Higher Education and Economic Development: A Comparative Study of the Selected Countries of the World

The impact of higher education on the development is undeniable. However, some evidence suggests that an unplanned increase in the number of higher education institutions and graduate students has not led to the growth. The expansion of higher education can only lead to the economic development and the reduction of poverty and inequality that is accompanied by a quality orientation and the spread of quality culture in all pillars of the higher education system. In examining the importance of education in the process of economic development, the three approaches of human capital, human development, and the return to investment in the education are of particular importance. These approaches can be used as a theoretical framework to examine the interdependence of the education and development or to analyze the growing importance of education in the development process. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the expansion (quantitative and qualitative) of higher education with the economic development among 78 countries of the world. 

Methodologically, the present study was a comparative cross-national research in which the analysis unit was the nation state, and the research hypotheses have been tested using the secondary analysis of the data. Due to the different levels of the measurement of variables, all variables were standardized and converted to new variables (range of 0 to 100). The statistical sample of the present study included all the countries for which the data were available in the preferred period. Accordingly, 78 countries were selected as statistical samples for the hypothesis test. 

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the higher education and the economic development among 78 selected countries in the world. The results showed that the quantitative expansion of higher education had a reverse effect on the economic development. In other words, the unbridled entry of students into the higher education system, especially in developing countries without long-standing academic traditions, can reduce the quality of the previous elitist educational system and create a challenge in its internal functions. Also, it will not affect the external environment and solving social problems. On the other hand, the mismatch between the supply and demand of human resources and the lack of an organic connection between the higher education and local contexts and industries in these countries will lead to the growing wave of unemployment of university graduates, increasing the distrust of the university system and finally reducing its status. Instead of solving economic and social problems, the university will become a severe obstacle to the development and progress of the society. The results showed that the (internal) efficiency in higher education had a positive relationship with the economic development. Of course, in general, the efficiency does not necessarily turn into the economic growth, but other necessities are also required. In some countries, for example, the scientific production has increased exponentially; however, it does not necessarily mean an improvement in the environment, economic development, reduction in poverty and inequality, and the improvement of living conditions. In the post-massification area, special attention should be paid to the equality, relevance, and the quality of higher education altogether. In this regard, a high-quality education along with a high access to the higher education should be considered as two sides of the same coin, because a high access to a low-quality higher education is useless, and a high-quality education with low access is also meaningless. In addition, the results indicated that the expansion of higher education is one of the necessary conditions to achieve the development, but it is not a sufficient condition. Also, expanding the access to higher education in a balanced combination of the efficiency and the equality can pave the way for the economic development. In addition to the quantitative and qualitative expansion of the university system, to achieve a balanced and comprehensive development, other factors such as the infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and education population, market size, open market, political stability and democracy, efficiency productive goods, labor and financial markets, technological readiness, political conditions, economic and social stability, non-corruption, efficient bureaucracy, etc. should exist. In other words, in a stable political, social, and economic environment, the possibility of growth and effectiveness of scientific institutions is high.