Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6064
Authors: John Beirne; Nauro F. Campos
Abstract: Conventional wisdom suggests that the stocks of human capital were one of the few positive legacies from communism. However, if factories under communism were so inefficient, why would the education system not have been? Using the education production function approach and new data on educational inputs and outcomes from 1960 to 1989, we find evidence suggesting that the official human capital stocks figures were 'over-estimated' during the communist period. In other words, we find that the official human capital stock numbers are significantly higher than those predicted not only in relation to countries at similar levels of development, but also on the basis of educational systems with comparable features and efficiency levels.
Keywords: Education; Human Capital; Transition Economies
JEL Codes: J24; O11; P27
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| overestimated human capital stocks (J24) | implications for primary education (A21) |
| pupil-teacher ratios (A21) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| teacher salaries (J45) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| government expenditure on education (H52) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| repetition rates (C59) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| human capital stocks (J24) | average years of schooling (I21) |
| average years of schooling (I21) | predictions based on comparisons with countries at similar levels of development (O57) |
| transition economies (P20) | higher average years of schooling than predicted (I21) |