Thanks in large part to the influence of major donor agencies, economic analysis has become the dominant metaphor for evaluating the performance of education systems in developing countries. This dissertation examines the role of economic analysis in educational policy making in developing nations through case study of an education and human resources sector assessment conducted in the Republic of Haiti under financing from the United States Agency for International Development (AID). / In the first major portion of the study, a wide range of theoretical literature is reviewed in order to generate a series of interpretive frameworks for analyzing the contributions of economics to education. The nature of the contextual situation in Haiti and of that country's position in international relations is likewise examined. In the second major portion of the study, three aspects of the Haiti sector assessment are presented: the genesis of sector assessment methodology; the actual conduct of the assessment in Haiti; and the longer-term consequences of that work. / From comparison of the various interpretive frameworks developed with the data derived from the Haiti sector assessment experience, the study concludes that the basic tools and approaches of economic analysis can be very helpful in revealing the nature of linkages between education and the economy and contributing to better management and planning of the education system. However, heavy concentration on techniques and concepts drawn from neoclassical economics to the exclusion of other approaches detracts from the contribution of economics to assessment practice and from the contribution of sector assessment to the concerns of educational planning in developing countries. This distortion may be explained in part by the role that neoclassical economics and its particular operationalization of efficiency concepts currently play in legitimating foreign technical expertise, limiting debate about policy options and justifying retrenchment in donor assistance. Recommendations are made concerning improvements in sector assessment methodology and modified roles for economics in educational policy making. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0660. / Major Professor: George John Papagiannis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77956 |
| Contributors | Easton, Peter Abbott., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 783 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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