Education expenditure and economic growth nexus: Evidence from the MINT

The MINT - Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey - are from the countries projected to attain a significant level of economic success in the years to come. As a result of the demographic and geographic characteristics of these countries, they have the potential to push their economies to a globally competitive standard that is suitable for rapid economic development and advancement. From the prerequisites for the actualisation of such standard is the improvement in the quality of labour and deliberate investment in human capital through education. This study examines the viability of such prospects for the MINT by investigating education expenditure and economic growth relationship in the MINT. Through the use of a panel data set ranging from the year 1994 to the year 2020, the study utilises panel Dynamic Least Squares (DOLS) and Fully Modified Least Squares (FMOLS) methods to examine the impact of education expenditure on growth in the MINT, and the finding from the study shows that there is a long-run relationship between education expenditure and economic growth. Expenditure on education positively affects economic growth in Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. More specifically, according to findings in this study, it is observed that a unit increase in the percentage of education expenditure will result in a 3 - 4 per cent increase in economic growth in the MINT. Labour also significantly impacts economic growth in the MINT. The results for the countries imply that expenditure on education and human capital should be encouraged, as evidence from this study conforms to findings from the literature.