| It is generally assumed that educational expansion has positive effects on economic growth. This assumption has been challenged by recent theoretical and empirical sociological studies. It is argued that the effects of education on economic growth are conditioned by broad social conditions in which the relationship between education and economy is embedded. This studies uses two cases, the Meiji Japan (1890-1914) and post WWII Taiwan (1953-1985), to specify the conditions under which promote economic growth. Specifically, this study attempts to answer two related questions: Did the educational expansion actually promote the economic growth in the Meiji Japan and Taiwan (1953-1985)? And if so, under what conditions did the educational expansion promote economic growth? To answer the first question, the Cobb-Douglas production functions are estimated; to answer the second question, historical analyses of state's policy, economic developments and educational expansion in each case are conducted.;The findings and analyses show that education did not have uniform and automatic effects on the remarkable economic growth in these two countries; rather the effects can be understood in terms of how the state, educational and economic systems interact to produce human capital, status competition and class reproduction processes at different levels of education. |
