Impact of Trade in Higher Education Services on Central and Eastern European Countries' Economic Development

Abstract

This paper discusses the ways in which international trade in higher education services impacts the economic development of Central and Eastern European Countries. The economic impact of cross-border education can be seen from two perspectives. We have identified the first one, on the short run, which takes into account the national trade accounts, that is the imports and exports of education. From this point of view the considered countries are at a loss, most of them being net importers of higher education. On the other hand, there is the long run perspective which incorporates the imports of education in the strategy of national capacity building, which is a premise for economic development. Therefore, the countries are better off importing higher education as this will increase the economic growth in the future. However, imports for capacity building are effective only in the case of an existing coherent strategy for development which includes higher education. And in matter of strategy, implementation and regulations is where the Central and East European Countries need to pun more effort so as to maximize the benefits from international trade with higher education services