Alexandre Porsse (p), Laura Gomes

Recent studies on economic growth has argued that expansion of school attainment does not guarantee reduction in the productivity gap among countries and emphasize the importance of quality of education as a major drive of economic growth. Despite some robust evidences founded by the literature in cross-countries studies, this issue has not yet been addressed for the context of regional growth into a developing country. Considering the Brazilian case, this paper aims to investigate the extent to which quantity and quality of education matters for regional economic growth. Quantity of education is evaluated by the attainment levels of primary, secondary and tertiary education. Quality of education is evaluated by the score of the students in the Prova Brasil which is a test measuring quality of primary education inspired in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and applied to all Brazilian students attaining the fifth and ninth year of elementary school. We estimate growth equations for several different territorial scales (municipal, microregional, macroregional and at the state level) searching to explore spatial heterogeneity of quantity and quality of education, which would be expected due mobility of workers among spatial labor markets. The results suggest that the effect of quality of education overcome the effect of quantity of education on regional economic growth. But the effect of quality of education on regional growth seems to be lower for more fragmented spatial scales. Thus, the role of quality of education on economic growth seems to be limited accordingly to the spatial unity of analysis in Brazil, which brings challenges for the development and education policies implemented at the regional context.

Miriam Šebová (p)

Higher education makes an important contribution at all levels – individual, local, regional and national for the society and economy as well. Universities are often large institution which generate substantial economic activities. They employ a lot of people, attract students for staying in the locality from other regions and provide a lot of services supported by local suppliers. Recognizing the role of universities in fostering economic growth have made efforts to develop methodology how to estimate the economic impacts of universities in the host city or region. The very first study in this field was introduced by Caffrey and Isaacs (1971) who applied the formal method of local economic impact assessment at the university level. Since that the economic impact assessment became popular way how to to highlight the economic importance of universities in the host cities. The methodology is based on the principles of export base theory and the economic impact is mainly associated with the short term increase in the local demand for goods and services. In the paper are presented results of empirical research about economic impact of Technical university in Košice on Košice city in Slovakia.

Maurício Aguiar Serra (p), Renato Garcia, Alexandre Gori, Carlos Augusto Xavier

It has been increasingly acknowledged the role played by universities in the regional development process. In addition to the traditional economic impacts generated by their mere presence on the regions they operate, universities are deemed repositories of knowledge, trainers of skilled human capital, cultural disseminators, sources of innovation and drivers for economic development. All this potential is even more important for peripheral regions insofar as universities, through its ability to build networks, can stimulate a “regional buzz” that becomes essential for attracting outside investors, help in promoting innovation, and strengthen regional innovation systems. This literature on regional economics fits perfectly well into the Brazilian context, which is marked by deep regional inequalities in which different levels of growth capacities - and also of ability for innovation - coexist. Bearing in mind these promising possibilities stressed by the literature, the Brazilian government has promoted a strong expansion of federal higher education system over the last decade. With this regard, programmes and plans - and REUNI (Programme for the Support of Federal University Restructuring and Expansion Plans, which included the creation of new Federal universities), PROUNI (University for All Programme), FIES (Student Financing Fund) and PNPG (National Graduate Plan) are some illustrative examples - were drawn up and implemented in order not only to increase the supply of university courses, but also to provide a better geographical distribution of this supply. The rationale behind these government policies is that the decentralisation of higher education would generate the hoped-for development of peripheral regions, and therefore contribute to reducing the existing regional disparities in the country. This paper aims at analysing the impacts produced by the expansion of the federal higher education system on regional inequalities in Brazil. By using spatial regression and municipal data, the results show that despite all efforts made by the federal government the expected beneficial effects did not materialise inasmuch as regional imbalance persists.