IS THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IMPROVING IN BRAZIL? SOME EMPIRICAL TESTS FROM A MARKET BASED PERSPECTIVE

Resumen

This paper studies the evolution of the quality of education in Brazil in the last fifty years. It begins explaining why there was a genesis of a low quality education in the country during this period and the role such bad quality may have had on its economic efficiency and development. Some tests of the hypothesis that there has been improvement in the quality of education in the last fifty years are presented. The results support the idea that, as a consequence of lack of priority onpublic policies and social changes, which engaged women on the labour market, there was a sensible fall in the quality of education in Brazil in the same period. This certainly increased the costs of productivity improvements and catch up, thus consisting in a serious liability for the future development of the country.