Prevailing Poverty in SAARC Countries: Can Education Help?

Authors

Samra Bukhari, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
Rukhsana Kalim, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
Noman Arshed, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, PakistanFollow
Muhammad Shahid Hassan, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

South Asia is a highly populated and poverty-ridden region of the world that barely spends 0.9% of its GDP on education. This present study is structured to capture the variable returns in various types of education on poverty for the selected SAARC economies for the period ranges from 1983 to 2016. This study applies the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) approach to obtain empirical results of the Kuznets curve of education poverty. The empirical results reveal that the primary enrollment increases poverty and does not follow a Kuznets curve. In contrast, an initial increase in secondary enrollment increases poverty but later leads to a decrease in poverty. Finally, an initial increase in tertiary enrollment decreases poverty but later leads to an increase in poverty. Based on these findings, this study proposes that education policy should be formulated separately for each level of education to extract maximum gains for the workforce.

Recommended Citation

Bukhari, Samra; Kalim, Rukhsana; Arshed, Noman; and Hassan, Muhammad Shahid (2021) "Prevailing Poverty in SAARC Countries: Can Education Help?," Asia-Pacific Social Science Review: Vol. 21: Iss. 1, Article 13.
Available at: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol21/iss1/13