Economics of Growth and Development
Education and Economic Growth
The Knowledge Capital of Nations
Knowledge Capital and the Growth of US States
Economic Costs of Low Educational Performance
Internet and Structural Change
The Internet and Economic Growth
Structural Change and Economic Growth
Developing Countries
The Knowledge Capital of Nations
Development Goal: Universal Basic Skills
Teacher Knowledge and Student Achievement
Education Production Functions in Developing Countries
Overview
My research on why some countries grow much faster than others - and why some countries are thus rich and others poor - mainly focuses on the importance of the educational achievement of the population. Using early international student achievement tests, my research with Eric Hanushek shows that the skills of the population are a decisive factor for the long-run growth of countries. Differences in the "knowledge capital" of nations can mostly account for the East Asian miracle and the Latin American growth puzzle, as well as for growth differences among developed countries. Knowledge capital also proves important for an understanding of differences in economic development across US states. The large growth effects of educational achievement imply that low educational achievement has huge economic costs.
In addition, I have worked on the effects of the internet and of structural change on economic growth.
Several aspects of my research have relevance for developing countries. Our analysis of global universal basic skills suggests that at least two-thirds of the world’s youth do not reach basic skill levels. Thus, the evidence on the knowledge capital of nations suggests that universal basic skills should be the most important development goal. Using Peruvian data, we show the importance of teacher knowledge for student achievement. We have also estimated education production functions in various developing countries using data from different international student achievement tests.