A global equalizer? Education and the recent economic convergence of world countries

1Citations
Citations of this article
4Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.
Get full text

Abstract

Does education still serve as a great equalizer today? Does today’s worldwide expansion of schooling foster a global economic convergence? These questions need fresh answers at this time of growing concern over inequality. Past studies have abundantly documented the effects of schooling on within-country inequality, but we know little about corresponding effects on between-country inequality. We fill this gap by drawing on two innovations. The first is to formulate a theory of global inequality that integrates international differences in both the quantity and quality of education. The second, methodological, innovation is to propose and apply a method for decomposing trends in global inequality in GDP in terms of five social forces that include the quantity and quality of schooling. Analyses focus on the 1990–2010 period. The results confirm the continued salience of education: Trends in education account for as much as 80% of the 1990–2010 decline in betweencountry GDP inequality. However, we find a declining significance of “quantity” over “quality.” In sum, education remains salient as a global equalizer but its salience increasingly depends on bridging international differences in school quality.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Giroux, S., Eloundou-Enyegue, P., Sipple, J. W., & Tenikue, M. (2020). A global equalizer? Education and the recent economic convergence of world countries. In International Perspectives on Education and Society (Vol. 39, pp. 111–132). Emerald Group Holdings Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920200000039013

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free