Examining the Relationship between Preprimary Education and Economic Growth in Developing Countries

Purpose: The aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between preprimary/primary education and economic growth in developing countries for the period 1997-2019. Design/Methodology: In this study, making use of the relevant literature, two independent variables were added to Mankiw et al. (1992) neoclassical growth model and the extended model was used. The obtained model was estimated by the Generalized Moments Method. Findings: The results revealed that human capital positively effects economic growth. Additionally, preprimary education is more effective than primary education over the economic growth. The results also indicated that the elasticity of human capital investment is higher than physical capital investment. Therefore, it is concluded that human capital supports economic growth more than physical capital. Limitations: Since the data used in the study were only available for 40 developing countries, the remaining developing countries were not included in the model estimation, and again, considering only pre-school and primary education stages in the model due to the lack of data are the limitations of the research. Originality/Value: Although the relationship between other stages of education and economic growth has been extensively studied in the literature, there are limited empirical studies between preprimary education and economic growth. For this reason, reaching the results that can contribute to the education policies of developing countries in the study constitutes the original value of the research.