Quality Education and the Efficiency of Public Expenditure: A Cross-Country Comparative Analysis

Elisé Miningou

No 9077, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Improving access to quality education has been the backbone of several development strategies around the world and considerable public resources have been dedicated to achieving this goal. However, one could wonder whether increasing public education expenditure would drive better access to quality education despite the inefficiencies plaguing public sectors in general. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency with which public education spending is translated into increased access to quality education in the light of the learning-adjusted years of schooling. The results show that education expenditure per school-age individual is positively associated with an increased number of years of quality schooling. However, it is estimated that, on average, 16 percent of the public financial resources dedicated to education in developing countries are wasted because of inefficiencies. Although efficiency greatly varies across countries, low-income countries are overall facing a double issue of low levels of education expenditure and weak efficiency of public expenditure on education. Factors related to governance, labor market conditions, and the type of education aid seem to matter for efficiency.

Date: 2019-12-10
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