Total current and capital expenditure on education by local, regional and national governments, including municipalities. Household contributions are excluded. The term covers public expenditure for both public and private institutions.
UNESCO. 2014. Teaching and learning: achieving quality for all; EFA global monitoring report, 2013-2014. Paris: UNESCO.
Many of the earliest studies of the rate of return to educational investment were designed to measure the contribution of education to economic growth and the widely publicized conclusions - that human capital contributes to economic growth just as surely as physical capital and that education is a profitable investment - were used by governments both in developing and advanced countries to justify increased public expenditure on education (Woodhall, 2004: 103).
Woodhall, M. 2004. Cost-benefit analysis in educational planning. Fundamentals of Educational Planning 80. Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.