International Comparisons of Educational Attainment

47 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2004 Last revised: 22 May 2022

See all articles by Robert J. Barro

Robert J. Barro

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jong-Wha Lee

Korea University

Date Written: April 1993

Abstract

Many theories of economic growth stress the role of human capital in the form of education, but empirical studies have been hampered by inadequate data. We describe a data set on educational attainment that we have constructed for 129 countries over five-year periods from 1960-1985. We use census/survey information to fill over 40% of the cells, and we use school enrollment figures in a perpetual-inventory framework to fill the remainder. The data refer to male and female attainment of the adult population at four levels: no-schooling. primary. secondary, and higher. We also provide a rough breakdown into incomplete and complete attainment at the three levels of schooling. We then take account of cross-country variations in the durations of schooling at each level to provide figures on total years of attainment.

Suggested Citation

Barro, Robert J. and Lee, Jong-Wha, International Comparisons of Educational Attainment (April 1993). NBER Working Paper No. w4349, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=227036

Robert J. Barro (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Jong-Wha Lee

Korea University ( email )

Anam-dong, Sungbuk-Ku
Dept. of Economics
Seoul, 136-701
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82-2-928-4948 (Fax)