Education quality and economic growth: an application on Turkey

In this thesis, the relationship between educational quality and economic growth and the determinants of educational quality were analyzed by using econometric methods. Firstly, the literature was reviewed and the structure of the Turkish Education System was scrutinized. The initial empiric model in the study covers 1501 high schools and investigates the determinants of education quality in Turkish secondary education. It is concluded that the type of school, the quality of teachers, the research and social facilities of the school and the residential area are the most important factors in the success of education. In the next chapter, two different education quality indexes covering 81 provinces were designed. The educational quality index was used as an indicator of human capital and its effect on GDP per capita was investigated. Since a spatial effect is expected, the study was also estimated by spatial econometric analysis methods. Results suggest that economic growth is related to the quality of education in Turkey and the spatial effect is found.