Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/106564 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8623
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Less than a decade ago, several German states introduced tuition fees for university education. Despite their comparatively low level, fees were perceived by the public to increase social injustice, and have been abolished. Whereas other studies have shown no effect on enrollment, we analyze the effects on students' budgets. To identify causal effects, we exploited the natural experiment established by the introduction of fees. They did not affect students' spending behavior independently of social background, but females experienced a small negative effect. Effects on other outcomes indicate that students increased their budgets only marginally; fees did not increase social inequality.
Subjects: 
tuition fees
student spending
natural experiment
Germany
JEL: 
I22
I28
H75
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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