Education as a global public good: the applicability and implications of a framework

Abstract

This paper addresses a growing literature on global public goods theory, in particular the use of this framework to promote the equitable provision of goods and social services, such as basic education, on an international scale. Due to a lack of research into this theory’s applicability to education, the author aims to discern how such a framework might be applied, and its possible policy implications, focusing on universal access initiatives and the debate on private provision of schooling. The paper further questions the appropriateness of using global public goods theory given certain critiques.

Keywords:

• global public goods
• economic theory and education
• international education policy
• critical policy analysis

Notes

1. This paper employs a definition of basic education that focuses on the completion of primary schooling, aiming at the acquisition of basic skills (see World Declaration on Education for All 1990).