Universal basic skills: what countries stand to gain

While access to schooling has expanded around the world, many countries have not realised the hoped-for improvements in economic and social wellbeing. Access to education by itself is an incomplete goal for development; many students leave the education system without basic proficiency in literacy and numeracy. As the world coalesces around new sustainable development targets towards 2030, the focus in education is shifting towards access and quality. Using projections based on data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other international student assessments, this report offers a glimpse of the economic and social benefits that all countries, regardless of their national wealth, stand to gain if they ensure that every child not only has access to education but, through that education, acquires at least the baseline level of skills needed to participate fully in society.

[1]  E. Hanushek,et al.  The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth , 2015 .

[2]  Lant Pritchett,et al.  The Rebirth of Education: Schooling Ain't Learning , 2013 .

[3]  Tom S. Vogl.  Height, Skills, and Labor Market Outcomes in Mexico , 2012 .

[4]  F. Carmignani,et al.  Introduction to Modern Economic Growth. , 2012 .

[5]  E. Hanushek,et al.  The Economic Benefit of Educational Reform in the European Union , 2012 .

[6]  D. Acemoglu.  Introduction to economic growth , 2012, J. Econ. Theory.

[7]  R. Barro,et al.  A New Data Set of Educational Attainment in the World, 1950-2010 , 2010 .

[8]  E. Hanushek,et al.  The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement , 2010, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[9]  E. Hanushek,et al.  Sample Selectivity and the Validity of International Student Achievement Tests in Economic Research , 2010, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[10]  Eric A. Hanushek,et al.  Do better schools lead to more growth? Cognitive skills, economic outcomes, and causation , 2009, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[11]  Philippe Aghion,et al.  The Economics of Growth , 2008 .

[12]  Jishnu Das,et al.  India Shining and Bharat Drowning: Comparing Two Indian States to the Worldwide Distribution in Mathematics Achievement , 2008 .

[13]  V. Greaney,et al.  Assessing National Achievement Levels in Education , 2007 .

[14]  Mark Setterfield,et al.  What is Endogenous Growth Theory , 2007 .

[15]  E. Hanushek,et al.  Publicly Provided Education , 2002 .

[16]  Marcelo Soto,et al.  Growth and human capital: good data, good results , 2001 .

[17]  Jerik Hanushek,et al.  Schooling, Labor-force Quality, and the Growth of Nations , 2000 .

[18]  Peter J. Klenow,et al.  Does Schooling Cause Growth , 2000 .

[19]  James A. Robinson,et al.  The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation , 2000 .

[20]  X. Sala-i-Martin,et al.  Determinants of Long-Term Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (Bace) Approach , 2000 .

[21]  L. Pritchett.  Where Has All the Education Gone? , 1996 .

[22]  D. Weil,et al.  A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth Author ( s ) : , 2008 .

[23]  P. Romer.  Endogenous Technological Change , 1989, Journal of Political Economy.

[24]  R. Lucas.  On the Mechanics of Economic Development , 1988 .

[25]  T. C. Edens,et al.  Economic Growth , 1957, The Journal of Economic History.

[26]  E. Hanushek,et al.  The High Cost of Low Educational Performance: The Long-Run Economic Impact of Improving PISA Outcomes. , 2010 .

[27]  E. Hanushek,et al.  The role of cognitive skills in economic development , 2008 .

[28]  Lant Pritchett,et al.  Does Learning to Add up Add up? The Returns to Schooling in Aggregate Data , 2006 .

[29]  Eric A. Hanushek,et al.  The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools , 1986 .