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Literacy and Growth

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Author Info

  • Serge Coulombe

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Jean-François Tremblay

    (University of Ottawa)

Abstract

From the demographic profile of the 1994-1998 International Adult Literacy Survey, we derive synthetic time series over the 1960–1995 period on the literacy level of labor market entrants. This information is then used as a measure of investment in education in a two-way error correction panel data analysis of cross-country growth for a set of 14 OECD countries. The analysis indicates that direct measures of human capital based on literacy scores contain more information about the relative growth of countries than measures based on years of schooling. The results show that, overall, human capital indicators based on literacy scores have a positive and significant effect on the transitory growth path and on the long-run levels of GDP per capita and labor productivity. Quantitatively, our results indicate that the skills associated with one extra year of schooling increase aggregate labor productivity by approximately 7 %, which is consistent with microeconomic evidence (Psacharopoulos, 1994). Moreover, we find that investment in the human capital of women is more important for growth than investment in the human capital of men and that increasing the average literacy skills over all individuals has a greater effect on growth than increasing the percentage of individuals that achieve high levels of literacy skills.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by De Gruyter in its journal The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics.

Volume (Year): topics.6 (2006)
Issue (Month): 2 ()
Pages: 4

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Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:topics.6:y:2006:i:2:n:4

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Web page: http://www.degruyter.com

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Related research

Keywords: human capital; literacy; growth regressions; convergence;

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Citations

Blog mentions

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  1. ?emu služi Obrazovanje – Odgovor prof. Šiki?u
    by cronomy in Cronomy on 2012-05-04 02:26:58
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Cited by:
  1. Docquier, Frédéric & Lowell, B. Lindsay & Marfouk, Abdeslam, 2007. "A Gendered Assessment of the Brain Drain," IZA Discussion Papers 3235, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2010. "The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement," IZA Discussion Papers 4925, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  3. Eric A. Hanushek, 2008. "Incentives for Efficiency and Equity in the School System," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9(3), pages 5-27, 08.
  4. Michel Beine & Sara Salomone, 2010. "Migration and Networks: Does Education Matter more than Gender?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3010, CESifo Group Munich.
  5. Jörg Baten & Johan Fourie, 2012. "Slave numeracy in the Cape Colony and comparative development in the eighteenth century," Working Papers 270, Economic Research Southern Africa.
  6. Eric Hanushek & Ludger Wobmann, 2008. "The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development," Discussion Papers 07-034, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
  7. Frédéric DOCQUIER & Çağlar ÖZDEN & Christopher PARSONS & Ehran ARTUC, 2012. "A Global Assessment of Human Capital Mobility: the Role of non-OECD Destinations," Discussion Papers (IRES - Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales) 2012022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
  8. Serge Coulombe & Gilles Grenier & Serge Nadeau, 2011. "Quality of Work Experience and Economic Development—Estimates using Canadian Immigrant Data," Working Papers 1109E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
  9. Serge Coulombe & Jean-Francois Tremblay, 2009. "Education, Productivity and Economic Growth: A Selective Review of the Evidence," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 18, pages 3-24, Spring.

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