Education and Economic Growth: Is There a Link?

This paper attempts to reconcile the mismatch between theoretical models and empirical results in addressing the issue of education and economic growth. Development theorists have made numerous attempts to explain the contribution of education to economic growth. Over the years, endogenous growth models have emerged to incorporate human capital and they have been subject to rigorous econometric techniques. However, these models have yielded inconclusive results. This paper begins by looking at the history of the development of endogenous growth theories and the various econometric specifications which were estimated. This paper also concludes by identifying the main themes that have emerged in the academic debate on education’s role in economic growth