Returns to Investment in Education: A Global Update
Author(s)
Psacharopoulos, George
Abstract
The paper provides a comprehensive update of the profitability of investment in education at a global scale. The rate of return patterns established in earlier reviews are upheld: namely, that primary education continues to be the number one investment priority in developing countries; the returns decline by the level of schooling and the country’s per capita income; investment in women’s education is in general more profitable than that for men; returns in the private competitive sector of the economy are higher than among those working in the public sector; and that the public financing of higher education is regressive. The above findings are discussed in the context of controversies in the field, concluding that investment in education continues to be a very attractive investment opportunity in the world today – both from the private and the social point of view.
