Ideological Externality Risk in Choice Markets
Expert TheoryReview
Educational voucher programs without curricular standards risk generating negative social externalities if public funds support schools that teach doctrines harmful to social cohesion.
Picture this
Imagine a city funding driving schools with taxpayer money without inspecting their rulebooks. If one school begins teaching drivers to ignore stop signs and speed limits, the entire community suffers from increased accidents, even if the students attending that specific school are happy with their classes.
What the evidence says
Identifies ideological polarization and radical instruction as distinct negative externality channels in voucher markets that operate independently of peer sorting and school capacity constraints.
- Who was studied
- Theoretical framework applied to private school choice markets.
- How
- Microeconomic theoretical analysis of potential non-peer negative externalities in public voucher systems.
What to do
Establish civic core curriculum requirements for private schools participating in public voucher programs to prevent negative ideological externalities.
From the source
"One other channel through which vouchers could potentially create negative externalities is if they lead to the creation of schools teaching ideologies that are inimical to other members of the population."
Are Educational Vouchers Only Redistributive?