What shapes the decisions of individuals and families to invest in education? How do families choose between different types of schools? Are private returns to education shaped by the number of years an individual spends in school or by the type of skills acquired while in school? Why should the government devote scare public resources to finance/provide education? What are the social pecuniary and non-pecuniary returns to education? What motivates teachers to put in effort towards improving pupil learning? How can schools be held accountable to education outcomes?
The discipline of economics provides an indispensable framework for addressing these and many other critical issues faced by policymakers. Furthermore, the analytical rigor brought by economists has contributed to a coda of analysis on education inequality, role of peer effects, class size, vouchers, cash transfers, school management, and education expenditures. Economists are at the forefront of leading impact evaluations on a range of interventions shaping the knowledge base needed to inform the education policy discourse.
The primary mission of the World Bank’s Economics of Education group is to help improve, among Bank staff as well as clients and other development partners, knowledge of what shapes education outcomes and results; to better understand how to strengthen the linkages of the education system with the labor market; and to build and support a network of economists and specialists who are interested in collectively addressing the challenges of the education sector.
The World Bank addresses key themes of Economics of Education through work in the following six topic areas:
Economic Analysis of Education Interventions
Finance and Expenditures in Education
Public-Private Partnerships in Education
School-Based Management
Impact Evaluation
Quality of Education