The Role of Education in Economic Growth: An Exploratory Literature Review

Human capital occupies a leading position in economic development and determines the importance of education as a system responsible for its production. Attention has increasingly been paid in recent years to the role of education in the economic growth of countries. Researchers began to study the impact of education on economic growth in the 19th century and continue to this day. Hence, the growth in the number of publications and scientific studies studying the importance of education in economic growth actualizes the need to use bibliometric analysis methods to identify patterns and trends studied by scientists from various countries around the world. The article examines the works of economists who formulated theories emphasizing the importance of education for economic development. This study reviews scientific works to determine the underlying concepts in the field of the role of education in economic growth. The purpose of this research is to analyze the structure and dynamics of academic research aimed at studying the role of education in economic growth. A bibliometric analysis of the literature was carried out using the VOSviewer software. The sample consists of 2,432 publications from the WoS database. A result of the analysis is a compiled bibliometric map of five clusters. The research outcomes apply to both local higher education establishments and governmental bodies responsible for state educational oversight.

1. Abidin, N. Z., Saraih, U. N., Rashid, I. M. A., & Khairuddin, K. N. (2023, April). The role of education and skills on economic growth in Malaysia. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2544, No. 1). AIP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0116306

2. Barro, R. J., & Lee, J.W. (1993). International comparisons of educational attainment. Journal of Monetary Economics, 32(3), 363-394. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(93)90023-9

3. Becker, G. S. (1962). Investment in human capital: A theoretical analysis. Journal of political economy, 70(5, Part 2), 9-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/258724

4. Becker, G. S. (1975). Investment in human capital: effects on earnings. In Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition (pp. 13-44). NBER.

5. Becker, G. S., Murphy, K. M., & Tamura, R. (1990). Human capital, fertility, and economic growth. Journal of Political Economy, 98 (5, Part 2), S12-S37. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/261723

6. Benhabib, J., & Spiegel, M. M. (1994). The role of human capital in economic development evidence from aggregate cross-country data. Journal of Monetary Economics, 34(2), 143-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(94)90047-7

7. Ben-Porath, Y. (1967). The production of human capital and the life cycle of earnings. Journal of political economy, 75(4, Part 1), 352-365. https://doi.org/10.1086/259291

8. Bils, M., & Klenow, P. J. (2000). Does Schooling Cause Growth? American Economic Review, 90(5), 1160-1183. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.5.1160

9. Denison, E. F. (1962). Sources of Economic Growth in the United States and the Alternative Before Us (Committee for Economic Development, New York). Denison, EF (1967). Why Growth Rates Differ: Post-War Experience in Nine Western Countries, 179-218. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050700104206

10. Docquier, F., & Rapoport, H. (2012). Globalization, Brain Drain, and Development. Journal of Economic Literature, 50(3), 681-730. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.50.3.681

11. Easterlin, R. A. (1981). Why isn’t the whole world developed? The Journal of Economic History, 41(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050700042674

12. Gakidou, E., Cowling, K., Lozano, R., & Murray, C. J. L. (2010). Increased educational attainment and its effect on child mortality in 175 countries between 1970 and 2009: a systematic analysis. Lancet, 376(9745), 959-974. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61257-3

13. Galbraith, J. K., Weidenbaum, M. L., Hession, C. H., Deckard, B., Sherman, H., & Thompson, C. C. (1975). Economics and the public purpose. Journal of Economic Issues, 9(1), 87-100. https://doi.org/10.2307/2149269

14. Griliches, Z. (1997). Education, human capital, and growth: a personal perspective. Journal of Labor Economics, 15(1, Part 2), S330-S344. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3161-3_10

15. Griliches, Z. (1960). Measuring inputs in agriculture: a critical survey. Journal of Farm Economics, 42(5), 1411-1427. https://doi.org/10.2307/1235702

16. Hanushek, E.A., & Woessmann, L. (2008). The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development. Journal of Economic Literature, 46 (3), 607-668. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.46.3.607

17. Haynes, Ch. J. (1987). Education and economic development. ERIC digest series, 23, 1–5.

18. Kireyeva, A. A., Kuandyk, Z., Kredina, A.A., Kangalakova, D., & Doszhan, R. (2023) Analysis of the Input of Education and Innovation on Economic Growth in Kazakhstan. Journal of Distribution Science, 21(1), 23–31. https://doi.org/10.15722/jds.21.01.202301.23

19. Kulzhanova, G. T., Kulzhanova, Z. T., & Efimov, L. A. (2021). Human Capital and Sustainable Development in a Religious Context. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 8(3), 169-182. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/757

20. Kussaiynov, T. A., Mussina, G. S., Bulkhairova, Z. S., & Saimagambetova, G. A. (2023). Financing the development of human capital and the efficiency of the economy of Kazakhstan: analysis of the relationship. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 42(2), 153-169. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIS.2020.10031671

21. Mankiw, N. G., Romer, D., & Weil, D. N. (1992). A contribution to the empirics of economic growth. The quarterly journal of economics, 107(2), 407-437. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118477

22. Molchanova, A. V., & Guliyeva, A. (2022). Impact of the Duration of Compulsory Education on Economic Growth and Welfare. In X Euro-Asian Symposium on Economic Theory” Viability of Economic Theories: through Order and Chaos” (pp. 103-116). Cham, Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27785-6_8

23. Nelson, R. R., & Phelps, E. S. (1966). Investment in humans, technological diffusion, and economic growth. The American Economic Review, 56(1/2), 69-75.

24. Osuntuyi, B. V., & Lean, H. H. (2023). Environmental degradation, economic growth, and energy consumption: The role of education. Sustainable Development, 31(2), 1166-1177. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2480

25. Schultz, T. W. (1961). Investment in human capital. The American Economic Review, 51(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19806-1_19

26. Schultz, T. W. (1960). Capital formation by education. Journal of Political Economy, 68(6), 571- 583. https://doi.org/10.1086/258393

27. Schweke, W. (2004). Smart money: Education and economic development. Economic Policy Institute, Bulgaria, VI, 74.

28. Solow, R. M. (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth. The quarterly journal of economics, 70(1), 65-94. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513

29. Piao, X., & Managi, S. (2023). The international role of education in sustainable lifestyles and economic development. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 8733. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35173-w