The Relative Importance of Education in the Economic Take-off of Malaysia

This project aims at examining the impacts of human capital on economic growth and at the same time, outlining an empirical framework for considering the role of human capital on economic growth. While debates are popular among economists about the explanatory power of education on growth, this paper approaches the question first through theories and statistics in Southeast Asia in general, followed by cross-sectional regression of economic growth and other variables. In the second chapter of the project, Malaysia is picked out as a specific case of illustrating the relationship between human capital and growth. As Malaysia stands out as a compelling example of achieving remarkable economic development among other South East Asian countries, this project tries to answer the following questions: What factor(s) contribute(s) most to the economic growth of Malaysia? How does the investment in human capital affect growth? In the third chapter, empirical investigation is conducted in order to compare the relevant importance of different GDP drivers and see whether in Malaysia’s case, the flow of human capital does leads to the economic take-off