Despite decades of research and promising strategies to ensure educational equity for all students, a significant disparity persists between the racial majority and marginalized students in the United States. Attaining educational equity is a complex problem illustrated by state-funded merit-based scholarships, including the State of Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. Since Florida's merit-based Bright Futures Scholarship Program's (BFSP) inception, the average percentage of black scholarship recipients has been minimal compared to other races. The equitable distribution of scholarship funds is critical to investigate since attaining a post-secondary education advances social mobility consequently breaking the cycle of poverty for lower socioeconomic students and closing the wealth gap for marginalized families. The Bright Futures case study utilizes a participatory policy analysis approach to help inform Legislators about policy alternatives to attain a more inclusive distribution of scholarship recipients. Data collection includes hosting four focus groups, two for Florida high school graduates and two for parents of Florida high school graduates. Additional data were collected through a facilitated conversation to identify policy alternatives to create a more racially inclusive scholarship distribution. The research concludes with a report on findings, discussion, and implications, along with recommendations to create a more inclusive Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

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In 1992, Georgia voters approved the Georgia Lottery for Education Act, which established the Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Scholarship program, a state-supported merit-based aid program that provides renewable full scholarships to qualifying Georgia residents who enroll in any of the State'­s public postsecondary institutions or scholarships of comparable monetary value for those choosing a private in-state institution. The principal objectives of HOPE are to promote increased achievement in high school and college and to provide an incentive for the State'­s brightest residents to stay in the state. HOPE has been the inspiration for similar programs in over a dozen states. This thesis provides a broad exploration of economic questions regarding the nature and consequences of HOPE and similar programs and performs difference-in-differences analysis on data from two non-Georgia institutions to determine if HOPE has succeeded in motivating high achieving Georgia residents to attend college in the state rather than out of the state. At the public institution, relative to various control groups, the mean GPA and class rank of Georgia residents is lower post-HOPE, although their mean SAT score is higher post-HOPE. At the private institution, the HOPE effect is positive for all achievement measures used, meaning that the average achievement of Georgia residents is higher post-HOPE relative to that of other students at the institution. These conflicting results suggest the need for further exploration of the differences between public and private institutions and of the differences between the students choosing to attend them. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a rural southeast school district regarding the impact of strategic compensation as a motivating factor on teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. As a result of increased demands on K12 education and the limited pool of teaching candidates, public school districts continue to search for ways to motivate, recruit and retain teachers (Muranto and Shuls, 2012). Since many view the traditional teacher salary scale as an outdated and ineffective practice, school districts continue to search for new ways to provide additional financial bonuses. (Springer, 2009). At the time of the study, the rural southeast school district studied was the only district within its state that used a strategic compensation model as a part of its employee benefits package. The locally funded plan awarded bonuses to teachers who qualify according to the parameters set by their school board. The initial rationale behind the implementation of the plan was to acknowledge exemplary teachers within the district. In this study, the history of the traditional salary scale, teacher quality, teacher retention, teacher recruitment, proponents and opponents of strategic compensation and recent studies on merit pay were examined. In this mixed methods study, a survey was sent to all 237 candidates eligible for strategic compensation, and a focus group interview with 7 administrators responsible for the summative evaluations of teachers was conducted. After the data were collected, descriptive statistics were examined to determine if additional ANOVA analyses were required to determine if demographic differences could be identified. The findings from this study may assist school districts develop and maintain a strategic compensation plan as a part of its overall teacher compensation package. After the data were disaggregated and analyzed, the findings from this study indicated mixed reviews regarding teacher perceptions of strategic compensation. Survey results indicate that the ideal bonus lies between $1,000-$3,000. In addition, teachers and administrators did not perceive that strategic compensation assisted with teacher recruitment or retention. Additional findings indicated differences in perceptions of strategic compensation based on gender and level of teaching assignment. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a rural southeast school district regarding the impact of a pay for performance plan as a motivating factor on teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. As a result of the teacher shortage in America, public school districts continue to search for ways to motivate, recruit and retain teachers. Since many view the salaries of teachers low, school districts continue to search for new ways to provide additional end of year bonuses as a motivating factor to improve teacher quality, recruitment and retention. To date, the rural southeast school district studied is the only district within its state that uses a strategic compensation model as a part of its employee benefits package. The plan awards bonuses to teachers who qualify according to their end of year rating. In this study, the history of the traditional salary scale, teacher quality, teacher retention, teacher recruitment, proponents and opponents of strategic compensation and recent studies on merit pay will be examined. A survey was sent to all 237 candidates eligible for strategic compensation, and a focus group interview with 8 administrators responsible for the summative evaluations of teachers was conducted. After the data were collected, they were sorted by demographic identifiers to determine if there were differences in responses between different groups. The findings from this study may assist school districts develop and maintain a strategic compensation plan as a part of its overall teacher compensation plan. The findings from this study include: $1,000-$3,000 is the ideal amount of money that would motivate a teacher to improve, strategic compensation did not assist with teacher recruitment, and school administrators did not believe strategic compensation led to greater teacher retention within the rural southeast school district. In addition, teachers and administrators believed that participation in the strategic compensation plan should be voluntary. Findings based on demographic identifiers indicated that male teachers responded more positively than female teachers, and there were differences among elementary, middle school and high school teacher responses with regard to their perceptions of the strategic compensation plan.

Under perioden 2000 till 2019 ökade priset för en 30-dagarsbiljett i Stockholms kollektivtrafik med 107 %. Den kraftiga prisökningen väcker frågan huruvida kollektivtrafiken i Stockholm i dagsläget är samhällsekonomiskt effektiv eller om den är för dyr? Vad beror den kraftiga prisökningen på, är den rimlig och hur påverkar den användandet av kollektivtrafiken? Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka utvecklingen av SL:s biljettpriser och kostnader ur ett samhällsekonomiskt perspektiv. Detta gjorde vi genom att kartlägga och sammanställa SL:s kostnader, intäkter och priser under tidsperioden för att avgöra vad som föranleder denna prisutveckling. Utifrån teori och tidigare litteratur diskuterade vi huruvida ökningen av biljettpriser skett utifrån en samhällsekonomisk grund eller inte och hur detta påverkar SL:s finansiering. Vi skattade ett flertal elasticiteter för att mäta effekten denna prisutveckling har på kollektivtrafikens efterfrågan och hur den skulle påverkas av ytterligare subventionering. Vi kom fram till att biljettpriset ökat på grund av kostnadsökning som främst berott på nya upphandlingar och avtal samt att prissättningen och subventioneringen sker på samhällsekonomisk grund men att den inte är optimal. Vi kommer även fram till att det finns andra argument till varför kollektivtrafiken borde subventioneras ytterligare. I det stora hela kan vi konstatera att kollektivtrafiken i Stockholm, som konsekvens av ökade kostnader hänförbara till trafikupphandlingar och en ej samhällsekonomisk optimal prissättning bidrar till en för dyr kollektivtrafik. / During the period from 2000 to 2019, the price of a 30-day ticket in Stockholm's public transportation increased by 107 %. The significant price increase raises the question of whether the current public transportation in Stockholm is efficient from an economic perspective or if it is too expensive. What is the cause of this substantial price increase, is it reasonable, and how does it affect the usage of public transportation? The purpose of this essay is to examine the development of SL's (Stockholm Public Transport) ticket prices and costs from an economic perspective. To achieve this, we conducted a mapping and compilation of SL's costs, revenues, and prices during the specified time period to determine the factors driving this price development. Based on theory and previous literature, we discussed whether the increase in ticket prices has occurred on an economic basis or not, and how it affects SL's financing. We estimated several elasticities to measure the effect this price development has on the demand for public transportation and how it would be impacted by additional subsidization. We concluded that the increase in ticket prices was due to cost increases primarily stemming from new procurement and agreements and that the pricing and subsidization are based on economic principles but are not optimal. We also found other arguments for why public transportation should be further subsidized. Overall, we can conclude that public transportation in Stockholm, as a result of increased costs related to traffic procurement and suboptimal pricing based on economic factors, contributes to an excessively expensive public transportation system.

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La thèse reconstruit l'histoire et les fondements épistémologiques de la théorisation des dépenses publiques de Richard A. Musgrave (1910-2007), notamment dans sa Theory of Public Finance (1959) en se concentrant sur deux concepts : les biens collectifs et les biens méritoires (biens sous tutelle). Premièrement, je montre qu'il est difficile de différentier les approches théoriques de Musgrave et de Buchanan selon la distinction positif/normatif. Deuxièmement, j'explique comment Musgrave et Samuelson affinent des arguments en faveur de l'intervention publique dans le cadre de la théorie des défaillances de marché, dans un monde où l'efficacité marchande est la norme par rapport à laquelle toute déviation doit être expliquée et justifiée. La théorisation effectuée par Musgrave et ses collègues est une rationalisation dans le langage économique de préoccupations sociales et politiques quant au rôle de l'État. Troisièmement, je suggère que Musgrave inventa le concept de biens méritoires pour compléter sa théorisation des dépenses publiques parce qu'il ne voulait pas se contenter du concept étroit de bien collectif pour rendre compte de l'ensemble des services publics et parce qu'il jugeait en particulier que ces dépenses méritoires avaient leur raison d'être. Quatrièmement, je retrace l'histoire du principe de souveraineté du consommateur afin de cerner la difficulté que pose la défense des biens méritoires aux États-Unis dans les années 1950. Le corpus sur la justification des biens méritoires est structuré en fonction de son rapport à ce principe. / The theorization of public expenditures in the twentieth century is a rationalization in the language of modern economics of social and political concerns regarding the role of the state. The thesis adopts a historical and philosophical perspective on two central concepts of Richard A. Musgrave's (1910-2007) Theory of Public Finance (1959): merit goods and social goods (or collective goods). Musgrave was more successful in introducing the definition of social (collective) goods in public economics (non-excludable and non-rival) than with his concept of merit goods. Yet, I suggest that he coined the latter because he wanted to build a comprehensive normative theory of the public household that would be useful for steering the revenue-expenditure processes. The two concepts play complementary roles in his theory which is a synthesis of various European traditions in public finance. Despite the rejection of merit goods by many economists, Musgrave's view on redistribution in-kind to fight poverty was shared by many liberal economists in the postwar period. The alternative approach to public finance of Buchanan is also discussed. I show that it is complicated to oppose Musgrave's and Buchanan's approaches along the positive/normative methodological line. In contrast, the friendly discussions between Samuelson and Musgrave led to a refinement of the market failure argument for public provision of collective goods. I identify the centrality of the principle of consumer sovereignty in this paradigm and I show how the literature on the justification of merit goods can be structured with respect to this principle.