Education, human capital inequality and economic growth: Evidence from Turkey

Abstract

Recent studies consider the unequal dispersion of human capital as a possible explanation for regional and cross-country variations in output growth. An unequal dispersion of human capital is expected to affect growth negatively through its negative effect on human capital accumulation and on the efficient allocation of resources. The paper focuses on the relationship between human capital inequalities and economic growth for the provinces of Turkey in the period 1975-2000. Education inequality turns out to be an important factor explaining variations in output growth and there is evidence that this effect occurs mainly through the inefficiency channel.