The role of education in explaining technologyintensive exports: a comparative analysis of transition and non-transition economies

Abstract

This article examines the role of education in explaining the technology-intensive exports of 27 European countries. A comparative analysis of transition and nontransition economies is also conducted in this article. The empirical assessment provides sufficient evidence to support the hypothesized positive link between the stock of population with tertiary education and the share of medium-high and hightechnology exports for the full sample of countries, the effect being relatively stronger for the high-technology category. The importance of higher levels of education is further supported by the non-linear relationship between the average years of schooling and technology intensive exports. The empirical findings also reveal a positive and highly significant relationship between the share of population with tertiary education and the export sophistication of the full set of countries. The evidence from country group estimations is weaker. Some supporting evidence is found for the hypothesized role of the quality of education.