Educational Human Capital and Levels of Income: Evidence from States in India, 1965-92

This paper examines the long-run (steady-state) relationship between levels of educational human capital and levels of income for the 15 major states of India between 1965 and 1992. The relationship is estimated using the Pooled Mean Groups (PMG) technique; which produces common long-run coefficients but allows heterogeneity of the short-run adjustment parameters, and is well-suited to approximately square panels. The results suggest that levels of educational human capital, proxied by secondary school enrollment rates, have a robust positive impact on steady-state levels of income. This is true for male and female education, and the regressions also suggest that states which have larger gender-gaps in education have lower steady-state incomes. The estimated relationship is robust to the inclusion of alternative measures, added controls, and variation in the degree of state coverage.