Achieving education for all: how much does money matter?

In this study, we examine the long‐run impact of state‐level per capita income on public education expenditure and public health expenditure in 17 major Indian states over the period 1993–2017. To test for the existence of a unit root, we have employed the Zivot–Andrews test and the Clemente–Montañes–Reyes test, which allows for an endogenous structural break in the data series. These tests indicate that all variables are nonstationary. Autoregressive distributed lag model with one structural break is applied to find the cointegration of variables and estimate the cointegrating equation. The bounds test reveals the presence of a long‐run relationship between public health expenditure and per capita income in 12 out of 17 states, between public education expenditure and per capita income in 15 out of 17 states. The result shows that per capita income affects the public health and education expenditure of states. We find elasticities of public health expenditure and public education expenditure vary across states and are small in magnitude (less than one for most of the states). Our results suggest that public health and education expenditures are necessary goods. Based on the results, we also draw policy implications from our findings.

Trust is one crucial prerequisite for the welfare state. However, very few empirical studies exist that help us understand the mechanisms through which trust affects the welfare state. Influencing public support for developing friendly public policies might be one of these mechanisms. In this study, we use unique micro data from 34 countries to investigate the relationship between trust and support for public education expenditures. We use the Life in Transition Survey (LiTS) conducted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank in 2010. Our empirical results show that trust has a positive effect on support for public education expenditures. Our results are robust when controlled for various individual characteristics and country fixed effects, tested using OLS and Probit models and different samples. This empirical evidence helps us understand the micro foundations of support for public education expenditures.Keywords: Trust * Social capital * Tax * Public education expendituresJEL Classification: H31* O12 * Z13In his classic book, Putnam (1993) emphasizes the importance of social capital to institutions and economic development. Trust, defined as the propensity of a population to believe in the trustworthiness of other people whom they do not know personally, is one of the most important ingredients of social capital (see Guiso, Sapienza, & Zingales, 2006; Tabellini, 2008). Fukuyama (1995) argues that trust is one of the fundamental causes of large differences in economic prosperity levels between countries. Following the footsteps of Putnam (1993) and Fukuyama (1995), the empirical literature shows that trust is positively related to economic growth (Algan & Cahuc, 2010; Hovarht, 2013; Knack & Keefer, 1997; Knack & Zak, 2001), financial development (Guiso, Sapienza, & Zingales, 2004, 2008), the existence of a welfare state (Bergh & Bjornskov, 2011) a lighter regulatory burden (Aghion, Algan, Chauc, & Shleifer, 2010; Pinotti, 2012), and increased institutional development (Bjornskov, 2009; Knack, 2002; La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer, & Vishny, 1997; Tabellini, 2008;). Recent empirical results also suggest that trust has a positive effect on education (Bjornskov, 2009; Bjornskov & Meon, 2013; Dearmon & Grier, 2011; Papagapitos & Riley, 2009).As a contribution to this body of empirical literature, our study examines whether trust affects popular support for public education expenditures. Human capital has taken on a central role in the endogenous economic growth models, in where formal education often considered the primary source for human capital accumulation (Barro, 1991; Blankenau & Simpson, 2004; Ciccone & Papaionnou, 2007; Lucas, 1988; Nelson & Phelps, 1966). Since governments play a central role in human capital accumulation by funding the majority of primary and secondary education throughout the world, a potential link could exist between public education expenditures and economic growth. However, empirical evidence shows mixed results concerning the effect of public education expenditures on economic growth. Blankenau and Simpson (2004) offer one theoretical explanation for this ambiguity, namely that public education expenditures might crowd out other factors that enhance economic growth. When non-distortionary taxes (on labor and capital income) are used to finance expenditures, public education spending crowds out investment in both physical capital and private human capital investment. Therefore, growth would decrease with higher public education expenditures. In contrast, when consumption taxes are used to finance education, public education spending has no effect on private human capital investment. In this case, growth is increasing in line with public education expenditures. In a more recent theoretical work, Greiner (2008) shows that excessive spending on public education increases public debt, crowds out private investment, and reduces economic growth. …

Public education expenditures are usually seen as having at least two desirable effects. On the one hand, it can foster economic growth through human capital accumulation. It can also decrease income inequality by offering every student the same learning opportunities. This paper studies both aspects of public education expenditures in a model of occupational choice with an endogenous supply of teachers. First, we show that the impact of public education expenditures on economic growth depends on the quality of teachers. The quality of the educational sector, in turn, depends on the level of public education expenditures as well as on the shape of the human capital distribution in the economy. In particular, we show that economies whose human capital distribution exhibits fatter tails can attract teachers of higher quality for the same level of public education spending. This implies that empirical studies aiming at identifying the role of public education expenditures should control for higher-order (beyond the mean) of the human capital distribution. Second, this paper documents a U-shaped relationship between public education spending and income inequality for a cross-section of countries as well as across US states. In our model of occupational choice, managers and workers are imperfect substitutes in production. Increasing public education expenditures (through increased taxation) modifies occupational choice, supply and demand of workers. Whereas an increase in public education spending benefits all through an improvement of production efficiency, relative income gains at the top and bottom of the distribution depends on the reallocation of labor across occupations and changes in human capital distribution. The general equilibrium interaction between these different forces can result in a U-shaped relationship between the level of public education spending and income inequality. We calibrate our model on data from 8 OECD countries and show that some countries, among which the U.S., could spend more on public education to yield more income growth and less income inequality.

Efficiency of education expenditure is the ability to maximize the educational achievement given the resources invested. Although public education expenditure tends to increase, yet this does not necessarily guarantee high quality of education services. This study aims to assess public education expenditure efficiency of Lithuanian municipalities and to identify the factors explaining its variations. The study used data for 2013-2019 from 60 Lithuanian municipalities. Corrected Ordinary Least Squares method was employed for public education expenditure efficiency assessment and regression analysis was used to determine its influencing factors. Inputs included financial (public expenditure for education and maintenance) and nonfinancial (composition of teachers, occupied area, etc.) variables. Passing ratio of Lithuanian (national) language and math exams were used as efficiency outputs. The context variables represented environmental factors of educational achievements, such as number of business entities, users of social housing, libraries, and culture centres as well as municipalities’ overall financial autonomy. Results of the research are ambiguous. When assessed by the overall passing of the exams, the efficiency was high, scoring 86-90%. But when evaluated by passing exams with the highest scores, it did not even reach 40%. Two types of public expenditure were identified as the most influential factors - public expenditure for education with the negative trend, and municipality own financing with the positive influence on the public education expenditure efficiency. Such results support the decentralization of public education expenditure management and call for alternative output measures in the Lithuanian public education system.

This paper examines the effects of total, mineral, natural gas, and oil rents on the public total, education, health, and infrastructure expenditures using the dynamic panel estimation methods and data for more than 100 countries for the 1980–2015 period. Our results indicate that total resource rents do not have a significant impact on the public total and infrastructure expenditures. However, they provide a robust evidence for the adverse effect of resource rents on the public education and health expenditures. Our results lend a substantial evidence for the conclusion that the notorious resource curse can be also explained by its adverse effect on the human capital accumulation. We then test whether the democracy level matters in investigating the effects of resource rents on the public expenditures. Interestingly, we find that total resource rents exert a negative impact on the education expenditures only in autocratic countries. These results clearly indicate that policy makers should take necessary steps to remove the adverse effects of resource rents on the public education and health expenditures to increase human capital formation.

In the last decade, much of the attention of public expenditures in education has been focused on improving the offer to the labor market to minimize unemployment rates among young people. Since education directly affects human capital, investing in higher education is considered a benefit to future employment. Therefore, it is the purpose of this paper to investigate whether the government-allocated share of funds to total public expenditures in education affects the unemployment rates of youth in Albania. A quantitative analysis of total public expenses in education and of the country’s economic growth rates is used to investigate their effects on youth unemployment rates in the country. This is followed by another deeper investigation of public expenses in higher education and the country’s economic growth rates analysis on the youth unemployment rates of tertiary education graduates in Albania. Time series data are used in a set of econometric analyses such as the Augmented Dickey–Fuller test, Johansen test, and vector error correction (VEC) model to test for short-run dynamics and long-run causalities among the variables. The study results reveal that there is a short-term causality between the real economic growth rate and the youth unemployment rate, while there is a long-term causality between total public expenditures in education and the youth unemployment rate. If total public expenditures in education increase by 1%, the youth unemployment rate would decrease by 10.81%. Similarly, but not so strong, there is a long-term causality between public expenditures in higher education and the graduated youth unemployment rate. If public expenditures in higher education increase by 1%, the graduated youth unemployment rate would decrease by 5.85%. The speed of adjustment from the short-run to long-run equilibrium, in a quarter time, of the youth unemployment rate is 22%, while of the graduated youth unemployment rate is 53%—showing a faster convergence.

Public education expenditure is the largest public expenditure and the foundation of education development in China. This paper uses Cobb-Douglas production function model to analyze the relationship between public education expenditure and China's economic growth, and explores the impact of the proportion of public education expenditure in primary, secondary and tertiary education expenditure on economic growth. The results show that public education expenditure has a positive effect on economic growth, and that secondary education accounts for the largest contribution to economic growth, followed by higher education and primary education. The research results suggest that China should increase financial investment in education and optimize the expenditure structure of three-level education.

The present research sought to explore the influence of cultural context on the interpretation and implementation of sustainable development goals in EFL education. The research followed the descriptive analytical method of research. (200) university students responded to a questionnaire of (24) items distributed over four dimensions. The results of the data analysis indicated that strong agreement among most of the respondents about the cultural contexts influence on the integration of sustainable development goals in Education (mean= 77%), ensuring that culture has a significant impact in how sustainability topics are perceived and discussed. Based on these results, the research concluded that while there are positive motivations and a high global awareness regarding sustainability-based education, there is a persistent need to respect and implement the students’ cultural and personal relevance in order to deepen the understanding and engagement of students

This qualitative study examines how school administrators evaluate subjective well-being and quality of life within the framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education. Drawing upon data collected through semi-structured interviews with twenty administrators, the study explores school-based strategies, challenges, and policy practices related to promoting students’ physical and mental well-being. Thematic analysis revealed four major themes: (1) integration of SDGs into school culture, (2) strategies to enhance student well-being, (3) structural and socio-economic barriers, and (4) recommendations for sustainable educational practices. Findings emphasize the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration, particularly with families and the provision of psychological support, effective time management, and strategic leadership by school administrators. The study contributes to the understanding of how school management can operationalize global sustainability goals at the local level to foster equitable, healthy, and inclusive school environments.Keywords:sustainable development goals; well-being; quality of life; school administrators; educational environment; inclusive policy.

Abstract. This study examines the links between public education and health expenditures, and education and health outcomes- measured by the school life expactancy and rate of child (under five) mortality, life expactancy at birth. It also investigates the role of governance on the effectiveness of public education and health expenditures. The effectiveness of public education and health expenditures is examined within education and health production function by using 2002- 2012 data. Empirical results show that effects of socioeconomic and environmental factors and demographic structure on education and health outcomes are similar to those in previous studies. The results indicate two important findings. First, public education and health expenditures remain incapable to explain outcomes when compared to other socioeconomic variables. Second, increase in public education and health expenditures is associated with improved outcomes just in countries where regulatory quality and control of corruption is high. With a general expression, public education and health expenditures become more effective in countries with high governance level. Keywords. Public education expenditures, Public health expenditures, Child mortality rate, Life expactancy at birth, School life expactancy. JEL. I18, I28, H51, H52.

This paper explores the indirect relationship between Chinese aid and public expenditure in human development sectors in African nations. This is achieved through analyzing the change of public expenditure in the education and health sectors of the top two African recipients of Chinese ODA—Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire, with an extended analysis to an additional five African nations. Through a comparative analysis, this paper investigates if a direct connection between public expenditure in the health and education and Chinese aid can be established, and explores its implications in the larger international aid system. The study discovers an overall pattern of increased public health and education expenditure in African nations after the influx of Chinese ODA; however, a connection between the two cannot be established. The study discovered that public health and education expenditure increased by larger percentages in nations with previously established ambitions and goals of poverty reduction and human development, indicating that the surge of Chinese aid may have contributed to increased fiscal autonomy in the African aid recipients, providing more freedom to increase expenditure in already prioritized sectors. The result of this analysis, hence, contravenes the narrative of Chinese aid hindering African human development.

Using time-series data from 1989 to 2018, this study examines the determinants of public education expenditure in the Philippines. Following Wagner’s law, this paper investigated the relationship of gross domestic product per capita, unemployment rate, urban population growth, and lagged public education expenditure to public education expenditure. The ordinary least squares (OLS) method was used to determine the significance of the variables, and statistical tests were conducted to measure the overall significance of the model. The findings show that gross domestic product per capita and lagged public education expenditure were positively significant determinants contributing to the Philippines' growth of public education expenditure. On the other hand, the unemployment rate and urbanization growth were insignificant and did not contribute to the increase in expenditure. The results also provided strong evidence on the relationship between GDP per capita and public education expenditure, supporting Wagner’s law in the Philippine context. Finally, this study recommends that policymakers review budget allocation and utilization to achieve wider education accessibility and better quality of education in the Philippines.

The relationship of competitiveness motive on people's happiness through education

Purpose: This study aims to measure the impact of public spending on basic education in São Paulo cities on the efficiency of public educational expenditure. Method: The calculation of the efficiency is based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), having as input the public expenditures in education in the years 2014 to 2017 and output the municipal score of Prova Brasil 2017. The measurement of the impact of public expenditures on efficiency is based on the technique of Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), having as explanatory variables educational expenses classified as wages, purchases, travel, interest and permanent materials, and variable response efficiency index of public expenditure. Results: From the statistical models of MLR different regression coefficients were obtained, which estimate the change in the efficiency index of public expenditure when the expenditure is increased or withdrawn. The results expressed that there is a negative correlation between all categories of the expenditure element and the efficiency of public educational spending in the period from 2014 to 2017. Contributions of the Study: This study, in a pioneering way, adopts the budget accounting classification of the categories of the element of the expense, thus approaching the study of the efficiency of the closest possible object to which the classification of the expenditure refers.

The "resource curse" phenomenon has been the subject of extensive research, with its causes and transmission mechanisms primarily examined from the perspectives of economic development and rent seeking. Education is a major factor contributing to economically sustainable development, owing to its potential for improving cognition and skill levels and thereby enhancing worker productivity. The crowding-out or crowding-in effect of natural resource dependence on public education spending has been identified as one of the key mechanisms of the resource curse or blessing. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces, this empirical study revealed a positive correlation between natural resource dependence and public education expenditure, demonstrating the impact of the crowding-in effect, exerted by natural resource dependence, on public education expenditure. Abundant natural resources can provide funds for education expenditure. The sample was further divided into eastern and central and western regions. The results indicate that the crowding-out effect of natural resource dependence only affects public education expenditure in the Eastern region, while the crowding-in effect of natural resource dependence on public education expenditure in the central and western regions. Research shows that the regional differences of crowding-out or crowding-in effect are very obvious, so the government should adopt transfer payment to promote balanced regional development. Better economic and social policies will help to translate wealth from natural resources into economic growth. Thus, a "resource blessing" may emerge to replace the "resource curse." Fairly distributed and higher quality education will enhance human capital, thereby promoting economic growth from its current resource-driven pattern to a knowledge-driven pattern.