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Session Submission Summary

Economics and Finance of Education in Developing and Emerging Market Economies: Current Developments and Challenges

Wed, April 28, 7:15 to 8:45pm PDT (7:15 to 8:45pm PDT), Zoom Room, 119

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Economics of education is a field within the subject of economics that draws upon many areas of economic specialization. The field relates to economically efficient allocation and use of resources within the educational sector to maximize educational outcomes. The field has grown tremendously since the introduction of the human capital theory (Schultz, 1961). Currently, there are many important questions being discussed, investigated and debated in the field. Examples include: Does education affect economic outcomes, and if so, how? Does education finance interact with public policy? And how does education finance policy contribute to the development of a new strategic planning for the next generation, if at all?

The field of economics and finance of education has come a long way, and it is still developing and changing to align with the rapid changes that characterize the contemporary era of globalization and knowledge based economy. We have learned a lot in the last few decades, and we still are looking for answers on many pressing issues in the field. World Development Report 2006 (p.34) opines that “Education is of great intrinsic importance when assessing equalities of opportunity. It is also an important determinant of individual’s income, health and capacity to interact and communicate with others. Inequalities in education thus, contribute to inequalities in other important dimensions of well-being”. However, one of the major challenges that we are facing is the persistence of these inequalities, mostly arising due to educational inequalities, particularly in developing countries.

The other challenge of the field relates to estimation methods. For example, while one measures for the returns to education, there are many variables that one cannot observe. Similarly, in the estimation of costs or benefits of education, due to the nature of the field, there are many aspects one cannot measure. Measurement of real cost or opportunity costs of education and externalities associated with education are though contributing to a greater extent to total costs and benefits, yet they are kept outside measurement in most instances. Although we have come up with many clever strategies to tackle these measurement issues, the challenge is ongoing. Likewise, the lack of good data and lack of robust monitoring and evaluation systems has posed a good degree of challenge, particularly in developing countries. With many international organizations like UNESCO Institute of Statistics working towards developing accountability mechanisms for the sustainable development goals in the global scale, we are hoping to get better in data collection and accountability areas.

Changes in the world pose new challenges to the field of education finance as well. Recent influencing trends in the field include globalization, internationalization, massive immigration waves, the interest of many countries in knowledge-based economy, and insights gained in the field regarding the casual positive impact of resources allocation on EAD. As a result, international agencies such as the World Bank and the UN have become more dominant in the pursuit of global education finance policy. The developing and under-developed countries are most affected with such changes as these countries have not developed the base on which these policies would be beneficial. They struggle with major issues such as lack of quality schools and higher education institutions, student drop outs, learning outcomes and teacher absenteeism at the school level, poor infrastructure, issues of curriculum, and outdated technologies, among many other issues and concerns yet to be addressed.

In this panel, we make an attempt to visit some selected topics that have growing interest among researchers around the world. This panel reviews recent conceptual and methodological developments in the field of economics and finance of education, particularly in the context of developing and emerging market economies. The panel covers topics such as current trends in economics of education and finance of education and current debates on equality, equity, and efficiency in educational finances in the context of developing and emerging market countries. The panel hopes to bring to light the issues, challenges, opportunities and future directions of the field.

There will be five presentations in this panel covering developing and emerging market countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The first paper provides snapshot on the privatization of education in developing countries. The second paper discusses the role of education in socioeconomic development in emerging economies. The third paper highlights discussion relating to the education finance under the SDG 4.5 with special emphasis on possibilities and issues relating to financing educational improvements in developing/emerging market countries. The fourth paper presents the implications of rising fee structure due to the market driven expansion in education with a focus on India. Finally, the fifth paper presents the influence of China’s Higher Education on life satisfaction from the perspective of international comparison perspective.

All the presenters are experts in the field of economics and finance of education in developing/emerging market countries and are serving as faculties in higher educational institutions in their respective countries. The panel also has a discussant, who is also an expert in the field and has rich knowledge and direct field experiences on the topic from Africa and South Asian countries. Given the topics, the panel aligns perfectly to the them of this year’s conference theme “Social Responsibility Within Changing Contexts”.

Sub Unit

Chair

Individual Presentations

Discussant