Throughout the developed and developing worlds, education spending is seen as a key tool for government policy makers in the quest for economic growth. Promoting `human capital’ development is a prime objective for economic and education ministries.

Contents: Introduction Alison Wolf and Sandra McNally PART I EDUCATION AND GROWTH A. Early Classics 1. Edward F. Denison (1964), ‘Measuring the Contribution of Education (and the Residual) to Economic Growth’ 2. Mark Blaug (1972), ‘Educated Unemployment in Asia: A Contrast Between India and the Philippines’ 3. Barry Chiswick (2003), ‘Jacob Mincer, Experience and the Distribution of Earnings’ 4. Robert J. Barro and Jong-Wha Lee (1993), ‘International Comparisons of Educational Attainment’ 5. Robert J. Barro and Jong-Wha Lee (1994), ‘Sources of Economic Growth’ B. Overviews 6. Jacob Mincer (1984), ‘Human Capital and Economic Growth’ 7. Alan B. Krueger and Mikael Lindahl (2001), ‘Education for Growth: Why and for Whom?’ 8. Alison Wolf (2004), ‘Education and Economic Performance: Simplistic Theories and their Policy Consequences’ 9. Lant Pritchett (2001), ‘Where Has All The Education Gone?’ PART II TYPE OF EDUCATION A. Years Versus Qualifications 10. Anna Vignoles, Augustin De Coulon and Oscar Marcenaro-Gutierrez (2011), ‘The Value of Basic Skills in the British Labour Market’ 11. Colm Harmon and Ian Walker (1995), ‘Estimates of the Economic Return to Schooling for the United Kingdom’ 12. Richard Blundell, Lorraine Dearden and Barbara Sianesi (2005), ‘Measuring the Returns to Education’ B. Elite Versus Non-elite Institutions 13. Dan A. Black and Jeffrey A. Smith (2006), ‘Estimating the Returns to College Quality with Multiple Proxies for Quality’ 14. Stacy Berg Dale and Alan B. Krueger (2002), ‘Estimating the Pay-off to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables’ C. General Versus Vocational 15. Dirk Krueger and Krishna B. Kumar (2004), ‘US-Europe Differences in Technology-driven Growth: Quantifying the Role of Education’ 16. Ofer Malamud and Cristian Pop-Eleches (2010), ‘General Education Versus Vocational Training: Evidence from an Economy in Transition’ PART III INNOVATION, EDUCATION AND GROWTH 17. Stephen Machin and John Van Reenen (1998), ‘Technology and Changes in Skill Structure: Evidence from Seven OECD Countries’ 18. Rachel Griffith, Stephen Redding and John Van Reenen (2004), ‘Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries’ 19. Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz (2007), ‘Long-run Changes in the Wage Structure: Narrowing, Widening, Polarizing’ 20. Daron Acemoglu (1999), ‘Changes in Unemployment and Wage Inequality: An Alternative Theory and Some Evidence’ 21. Saul Lach and Mark Schankerman (2008), ‘Incentives and Invention in Universities’ 22. Ricardo Godoy, Dean S. Karlan, Shanti Rabindran and Tomás Huanca (2005), ‘Do Modern Forms of Human Capital Matter in Primitive Economies? Comparative Evidence from Bolivia’ 23. Enrico Moretti (2004), ‘Workers’ Education, Spillovers and Productivity: Evidence from Plant-level Production Functions’ 24. Sharada Weir and John Knight (2004), ‘Externality Effects of Education: Dynamics of the Adoption and Diffusion of an Innovation in Rural Ethiopia’