Mass education or a minority well educated elite in the process of growth: The case of India

Amparo Castello-Climent and Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay

Journal of Development Economics, 2013, vol. 105, issue C, 303-320

Abstract: This paper analyzes whether mass education is more growth enhancing in developing countries than having a minority well educated elite. Using Indian Census data as a benchmark and enrollment rates at different levels of education, we compute annual attainment levels for a panel of 16 Indian states from 1961 to 2001. Results indicate that if the reduction in illiteracy stops at the primary level of education, it is not worthwhile for growth. Instead, the findings reveal a strong and significant effect on growth of a greater share of population completing tertiary education. The economic impact is also found to be large: a one percent change in tertiary education has the same effect on growth as a 13% decrease in illiteracy rates. A sensitivity analysis shows the results are unlikely to be driven by omitted variables, structural breaks, reverse causation or atypical observations.

Keywords: Distribution of education; Attainment levels; Economic growth; Panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I25 O11 O50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (32)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:105:y:2013:i:c:p:303-320

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.03.012

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