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Education and Economics: Disciplinary Evolution and Policy Discourse

Online ISBN:
9780199082070
Print ISBN:
9780198082255
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Education and Economics: Disciplinary Evolution and Policy Discourse

Saumen Chattopadhyay
Saumen Chattopadhyay

Associate Professor, Zakir Husain Centre for Educational

Jawaharlal Nehru University
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Published online:
24 January 2013
Published in print:
18 October 2012
Online ISBN:
9780199082070
Print ISBN:
9780198082255
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

This book explores various conceptualizations of education in economic theory and how this has influenced policymaking in education. Despite the relative dominance of human capital theory in economics of education as a sub-discipline of economics and neo-liberalism as an overarching framework in policy discourse, the alternative perspectives to understand and appreciate the role of education in socio-economic development deserve immediate attention. The book deconstructs the interface between economic theory and education in order to unravel the various ways in which education plays a role in socio-economic development to drive home the point that straightforward application of economic theory to study education and the education market while designing education policies is fraught with many pitfalls. While attaining efficiency in resource use and competitiveness are the dominant concerns for policymakers in the emerging global knowledge economy, inclusive and socially cohesive growth also deserves prime attention from policymakers. In particular, it is argued that an absence of a well-defined production function for an academic institution not only discredits the credibility of neo-liberal reform measures, but also justifies why reliance on the market as the guiding principle and the private sector as the dominant service provider may have serious adverse implications for education and the society. After all, classification of education and knowledge as public goods or otherwise and, therefore, their contributions in the economy and society are essentially policy constructs. The book ends with a discussion of challenges facing the Indian education system and policies being mooted.

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