Economics of Education

This textbook provides students with a comprehensive overview of the economics of education, introducing and consolidating core topics, current research and practical methodologies in the field. 

The textbook focuses throughout on the impact of education economics on policy making, helping students understand the real-world impact of economic theory on public policy. With a wealth of learning features including case studies, worked examples, exercises and further reading lists, it provides a thorough picture of the economics of education systems globally. Chapters cover a range of topics, from class size to the impact of family and peers on education, as well as exploring unique educational stages such as pre-school and vocational training, access to university, and cross-cutting issues such as educational inequalities and the role of gender in education. Going beyond simply an economics approach by also introducing perspectives from psychology and sociology, the textbook offers students a holistic grasp of the themes and issues that resonate with educational communities. At the same time, it equips students to carry out accurate methodological research, encompassing randomized controlled trials, empirical studies and accessible databases. This book will be essential reading for students in economics and the social sciences more broadly, as well as policy-makers and educators.

Antonio Cabrales is Full Professor of Economics at Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. He has previously been a professor at University College London and at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is Executive Vice President of the European Economic Association, Fellow of the Econometric Society, and former President of the Spanish Economic Association. He has worked in a wide range of topics including game theory, the economics of networks, mechanism design, economics of education, experimental and behavioural economics. 

Ismael Sanz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Economics at King Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain, and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE. He has served as Chair of the Strategic Development Group of PISA at the OECD. His research has been widely published in economics journals, including Economic Journal, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, and Canadian Journal of Economics.