Returns to Education: A Further International Update and Implications

This paper updates evidence on the returns to investment in education by adding estimates for new countries and refining existing estimates to bring the total number of country cases to over 60. The new cross-country evidence confirms and reinforces earlier patterns, namely, that returns are highest for primary education, the general curricula, the education of women, and countries with the lowest per capita income. The findings have important implications for directing future investment in education which, for efficiency and equity purposes, should concentrate on these priority areas.