TY - JOUR AB - Given states’ balanced budget requirements, investment decisions often involve trade-offs between policymakers’ budget priorities. Does political party control affect investment decisions and outcomes? Using a regression discontinuity design based on close state elections between 1984-2013, we find that marginally Democratic legislatures spend more on higher education but less on K-12 education. Rather than trading off within the education budget, policymakers trade education and welfare, particularly in liberal and high-poverty states. Increases in local revenue offset party differences in K-12 spending, suggesting that policymakers make trade-offs by considering the availability of external budget sources and how investments respond to constituents’ needs. (JEL I22, I28, H72, H75) AU - Shi, Mark J. Chin Lena DA - August 2020 DO - 10.26300/kvw2-5725 PY - 2020 ST - The Impact of Political Party Control on Education Finance and Outcomes: Evidence from U.S. States T2 - EdWorkingPapers.com TI - The Impact of Political Party Control on Education Finance and Outcomes: Evidence from U.S. States UR - https://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai20-280 ID - 254 ER -