Jean-Luc De Meulemeester (DULBEA, Free University of Brussels, and SKOPE, University of Oxford.) Claude Diebolt (BETA/CNRS, Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg, Université Montpellier I & Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
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In this article we try to assess 50 years of development in the economics of education. Some authors contend indeed that it was not very successful as a field in fulfilling all its promises ant that it was comparatively lagging behind other (related) fields as health economics. We explore the pioneering period of the 60s, with the early developments of human capital theory and its contribution to labour economics and the growth literature. We stress how it contributed (or was influenced) by the widespread belief concerning the benefits of the massive expansion of (inter alia higher) education. But the halving of growth rates after the 1973 oil shock led to a lot of scepticism regarding the capacity of education to contribute to economic growth as well as to reduce inequalities. It is only at the end of the 80s that we witnessed a revival of growth theory (endogenous growth literature), giving to human capital or to knowledge a key role in promoting growth. The possible divergence between private and social costs and benefits could lead to a suboptimal provision of human capital and therefore a new role to the State could be envisaged. We stress here the difference between a stock and a flow approach (that could lead to very different views on policy, more or less elitist). The 80s were also characterised by an enriched version of the human capital theory enabling the researchers to better understand the origins and building up of social inequalities, and a possible role for state intervention. The 90s were characterised by a shift towards quality (role of R&D, and so of excellence) and the role of institutions (also concerning the emergence of inequalities). We finish by envisaging the years 2000s and introduce this issue of BER.
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Find related papers by JEL classification: I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General B29 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Other
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