Working Paper Series: Special Edition of 2016 to 2018 Interns

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Introduction Studies seeking to decompose economic growth are nothing new. Indeed, for as long as there has been growth accounting there have been inquests into the sources of growth. “In the 1960s, growth theory consisted mainly of the neoclassical model as developed by Ramsey (1928), Solow (1956), Swan (1956), Cass (1965) and Koopmans (1965)” (Barrow, 1997: 3-4). Perhaps one of the most discussed growth phenomena has been the experience of the East-Asian newly industrialised nations. Often termed the ‘East-Asian Miracle’, this group of nations recorded unprecedented growth during the 1960s to 1980s. This quickly became the subject of much inquiry by academics and politicians alike. Bayhaqi (2006: 172) captures the prevailing debate with the question of “whether it was simply an input-driven growth, where economic growth was simply a process of accumulation of factors of production (capital and labour), or whether it was productivity-driven growth, [spurred] by total factor productivity, from augmented-labour or augmented-capital”. Grenadines (ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES) has witnessed extensive transformation both in the period before and after independence. Its structure was established in the 1937 Education Act, and is broadly consistent with the UNESCO revised International Standard Classification of Education of 1996 (Ministry of Education Youth and Sports 2002, 7). Bayhaqi (2006) correctly points out that education is not being considered as a sub-system of economic growth in respect of investigations such as this, but rather the interest stems from the possibility of variables within the education system intersecting with those in the economic growth and development processes. Such an understanding can only help to bring added clarity to the questions surrounding human capital development and its link with socio-economic advancement. The following research questions underpin this study: The education system of St. Vincent and the 1. How have education enrolment and labour force education attainment levels changed over the study period? 2. To what extent have the quality of physical capital and labour changed over the study period? 3. To what extent have physical capital and labour accumulation contributed to economic growth? 4. What is the marginal effect of additional years of schooling? 5. To what extent have the different levels of education contributed independently to economic growth?

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