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The political economy of the educational process
Economics of Education Review Vol. 1, no. 1 (Winter 1981): 127-129
Book Reviews
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Richard B. McKenzie. Hingham, MA: Martinus Nijhoff Publishing, 1979. Pp. xi, 199. $24.65 (cloth). As implied by the title, this book attempts to apply some of the analytical techniques of microeconomics to the teaching-learning process within a university setting. As the author states in his preface, " t h e central concern of this book is how and why the student goes about acquiring whatever human capital he wishes and how the institutional setting of the university influences the amount of human capital that the student acquires." The focus throughout the volume is on what the author calls "rational behavior," which he defines as the individual maximization of utility through the equating of marginal utility or benefit (MU) and marginal cost (MC) in personal decision (choice) making. The author emphasizes the economist's propensity to think in terms of alternatives and applies such benefit-cost reasoning to a n u m b e r of university issues ranging from grade inflation and the evaluation of faculty to intercollegiate sports and student cheating. It draws heavily upon an earlier book written by the author and Robert Staaf (An Economic Theory o f Learning, 1974) and other recent articles published by the author. Consequently, the book is essentially a nonmathematical restatement and extension of those earlier works with an attempt to focus more on the "political environment in which education occurs." The first chapter is primarily an introduction to the field of economics and the uses of theory. In Chapter 2 the author develops the elements of his " e c o n o m i c choice model of learning" through the graphical and analytical techniques of transformation and indifference curves. McKenzie accomplishes this by viewing the teachinglearning process as the result of an interface between student (or professor) preferences and opportunities. Unfortunately, the explanation of the basic analytical techniques of production functions and indifference curve analysis in Chapter 2 is not adequate for most students with limited backgrounds in economics, and therefore most will need to have access to a more detailed microeconomics text. For example, the discussions dealing with income and price effects (pp. 2 4 - 2 6 ) are likely to be especially difficult and b e y o n d the 127
Economics o f Education Review "existing frontiers" of most noneconomics students. Throughout the analysis the frequent use and reference to such economic terminology as externalities, normal goods and bads, Giffen goods, joint products, substitution effects, and expansion paths are likely to be equally difficult for the noneconomics reader without further explanation. However, the greatest weakness in the analysis of the student choice model presented lies with its inability to link with more conventional human capital theory. For example, the analysis does not address why (or what) students elect to learn in the first place. It is essentially a static analysis that ignores the more fundamental questions of future benefits and future " o p p o r t u n i t y sets." Chapters 3 and 4 apply the economic choice model of learning to specific cases of student and faculty behavior. The discussions in Chapter 3 dealing with student preferences, abilities, and performance are probably the most important parts of this b o o k to be read by anyone concerned with educational research. Views and analyses on alternative student choices outside of single course achievement scores are all too frequently ignored in much of the conventional education literature and research. As a result of being the beneficiaries of increased teaching effectiveness (or technological innovation), the author correctly points out that students can and do select other alternative uses for their freed time, including more leisure and effort in other courses. The main conclusion of the analysis in Chapter 4 is that the "perverse effects" of rational faculty choice will induce faculty to select more leisure or research activities at the expense of teaching effort as the quality of students rises. However, the analysis is premised on the assumption that rational faculty will view faculty effort devoted to teaching as an undesirable "normal b a d . " Those faculty devoted to teaching as a vocational choice with intrinsic satisfactions coming from the teaching-learning process will clearly have difficulties with such assumptions and the subsequent analysis. Nevertheless, the analysis is useful in that it attacks a number of sacred cows concerning faculty" behavior, and it does contribute a uniquely different and methodologically useful way of viewing such behavior. Chapter 5 is primarily a critique of a recent article (Siegfried 1977) on the effects that student proctoring has on the achievement level of economics students. The author points out h o w failure to consider student and faculty choice behavior can often lead one into drawing unwarranted conclusions. Several hypotheses concerning the effects of grade inflation are examined in Chapter 6. McKenzie's most important conclusion is that student ratings can be distorted by the instructor's .grading 128
Book Reviews
structure and that an instructor's ratings should rise if he inflates h i s grades. Chapter 7 reviews and critiques a number of recent studies dealing with the evaluation and pay of faculty. An especially good discussion is given to the interactive effects of teaching and research. The author also gives special attention to the effects that the typical system of establishing annual salary increments tends to have on departmental cohesiveness in higher education. His discussions concerning possible " p r e d a t o r y behavior" of some faculty within a "wages f u n d " system of pay is not only provocative but probably more true than most of us care to admit. The remaining four chapters of the book apply the author's economic model of "rational behavior" to faculty behavior on university committees and to student behavior with respect to intercollegiate sports, cheating, and their selection (learning) o f "citizenship" course content. Although most of the discussion is likely to generate dissent from m a n y readers, McKenzie's analysis is novel and warrants serious review. His arguments against citizenship education are especially provocative and are bound to generate heated comment. A critical reader will want to pay particular attention to a number of his (dubious) assumptions concerning motivation for participatory citizenship in a democracy, his (limited) understandings about the curricular rationale for general education requirements, and his (limited) familiarity with more conventional learning theory, especially as regards the long-term retention of concepts and principles. In his final chapter, McKenzie notes that "although his model has " n o t been fully refined," his primary response has been to convince the reader that an economic analysis of the educational process does offer a viable, alternative approach to most other educational research in this area. The book does generally succeed in this regard. Although it ranges from being provocative and novel to extremely narrow and naively incorrect at times, it does offer a n u m b e r of useful insights into the economics of higher education and into what motivates faculty and students. D A R R E L L R. LEWIS University o f Minneso ta
REFERENCE Siegfried, J o h n J . / 1 9 7 7 IS TEACHING THE BEST WAY TO L E A R N ? AN E V A L U A T I O N OF BENEFITS AND COSTS TO U N D E R G R A D U A T E S T U D E N T PROCTORS IN E L E M E N T A R Y ECONOMICS. Southern Economic Journal 44 ( J a n u a r y ) : 1 3 9 4 - 1 4 0 0 .
129
Book Reviews
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS Richard B. McKenzie. Hingham, MA: Martinus Nijhoff Publishing, 1979. Pp. xi, 199. $24.65 (cloth). As implied by the title, this book attempts to apply some of the analytical techniques of microeconomics to the teaching-learning process within a university setting. As the author states in his preface, " t h e central concern of this book is how and why the student goes about acquiring whatever human capital he wishes and how the institutional setting of the university influences the amount of human capital that the student acquires." The focus throughout the volume is on what the author calls "rational behavior," which he defines as the individual maximization of utility through the equating of marginal utility or benefit (MU) and marginal cost (MC) in personal decision (choice) making. The author emphasizes the economist's propensity to think in terms of alternatives and applies such benefit-cost reasoning to a n u m b e r of university issues ranging from grade inflation and the evaluation of faculty to intercollegiate sports and student cheating. It draws heavily upon an earlier book written by the author and Robert Staaf (An Economic Theory o f Learning, 1974) and other recent articles published by the author. Consequently, the book is essentially a nonmathematical restatement and extension of those earlier works with an attempt to focus more on the "political environment in which education occurs." The first chapter is primarily an introduction to the field of economics and the uses of theory. In Chapter 2 the author develops the elements of his " e c o n o m i c choice model of learning" through the graphical and analytical techniques of transformation and indifference curves. McKenzie accomplishes this by viewing the teachinglearning process as the result of an interface between student (or professor) preferences and opportunities. Unfortunately, the explanation of the basic analytical techniques of production functions and indifference curve analysis in Chapter 2 is not adequate for most students with limited backgrounds in economics, and therefore most will need to have access to a more detailed microeconomics text. For example, the discussions dealing with income and price effects (pp. 2 4 - 2 6 ) are likely to be especially difficult and b e y o n d the 127
Economics o f Education Review "existing frontiers" of most noneconomics students. Throughout the analysis the frequent use and reference to such economic terminology as externalities, normal goods and bads, Giffen goods, joint products, substitution effects, and expansion paths are likely to be equally difficult for the noneconomics reader without further explanation. However, the greatest weakness in the analysis of the student choice model presented lies with its inability to link with more conventional human capital theory. For example, the analysis does not address why (or what) students elect to learn in the first place. It is essentially a static analysis that ignores the more fundamental questions of future benefits and future " o p p o r t u n i t y sets." Chapters 3 and 4 apply the economic choice model of learning to specific cases of student and faculty behavior. The discussions in Chapter 3 dealing with student preferences, abilities, and performance are probably the most important parts of this b o o k to be read by anyone concerned with educational research. Views and analyses on alternative student choices outside of single course achievement scores are all too frequently ignored in much of the conventional education literature and research. As a result of being the beneficiaries of increased teaching effectiveness (or technological innovation), the author correctly points out that students can and do select other alternative uses for their freed time, including more leisure and effort in other courses. The main conclusion of the analysis in Chapter 4 is that the "perverse effects" of rational faculty choice will induce faculty to select more leisure or research activities at the expense of teaching effort as the quality of students rises. However, the analysis is premised on the assumption that rational faculty will view faculty effort devoted to teaching as an undesirable "normal b a d . " Those faculty devoted to teaching as a vocational choice with intrinsic satisfactions coming from the teaching-learning process will clearly have difficulties with such assumptions and the subsequent analysis. Nevertheless, the analysis is useful in that it attacks a number of sacred cows concerning faculty" behavior, and it does contribute a uniquely different and methodologically useful way of viewing such behavior. Chapter 5 is primarily a critique of a recent article (Siegfried 1977) on the effects that student proctoring has on the achievement level of economics students. The author points out h o w failure to consider student and faculty choice behavior can often lead one into drawing unwarranted conclusions. Several hypotheses concerning the effects of grade inflation are examined in Chapter 6. McKenzie's most important conclusion is that student ratings can be distorted by the instructor's .grading 128
Book Reviews
structure and that an instructor's ratings should rise if he inflates h i s grades. Chapter 7 reviews and critiques a number of recent studies dealing with the evaluation and pay of faculty. An especially good discussion is given to the interactive effects of teaching and research. The author also gives special attention to the effects that the typical system of establishing annual salary increments tends to have on departmental cohesiveness in higher education. His discussions concerning possible " p r e d a t o r y behavior" of some faculty within a "wages f u n d " system of pay is not only provocative but probably more true than most of us care to admit. The remaining four chapters of the book apply the author's economic model of "rational behavior" to faculty behavior on university committees and to student behavior with respect to intercollegiate sports, cheating, and their selection (learning) o f "citizenship" course content. Although most of the discussion is likely to generate dissent from m a n y readers, McKenzie's analysis is novel and warrants serious review. His arguments against citizenship education are especially provocative and are bound to generate heated comment. A critical reader will want to pay particular attention to a number of his (dubious) assumptions concerning motivation for participatory citizenship in a democracy, his (limited) understandings about the curricular rationale for general education requirements, and his (limited) familiarity with more conventional learning theory, especially as regards the long-term retention of concepts and principles. In his final chapter, McKenzie notes that "although his model has " n o t been fully refined," his primary response has been to convince the reader that an economic analysis of the educational process does offer a viable, alternative approach to most other educational research in this area. The book does generally succeed in this regard. Although it ranges from being provocative and novel to extremely narrow and naively incorrect at times, it does offer a n u m b e r of useful insights into the economics of higher education and into what motivates faculty and students. D A R R E L L R. LEWIS University o f Minneso ta
REFERENCE Siegfried, J o h n J . / 1 9 7 7 IS TEACHING THE BEST WAY TO L E A R N ? AN E V A L U A T I O N OF BENEFITS AND COSTS TO U N D E R G R A D U A T E S T U D E N T PROCTORS IN E L E M E N T A R Y ECONOMICS. Southern Economic Journal 44 ( J a n u a r y ) : 1 3 9 4 - 1 4 0 0 .
129