Does Financial Development Increase Education Level? Empirical Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This study analyzes the effect of financial development on education in a sample of 37 sub-Saharan African countries with data covering the period from 2000 to 2018. We use the nine measures of financial development proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the three levels of education, including primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Applying the two-stage system Generalized Method of Moment (GMM), we find that financial development increases school enrollment in each level in sub-Saharan Africa. The gender results also show that financial development improves primary and secondary education for both male and female, except at the tertiary level where the effect does not appear to be robust for male. Based on these results, we suggest that the financial market and financial institution in SSA should be improved given its beneficial effects on the education system.