## Columbia or High School? Understanding the Roles of Education in Development

_IMF Working Papers, February 1, 2002_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Rodney Ramcharan
- Published: February 1, 2002
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451845464.001

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### Central question and framework
- Investigates which types of schooling—secondary or tertiary—public policy should promote to facilitate sustained economic development.
- Develops an analytical framework linking the composition of the human capital stock to a country's development outcomes.
- Emphasizes that promoting the "wrong" type of schooling can have little effect on development.

### Key findings
- No country has achieved sustained economic development without investment in education.
- The composition of the human capital stock determines a country's development.
- Promoting the incorrect mix of schooling types (secondary versus tertiary) may yield limited developmental impact.
- The paper identifies characteristics of an optimal education policy based on the analytical framework.
- The framework helps explain why empirical studies have often failed to find a significant relationship between schooling and growth.

### Policy implications and recommendations
- Education policy should be designed to shape the composition of the human capital stock in ways that align with the country's developmental needs.
- Policymakers should avoid one-size-fits-all promotion of schooling types; instead, target the mix (secondary versus tertiary) that supports the desired development path.
- Understanding demand- and supply-side linkages, schooling externalities, and the private cost and rate of return to schooling is important for designing effective education policy.

### Thematic keywords and topics covered
- Education; Financial institutions; Human capital; Labor; Skilled labor; Stocks
- demand and supply; demand linkage; development; East Asia; education investment; growth; private cost; rate of return; schooling cost; schooling externality; schooling investment decision; tertiary schooling

### Publication and metadata
- Author: Rodney Ramcharan
- Date: February 1, 2002
- Series: Working Paper No. 2002/036
- Issue: 036
- Volume: 2002
- Pages: 43
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451845464.001
- Stock No: WPIEA0362002
- ISBN: 9781451845464
- ISSN: 1018-5941

*Source: "Columbia or High School? Understanding the Roles of Education in Development", IMF Working Paper by Rodney Ramcharan (February 1, 2002).*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Columbia or High School? Undestanding the Roles of Education in Development - WP/02/36**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2016/12/30/columbia-or-high-school-understanding-the-roles-of-education-in-development-15589_