Higher Education and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This study empirically estimated the effects of education on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa using a set of cross-country panel data from 11 countries over the period 2005-2011. The methodological procedure employed in the analysis followed the Breusch-Pagan Lagrangian Multiplier test and Hausman test techniques. Based on the Fixed Effects (FE) model, estimated results reveal that tertiary education has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on economic growth in the region. The computed R-squared indicates that nearly 41.64 percent total variation in economic growth was accounted for by primary, secondary and tertiary education during the period 2005-2011. The F-statistic (=16.44; p < 0.05) indicates that the model was statistically significant.

Keywords: education, economic growth, primary, secondary, tertiary and enrolment