The contribution of education to economic growth: A review of the evidence, with special attention and an application to sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines recent studies that estimate the impact of education on economic growth. It explains why cross-country regressions face formidable econometric problems. Recent studies are reviewed: some show strong impacts of education on economic growth; others show little effect. All have multiple estimation problems, which may explain their divergent results. Evidence shows that education quality in Sub-Saharan Africa is much lower than in other developing countries. Estimates from three influential studies are extended; the results suggest that the impact of education on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is lower than in other countries, likely due to lower school quality.