education policy; India; state governments; econometrics; education spending.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEED.2015.068355

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2015 Vol.6 No.1, pp.1 - 19

Received: 18 Jun 2014
Accepted: 03 Sep 2014

Published online: 31 Mar 2015 *

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