The Political Economy of Education:Comparative Perspectives. Professor W. John Morgan

Education & the State

• Aims of the Session:• 1. To consider the relationship

between education and the State.• 2. To consider the relationship

between education and economic growth.

• 3. To consider the relationship between education and employment.

The State

• The advent of mass higher education in the developed countries and the equally spectacular expansion of student numbers in the developing countries is evidence of the dominance of human capital theory in the economics of education.

The State

• The problem is that few countries can afford to maintain such a commitment, above all in the absence of sustained economic growth.

• This has re-invigorated the public v private debate, together with the related questions of student mobility and brain drain.

Economic Growth• There is a consensus that an educated

and skilled labour force is a necessary condition for economic growth.

• However, any evaluation of the role of education in the process of economic development should go beyond the analysis of the single statistic of aggregate economic growth.

Economic Growth

• It is also necessary to consider the structure and pattern of economic growth.

• The distribution of its benefits.• Patterns of change, such as mass

regional or structural unemployment or migration.

Education & Employment• The interaction between economically

motivated demands and politically responsive supplies in determining how many educational places are provided, what is on offer, who gets access.

• The important distinction between social and private benefits, costs at different levels and investment strategy.

Education & Employment• There are several other important

non-variables, many of them non-economic, such as cultural traditions, social status, parental education, family size.

• However, such variables can give an insight into the relationship between the demand for education and employment opportunities.

Education & Employment• It is the aggregate private demand

for education that largely determines the supply.

• The demand for an education sufficient to qualify an individual for employment appears to be related to or even determined by the combined influence of:

Education & Employment

• The direct private costs of education.• The indirect opportunity costs of

education.• The wage or income differential.• The likelihood of getting a job.

Education & Employment• The irony is that the more

unprofitable a given level of education becomes at a terminal point, the more demand for it increases.

• This puts great pressure on governments to expand educational facilities at all levels. If they do not respond fast enough, then people may do so independently

Education & Employment

• By reflecting the socio-economic structures of the societies in which they function (whether egalitarian or not) educational systems tend to perpetuate, reinforce and reproduce those economic and social structures. How then does educational reform and social change come about?

To be continued

WJM.

Comparative Education & Public Policy

• Aims of the Session:• 1.To consider the relationship

between Comparative Education and Public Policy.

• 2.To consider recommended reading and journals.

• 3.To consider the list of Assignment questions for the Module.

Comparative Education & Public Policy

• Guidance in designing better policies.• To deepen understanding of how

different cultures, institutions and political processes deal with similar problems.

• The globalization of the economy, political integration and cultural convergence

Questions & Perspectives• What, why, how and to what effect?• The consequences of action or

inaction?• What are the constraints?• Historical• Cultural• Political• Economic

Problems

• Are instruments of measurement comparable?

• The multiplicity of variables makes comparison complicated.

• Systems have dynamic qualities.• Systems have unique characteristics.• Should we compare only like with

like?

Possibilities• A reminder of uncertainty in policy

making.• Sharpens understanding of one’s own

system.• Develops understanding of policy

options through case studies and cross-analysis.

• Provides a health warning about e attempts to simply transplant policies.

Suggested Reading

• H.Noah & M.A.Eckstein, Doing Comparative Education, CERC, University of Hong Kong, 1998.

• R.Arnove and C.A.Torres (eds.)Comparative Education:The dialectic of the global and the local, Rowman and Littlefield, Boulder,USA,1999.

Suggested Reading

• Halsey, A. H. et al (eds.) (1997), Education: Culture, economy and society, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

• Green, A. (1997), Education, Globalization and the Nation State, Macmillan, Basingstoke.

Suggested Reading

• F.Youngman, The Political Economy of Adult Education and Development, Zed Books, London, 2000.

• World Development Report, Building Institutions for Markets, Oxford University Press and The World Bank, Washington DC, 2002

Suggested Reading

• Heidenheimer, A. J. et al (eds.) (1990), Comparative Public Policy: The politics of social choice in America, Europe and Japan, 3rd Edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke.

• Martinussen, J (1997), Society, State and Market: A guide to competing theories of development, Zed Books, London and New Jersey.

Suggested Reading• A. Green ‘Education and globalization

in Europe and East Asia:Convergent and divergent trends.’ Journal of Education Policy, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1999, pp. 55-72.(Special issue on Globalization).

• International Journal of Educational Development, Vol. 22, Nos. 5 and 6, 2002 (Special issue on World Bank).

Journals

• Adult Education and Development• Convergence• Compare• Comparative Education• Comparative Education Review• Economics of Education Review• International Journal of Lifelong

Education

Journals

• International Review of Education• International Journal of Education

and Development• International Journal of Training and

Development• Journal of Education Planning and

Administration• Journal of Education Policy

Questions

• What are the basic principles of human capital theory? How may they be criticized?

• What is meant by the political economy of education? To what extent do you think educational planning and policy decisions ought to be guided by economic considerations?

Questions• Distinguish between private and

social benefits of education using examples from both the developed and the developing world.

• What is the rationale for state subsidy of higher education? Do you think it sensible from an economic viewpoint?

Questions• Show the links between systems of

education and training and labour markets and employment, focussing on states newly admitted to the E.U.

• What is meant by the term globalization? Show how it may effect educational policy and planning in Hungary.

Questions

• What factors cause the international migration of educated workers? Assess the costs and benefits to both countries of origin and of destination.

• What are the advantages and constraints of using the comparative method to analyze the development of human and social capital.

To Be Continued

WJM