Measuring the Returns to Investments in Education: Overview and Critique

Abstract

Education is universally recognised both as an end in itself and as a means to achieve many other ends. This is true both from the perspective of the individual and from that of society as a whole. In developed countries, increasing the education levels of the population is seen as essential for raising already high levels of social and economic well-being, while in developing countries, it is seen as a prerequisite for raising standards of living to the level of those already enjoyed in developed countries.