Education and Economic Development : A Case Study of Ghana

Abstract: Ever since Ghana gained independence, its policy makers have identified education as a tool to foster economic growth and development. In recognition of the vast potential for national development that education presents Ghana, various governments have invested considerably in the sector. These investments have been in the form of educational sector reforms, as well as yearly reoccurring expenditure. Despite these massive investments however, very little work has been done to empirically investigate the impact of such expenditure on the nation’s economy. This paper uses data from Ghana to empirically assess the nature of the relationship between education expenditure (a proxy for human capital development) and GDP growth (a proxy for economic growth). The Granger Causality Test is applied to education expenditure and GDP growth data, from 2003 to 2018. Using data from this same time frame, separate Granger Causality tests are also implemented to test the relationship between Gross Enrollment Rates/ Total Completion Rates, at some levels of education, and GDP growth.   Interestingly enough, the analysis shows no Granger causal relationship between our main variables of interest (Total Education Expenditure and GDP growth). Results also show that none of the education variables Granger cause GDP growth, if the test uses 1 lag and also if the test uses 3 lags. Additionally, results show that whether the test uses 1 lag or 2 lags, GDP growth Granger causes the percentage of total government expenditure that is dedicated to education. Results for tests that use 2 lags also shows that the only education variable that Granger causes GDP growth is enrolment rate at the primary level, with GDP growth also not Granger causing any education variable apart from the percentage of government expenditure dedicated to education. In the case of the test using 3 lags, results show that GDP growth Granger causes only one education variable which is expenditure on the Senior High School level.