Education Expansion, Expenditures per Student and the Effects on Growth in Asia

This article estimates the separate effects of primary, secondary and higher education on economic growth in Asia since 1960. Enrollment rates, public expenditures and public expenditures per student are used as measures of education in an empirical panel data analysis. Expenditures toward primary education and expenditures per student in this education stage have contributed highly significantly to economic growth, while expenditures toward the higher stages seem more inefficiently utilized. Enrollment rates in secondary education especially play an important role in increasing growth rates. Enrollment rates, in particular, display significant indirect effects.