User fees have triggered impassioned discussions in international health over the last two decades. Promoted by a number of international organizations since the late 1980s as a strategy to finance struggling public health facilities in many lowincome countries, recent years have seen growing criticism of the impact of fees on access to health services, particularly for the poorest groups. The ...

This paper investigates whether the increase in university tuition fees in 2006 changed student drop out behaviour. Using data on first year students who enrolled between 2003-2010 we show that the policy reform reduced the hazard of dropping out by 16%, but differences in the impact of the reform occur between income groups, for instance. The effect persisted beyond 2006 with a substantial add...

n early 2002 the new Minister for Education, Science and Training, Brendan Nelson, announced a wide-ranging reform agenda with respect to the funding (and other areas) of Australian higher education. Over the ensuing months the Government released a number of discussion papers, in a process referred to as Crossroads, and initiated and promoted a series of consultations with stakeholders and oth...

We analyze the welfare consequences of an increase in the commissions charged by intermediaries in auction markets. We argue that while commissions are similar to taxes imposed on buyers and sellers the question of incidence deserves a new treatment in auction markets. We show that an increase in commissions makes sellers worse o¤, but buyers may strictly gain. The results are therefore strikin...