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Cross-Country Data on Skills and the Quality of Schooling: A Selective Survey

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  • Angel de la Fuente
  • Rafael Doménech

Abstract

Scores in standardized international student achievement tests and some recent adult literacy studies provide interesting data on the quality of educational outputs and on the skill level of the population that can be a useful complement to the data on the quantity of schooling which have been most commonly used in the growth literature. This paper describes the most recent available primary data on the subject, reviews different attempts to organize, standardize and summarize them, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the existing indicators and their potential usefulness as explanatory variables in empirical analyses of the determinants of income and welfare levels and growth rates. A final section investigates the distribution of these indicators across a sample of 21 core OECD countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Angel de la Fuente & Rafael Doménech, 2021. "Cross-Country Data on Skills and the Quality of Schooling: A Selective Survey," Working Papers 1301, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:1301
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    human capital measurement; years of schooling; educational quality; adult skills;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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