Economics Of Education

This course combines economic theory and empirical findings to examine different aspects of the economics of education. Topics include (but not limited to): The basic theory of investment and signalling in education; the empirical problem of disentangling the private return to education from the return to innate ability; evidence on the non-pecuniary return to education; externalities; the role of early childhood education; the problems associated with giving incentives to teachers and students to boost performance; the role of income and inequality of access to education; the roles of school inputs such as class size and peers on educational attainment; the effects of teachers; the role of non-economic factors in education such as grit and aspirations. Through this course, students will gain a basic understanding of different issues in the economics of education literature and how to analyse educational policy outcomes, which will be relevant for policy making in the real world.