Journal of East China Normal University(Educational Sciences) ›› 2023, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (10): 66-79.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.10.006

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Education Quality and National (Regional) Income Gap: Construction of the Global Education Quality Index

Yan Cao1,3, Guoyang Zhang2, Xinyue Yao1,3   

  1. 1. Education Economics Laboratory of East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062,China
    2. School of Health Professions Education, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6229ER, the Netherlands
    3. Institute of Higher Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062,China
  • Accepted:2023-07-12 Online:2023-10-01 Published:2023-09-27

Abstract:

The relationship between education development and economic distribution has always been a hot topic in the field of education economics. This study is based on the background of achieving common prosperity, using global education and economic development data from 2000 to 2018 to construct a global education quality index, and based on the index, explores the relationship between education quality and income inequality. The study found that : first, China’s education quality index is at a medium level globally, with the quality of school education operation ranking top, but the competitiveness of the basic education assurance quality index and the quality of secondary and higher education development index is relatively low. The reasons for this are twofold: on the one hand, China’s expansion of higher education came later, making young people the main holders of secondary and higher education degrees. Under the influence of the aging population structure, the proportion of people with secondary and higher education degrees is low, directly lowering China’s index of secondary and higher education development. On the other hand, compared with other countries, China’s public education expenditure ratio is relatively low, coupled with poor completion rate in primary school, which indirectly lowers the quality index of basic education assurance in China. Second, by constructing a two-way fixed effect model to explore the relationship between education quality and national income inequality, it was found that the higher the overall education quality and school education operation quality of a country, the lower the degree of income differentiation, indicating that the improvement of national education quality can to a certain extent promote the realization of common prosperity. Based on the above findings, the study suggests the following: first, consolidate the attainable indicators of basic education, increase the investment in public education funds to meet the minimum targets, and strengthen the guarantee of basic education. Second, continue to leverage the advantage of the quality of school education operation and promote the attainment of graduation standards for secondary school graduates through both academic and vocational tracks in order to improve the whole skill of China’s reserve workforce.

Key words: education quality index, income inequality, common prosperity, Palma Index