Education and long run development in Japan

This presentation will be based on a paper, co-authored with Richard Grabowski of Southern Illinois University and submitted to The Journal of Asian Economies, that address the relationship between various levels of education and economic growth in Japan. The data utilized represent average years of schooling at the primary, secondary, tertiary, and vocational educational levels. The results indicate that primary schooling is causal with respect to economic growth in both the pre- and post-war periods, while secondary and tertiary education have a causal impact on growth in the postwar period. The evidence strongly reflects the multiple channels via which tertiary education influenced the post-war Japanese economy. Vocational education does not seem to have had a direct effect on growth in either period. Time for discussion will be reserved at the end of the presentation