Spending

Spending levels in the school system can be viewed as an aggregate measure of school resources, determined by teacher salaries, class sizes, and resource endowments. In international comparisons, higher education spending is not systematically associated with better student achievement. Likewise, substantial expansions of spending per student in many countries have not led to improvements in student achievement. Constant or declining outcomes with increasing inputs constitute a decline in the productivity of school systems.

Research papers on the change in spending and achievement over time:

The Decline of Schooling Productivity in OECD Countries (with E. Gundlach and J. Gmelin). Economic Journal 111 (471): C135-C147, 2001

The Fading Productivity of Schooling in East Asia (with E. Gundlach). Journal of Asian Economics 12 (3): 401-417, 2001

Non-technical contribution:

International Evidence on Expenditures and Class Size: A Review. Brookings Papers on Education Policy 2006/2007: 245-272, 2007

Material available only in German

Interview:

Das Geld versickert. Die Zeit, No. 25, 14.6.2007, pp. 71-72