Education, Social Cohesion and Economic Growth
42 Pages Posted: 1 May 2001
There are 2 versions of this paper
Education, Social Cohesion and Economic Growth
Date Written: April 2001
Abstract
Analysis of the contribution of education to growth through its role in promoting a common culture indicates that when different cultural groups separately determine the social content of their school curricula excessive polarization can result, with less than optimal growth. The optimal trajectory involves a gradual, reciprocal convergence of school curricula towards the middle ground. However, this may be difficult to implement in a political context in which all agents are identified with one group or another. When curricula are determined by legislative bargaining, centralization of schooling may result in overly rapid homogenization in some cases, and - perhaps surprisingly - excessive polarization in others.
Keywords: Economic growth, education, social cohesion
JEL Classification: D70, I21, O40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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