A macroeconomic perspective on education and inequality

This paper attempts to contrast the traditional view of there being a fundamental trade-off between productive efficiency (and/or growth) and social equality against the current knowledge on these matters as mediated by theoretical and empirical analyses reported in the more recent literature of this particular field. An overall conclusion from the subsequent, yet far from comprehensive, overview is that the relationship between inequality and economic growth, as well as the underlying mechanisms, is still far from being well understood. One thing is certain, though: recent empirical evidence has challenged the traditional views that increasing inequality has a positive impact on economic growth, and that redistribution through education subsidies has a negative effect on growth. – education ; inequality ; macroeconomic perspective