The social benefits of education
By: Jere R. Behrman and Nevzer Stacey, editors.
Contributors: Behrman, Jere R.; Stacey, Nevzer.
Series: The economics of education
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Language: eng
Number of pages: 266
Subjects: Education -- Social aspects -- United States -- Congresses; Education and state -- United States -- Congresses; Education -- United States -- Evaluation -- Congresses
Description: For decades, the primary argument in justifying education has been based on its direct economic effects. Yet education also provides "social benefits" for individuals and society at large, including a better way of taking care of ourselves and consequently creating a better society to live in. Though difficult to quantify these social benefits, a more systematic analysis would improve our understanding of the full effects of education and provide a basis for considering related policies. To promote better understanding, the Office of Research of the United States Department of Education commissioned a series of papers on measuring these effects of education.

Those papers, revised and updated, are collected here. Kenneth J. Arrow provides perspective on education and preference formation, and Jere R. Behrman considers general conceptual ad measurement issues in assessing the social benefits of education and policies related to education. These issues are taken up by experts in four fields - health, parenting, the environment, and crime. The introduction and conclusion provide an overview, discuss directions for future studies, and address three common themes: measurement issues regarding what we mean by education and its benefits; basic analytical issues in assessing the impact of education on these social benefits using behavioral data; and whether the social benefits of education justify public policy interventions.

This book will interest social scientists and policy analysts concerned about the critical role of education in society and the formulation of better educational policies, and those interested in the effects of education on health, parenting, the environment, and crime.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Revisions of papers originally commissioned by the Office of Research of the U.S. Dept. of Education and then presented at a conference in Washington, D.C., in January 1995.