School Education and Market Forces

Paper Summary:

This paper seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of market forces in securing a more optimal outcome in the area of school education, not just academically but for taxpayers and society alike. It investigates why government intervention is failing, and how the market can improve outcomes, guided by three main perspectives of efficiency, equitability, and effect on the social fabric. Moreover, it argues the case for a school voucher system as an intervention model to improve the education system. This argument critically evaluates the extent to which the market can address the issue, outlining how and why markets fail, what this means for the education system and how some government intervention is necessary to address negative market externalities.

From the Paper:

"Another problem which may arise for a market approach to school education is the event of a monopoly. Markets fail when natural monopolies occur. Which form of ownership - government or private monopoly - provides schooling at the least cost to society? Private monopoly is often rightly condemned for being inefficient. However, government monopoly appears to suffer from similar defects, as even a cursory analysis of the performance of the nationalised industries indicates (Maynard 1975: 19). Maynard (1975) argues that there is no clear evidence as to whether a private monopoly comes at a greater cost than a government monopoly. "

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• Research Paper # 16055 : "Pennsylvania Public Education Issues"

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