Aims

By the end of the course, students will be able to understand and apply a number of conceptual and methodological tools that derive from micro-economics, public economics and econometrics, and will then be able to understand (positive viewpoint) and evaluate (normative viewpoint) the phenomena and problems that arise in the framework of education and training activities.

Main themes

This is an introductory course. It is based on applied micro and public economics, and covers a fairly wide range of issues focused on demand, supply (production) and the individual and collective impact of education. The main aim is to conduct a survey of the analytical tools provided by economic science to understand and problematise education and training activities in countries like Belgium that are marked by an advanced stage of development.
It also aims to measure the potential and limitations of economic analysis applied to a field undergoing major change, and about which expectations are growing (i.e. education, vocational training, and human capital (in the broad sense of that phrase)).
In addition, the course will seek to provide an introduction to the concepts and theories that economists have developed over the last 40 years to understand (positive approach) and evaluate (normative approach) issues (e.g. salaries and growth) and the way that this vast sector functions (e.g. individual and collective decisions on investment in education, the nature of the human capital 'good', the typical function of production of human capital, the ways in which education systems are regulated, and the logic of the formation of enterprises).

Content and teaching methods

Content
1. The individual benefits of education: analysis around the notion of human capital.
2. Human capital and growth/development: a theoretical overview and empirical evaluation.
3. The nature of the education 'good': implications in relation to the issue of funding.
4. Education and training supply: economic analysis of the operation and management of systems of education and training.
5. Enterprises and training: economic analyses of the firm as a training operator: incentives, constraints and problems of coordination: G Becker and his opponents.
6. The growing role of qualifications in the good or bad fortune that individuals experience on the labour market.

Method
The course consists of presentations of, and discussions on, theories, concepts and methods employed by education economists. These theories are discussed in the light of the outcomes of numerous empirical analyses, micro and macro, of growth and work carried out by education economists.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Two-year degree courses in Economic Sciences.


Multiple-choice questionnaire on the main points of the course, and an open question relating to points of the course (answers on 1-2 pages).

A list of texts will be made available to students at the beginning of the course. This will also contain a more comprehensive bibliography.

Other credits in programs