A model of endogenous education quality: the role of teachers

Abstract Over the last 40 years, the massive increase in average years of schooling in developing countries was not accompanied by a similar increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. We investigate this apparent disconnect between education and growth by focusing on the role of education quality. We propose an overlapping generations model which features an endogenous tradeoff between quantity and quality of education. A policy that increases average years of schooling then has an ambiguous effect on long-run human capital and GDP per capita. We also consider a quantitative version of the model to understand the Latin American experience between 1970 and 2010.