Does Higher Education Growth Increase Economic Growth?

Abstract

This study seeks to establish the existence of a causal relationship between higher education and economic growth in Uganda, with special focus on the categories of discipline, gender and level of higher education graduates. The study employs the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to establish the interrelationship between these two variables from 1985 to 2017. The results of this study reveal the existence of a long run but not short run effect of higher education on the growth of GDP. The results show a unidirectional causality that was established from GDP to: total graduates; male and female graduates, Arts and Science graduates, as well as postgraduate and undergraduates. The impact of economic growth on higher education was higher for the males compared to female graduates; graduates from science disciplines compared to the Arts, and undergraduates compared to postgraduates. Worth noting is the vital role of GCF as a link between the two variables of Growth and Higher education which was revealed in the findings