Working Paper: NBER ID: w8949
Authors: Eric A. Hanushek; Javier A. Luque
Abstract: Attention to the quality of human capital in different countries naturally leads to concerns about how school policies relate to student performance. The data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provide a way of comparing performance in different schooling systems. The results of analyses of educational production functions within a range of developed and developing countries show general problems with the efficiency of resource usage similar to those found previously in the United States. These effects do not appear to be dictated by variations related to income level of the country or level of resources in the schools. Neither do they appear to be determined by school policies that involve compensatory application of resources. The conventional view that school resources are relatively more important in poor countries also fails to be supported.
Keywords: human capital; student performance; educational production functions; school resources; cognitive achievement
JEL Codes: I2; H4; J0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| school resources (R) (I23) | student outcomes (O) (I24) |
| school resources (R) (I23) | student performance (D29) |
| cognitive achievement (O) (O00) | individual earnings (J31) |
| cognitive achievement (O) (O00) | aggregate productivity (E23) |
| educational quality (I21) | economic outcomes (F61) |