Will more higher education improve economic growth?

Author/s
Eric A. Hanushek
Published Date
Winter 2016
Publication
Oxford Review of Economic Policy
Details
32(4)
Pages
pp. 538-552
Calls for expanded university education are frequently based on arguments that more graduates will lead to faster growth. Empirical analysis does not, however, support this general proposition. Differences in cognitive skills—the knowledge capital of countries—can explain most of the differences in growth rates across countries, but just adding more years of schooling without increasing cognitive skills historically has had little systematic influence on growth.