The contribution of education to economic growth : international comparisons

Abstract

Since the concept of human capital was invented (or perhaps reinvented) in the late 1950s, the authors have been flooded with papers written about the contribution of education to economic growth. After a rather long pause in the 1970s, triggered by lack of economic growth and ambivalence about the role of education in development, the topic has begun attracting renewed interest. In this paper the author first summarize past efforts to estimate the contribution of education to economic growth. Then the author augment and reinforce this evidence by examining recent related analyses of the role of education in society that do not formally come under the popular heading of the contribution of education to economic growth. The paper concludes with a response to recent attacks on the economic value of education, especially with reference to developing countries.