Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/245668 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14617
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Upon assuming power for the first time in 1935, the Norwegian Labour Party delivered on its promise for a major schooling reform. The reform raised minimum instruction time in less developed rural areas and boosted the resources available to rural schools, reducing class size and increasing teacher salaries. We document that cohorts more intensively affected by the reform significantly increased their education and experienced higher labor income. Our main result is that the schooling reform also substantially increased support for the Norwegian Labour Party in subsequent elections. This additional support persisted for several decades and was pivotal in maintaining support for the social democratic coalition in Norway. These results are not driven by the direct impact of education and are not explained by higher turnout, or greater attention or resources from the Labour Party targeted towards the municipalities most affected by the reform. Rather, our evidence suggests that cohorts that benefited from the schooling reform, and their parents, rewarded the party for delivering a major reform that was beneficial to them.
Subjects: 
education
human capital
schooling reform
labor
voting
social democracy
JEL: 
P16
I28
J26
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
2.48 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.