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Education reform in Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • George J. Borjas
  • Olga Lucía Acosta Navarro

Abstract

. Public education is one of the largest components of the public sectorin Colombia, in term of its size, share of public expenditures, and geographic coverage. In 1997, Colombia had 85 thousand educational establishments, 390 thousand teachers, and 8.6 million students. In addition, public school teachers and educational staff comprise the highest percentage of public sector employment. During the last half of the 1980s, the Central government promoted a reorganization of the state administration to give municipalities a greater responsibility in financing and administering most public services. This paper examines various aspects of the public education system in Colombia and evaluates the impact of the educational reforms adopted in the last decade. Our empirical analysis suggests that with the exception of teacher salaries, which experienced a significant increase after 1994, the trends in several measures of educational outcomes are roughly similar both before and after 1994. It seems unlikely, therefore, that the education reforms had much impact on Colombia´s education system. The paper concludes by making a number of policy recommendations that could improve the allocation of resources in this large and important sector.

Suggested Citation

  • George J. Borjas & Olga Lucía Acosta Navarro, 2000. "Education reform in Colombia," Working Papers Series. Documentos de Trabajo 2410, Fedesarrollo.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000123:002410
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11445/820
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    2. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    3. Jesús Duarte, 1996. "La debilidad del Ministerio de Educación y la politización de la educación pública en Colombia: dos problemas a enfrentar en el Plan Decenal," Coyuntura Social 13215, Fedesarrollo.
    4. Humberto Mora & Ulpiano Ayala Oramas & Catalina Gutiérrez & Andrés Mauricio Velasco, 1999. "Financiamiento de la educación: evaluación de la viabilidad del sistema de capitación," Coyuntura Económica, Fedesarrollo, December.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Elacqua, Gregory & Munevar, Isabela & Sanchez, Fabio & Santos, Humberto, 2021. "The impact of decentralized decision-making on student outcomes and teacher quality: Evidence from Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Bonet-Morón, Jaime Alfredo, 2008. "Inequidad espacial en la dotación educativa regional en Colombia," Chapters, in: Bonet-Morón, Jaime Alfredo (ed.), Geografía económica y análisis espacial en Colombia, chapter 4, pages 143-173, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    3. Carlos Estaban Posada & Wilman Gómez, 2002. "Crecimiento económico y gasto público: un modelo para el caso colombiano," Revista ESPE - Ensayos Sobre Política Económica, Banco de la República, vol. 20(41-42), pages 5-86, June.
    4. Becerra, Ligia Melo, 2004. "Intergovernmental fiscal relations : the Colombian case," Economics PhD Theses 0304, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. World Bank, 2002. "Colombia : Poverty Report, Volume 1. Main Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 15294, The World Bank Group.
    6. repec:bdr:ensayo:v::y:2006:i:51:p:92-128 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Ligia Melo Becerra, 2005. "Impacto De La Descentralización Fiscal Sobre La Educación Pública Colombiana," Borradores de Economia 2802, Banco de la Republica.
    8. Zelda Brutti, 2016. "Cities drifting apart: Heterogeneous outcomes of decentralizing public education," Working Papers 2016/26, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    9. Diana Ricciulli-Marín & Jaime Bonet-Morón & Gerson Javier Pérez-Valbuena, 2022. "Cien anos de finanzas públicas territoriales en Colombia," Cuadernos de Historia Económica 20602, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    10. Brutti Zelda, 2020. "Cities drifting apart: Heterogeneous outcomes of decentralizing public education," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-38, January.
    11. Jaime Andrés Sarmiento Espinel & Adriana Carolina Silva Arias, 2014. "La formación del economista en Colombia," Revista Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, vol. 0(1), pages 231-262, June.
    12. Felipe Barrera Osorio & Alejandro Gaviria Uribe, 2003. "Efficiency of colombian schools," Informes de Investigación 2436, Fedesarrollo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educación; Reforma de la Educación; Política Educativa; Economía Institucional;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • P11 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Planning, Coordination, and Reform

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