Working Paper: NBER ID: w12652
Authors: Eliot A. Jamison; Dean T. Jamison; Eric A. Hanushek
Abstract: Previous work shows that higher levels of education quality (as measured by international student achievement tests) increases growth rates of national income. This paper begins by confirming those findings in an analysis involving more countries over more time with additional controls. We then use the panel structure of our data to assess whether the mechanism by which education quality appears to improve per capita income levels is through shifting the level of the production function (probably not), through increasing the impact of an additional year of education (probably not), or through increasing a country's rate of technological progress (very likely). Mortality rates complement income levels as indicators of national well-being and we extend our panel models to show that improved education quality increases the rate of decline in infant mortality. Throughout the analysis, we find a stronger impact of education quality and of years of schooling in open than in closed economies.
Keywords: education quality; income growth; mortality decline; international student achievement tests
JEL Codes: F43; I21; O4; I10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Higher education quality (I23) | Increased growth rates of national income (O57) |
| Higher education quality (I23) | Rate of technological progress (O33) |
| Higher education quality (I23) | Decline in infant mortality rates (J13) |
| Education quality (I21) | Technical progress (O49) |