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Higher education and economic development: can public funding restrain the returns from tertiary education?

Author

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  • Paola Azar Dufrechou

    (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; Institute of Economics, Universidad de la República-Uruguay)

Abstract

This paper examines whether the contribution of tertiary education to economic growth and income per capita depends on the structure of public education budgets. The analysis resorts to a panel of 41 countries over the period 1970-2010. The empirical approach is based on system GMM regressions and Hierarchical Linear Models, which allow dealing with endogeneity concerns and parameter heterogeneity. The estimates show that budget imbalances against basic schooling seem to undermine the achievement of productivity gains from higher education.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola Azar Dufrechou, 2018. "Higher education and economic development: can public funding restrain the returns from tertiary education?," Working Papers wpdea1802, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    • Handle: RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea1802
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    File URL: https://ecap.uab.cat/RePEc/doc/wpdea1802.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    tertiary education; public spending; economic growth; income per capita;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

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