The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development

I takes little analysis to see that schooling levels differ dramatically between developing and developed countries. Building upon several decades of thought about human capital—and centuries of general attention to education in the more advanced countries—it is natural to believe that a productive development strategy would be to raise the schooling levels of the population. And, indeed, this is exactly the approach of the Education for All initiative and a central element of the Millennium Development Goals (see, e.g., UNESCO 2005 and David E. Bloom 2006). But there are also some nagging uncertainties that exist with this strategy. First, developed and developing countries differ in a myriad of ways other than schooling The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development