Higher learning, greater good : the private and social benefits of higher education / Walter W. McMahon.
Material type: TextPublication details: Baltimore, MD : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.Description: xiii, 415 p. ; 24 cmISBN:- 9780801890536 (hbk.)
- 0801890535 (hbk.)
- 378 22
- LB2324 .M39 2009
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | University of Macedonia Library Βιβλιοστάσιο Α (Stack Room A) | Main Collection | LB2324.M39 2009 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 0013131095 |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 383-403) and index.
1. What is the problem? -- 2. Challenges facing higher education policy -- 3. Higher education and economic growth : jobs, earnings, and the skill deficit -- 4. Private non-market benefits of higher education and market failure -- 5. Social benefits of higher education and their policy implications -- 6. University research : social benefits and policy -- 7. New higher education policies -- 8. New strategies for financing higher education -- Appendix A. Correcting for ability bias in returns to higher education -- Appendix B. A simplified dynamic model with higher education externalities -- Appendix C. Valuing the effects of higher education on private non-market outcomes -- Appendix D. Higher education and growth, U.S. and OECD countries, 1960-2005 -- Appendix E. Valuing the external social benefits of higher education.
A college education has long been acknowledged as essential for both personal success and economic growth. But the measurable value of its nonmonetary benefits has until now been poorly understood. Walter W. McMahon, a leading education economist, carefully describes these benefits and suggests that higher education accrues significant social and private benefits. McMahon's research uncovers a major skill deficit in the United States and other OECD countries owing to technical change and globalization. Yet a college degree brings better job opportunities, higher earnings, and even improved health. Higher education also promotes democracy and sustainable growth and contributes to reduced crime and lower state welfare and prison costs. These social benefits are substantial in relation to the costs of a college education. Offering a human capital perspective on these and other higher education policy issues, McMahon suggests that poor understanding of the value of nonmarket benefits leads to private underinvestment. He offers policy options that can enable state and federal governments to increase investment in higher education.
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