Financing Higher Education: Lessons from economic theory and operational experience

Abstract

This chapter talks about how to pay for teaching at universities. It does not talk about financing research or about any particular country. Instead, its purpose is to offer a tool kit for policy makers thinking about reform. The chapter sets out lessons for policy design from economic theory and the experience of developed countries. Economic theory, however, is not enough. Policy design that outstrips a country’s capacity to implement it effectively is bad policy design. This chapter therefore deliberately goes beyond theory to include lessons about implementation. The chapter concludes with discussion of the resulting system.