Higher Education and Economic Growth in Planning Zone 3

Education enables individuals to improve their socioeconomic status by providing access to better employment opportunities and higher incomes. This research aims to determine the impact of higher education on economic growth in the provinces of Ecuador’s Planning Zone 3. To achieve this, a fixed-effects panel data model was employed using annual data from 2015 to 2022. The main findings suggest that as expenditure on education, enrollment, and coverage in higher education increase, the economic growth of the provinces in Planning Zone 3 also improves. This underscores the significance of higher education for regional economic development.