Fernanda Esperidião

This essay is the result of an empirical research on the relation between education and economic growth applied to Parana State. We applied three different models, Romer (1986), that analyses level of education on variation of productivity, Dias (1997) that implies a relation between level and level, and the one proposed in this dissertation, the effects of the  variation of education on the  variation of productivity. The main objective is to verify if there is a relationship between productivity and education variables from Elementary School and High School levels, over the period from 1994  to 1998. If this relation was confirmed then the postulates that were shown in the New Endogenous Economic Growth Theory would explain the State’s reality about the level and variability of economic productivity. It was used the cross-section econometric model to achieve these results, applying to all Micro-regions in Parana State. It allowed us to estimate the effects on productivity in Parana coming from the following variables: demand for education, investment on education, abandonment index, failures, approvals, and educational level. According to the results, during the period in analysis, an increase in the demand for education affects productivity to rise across Micro-regions in Parana. Similarly, the level of education has a positive relation with productivity overall the State. Moreover, increasing the level of education implies an smaller variability of productivity. Notwithstand, we could find empirical evidence for the New Growth Theory, on the importance of human capital to economic growth.