The Economics of Education: Human Capital, Family Background and Inequality

by Daniele Checchi

Overview

In an important contribution to educational policy, Daniele Checchi offers an economic perspective on the demand and supply of education. He explores the reasons why, beyond a certain point, investment in education has not resulted in reductions in social inequalities. Starting with the seminal work of Gary Becker, Checchi provides an extensive survey of the literature on human capital and social capital formation. He draws on individual data on intergenerational transmission of income and education for the USA, Germany and Italy, as well as aggregate data on income and educational inequality for a much wider range of countries. Checchi explores whether resources spent in education are effective in raising students' achievement, as well as analysing alternative ways of financing education. The Economics of Education thus provides the analytical tools necessary to understand the complex relationships between current income inequality, access to education and future inequality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107713550
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/23/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Daniele Checchi is Professor of Economics at the University of Milan. He has published books on income inequality and the economics of education, and articles in refereed journals on the intergenerational mobility of incomes and labour market institutions.

Table of Contents

List of figures; List of tables; Preface; 1. The relevance of education; 2. The demand for education; 3. Liquidity constraints and access to education; 4. The supply of education; 5. Education financing; 6. The return on education; 7. Intergenerational persistence; References; Subject index; Author index.

Editorial Reviews

“Checchi has produced an interesting, sophisticated, and accessible discussion of the theoretical relationships among years of schooling, inequality of income, and further educational attainment. […] His hundreds of footnotes help make this a book that any new researcher in the field would want to have.” —Choice

From the Publisher