Empirical Studies for Quantitative Educational Policy Evaluation

Abstract

In almost every country in the world, governments are involved in some way in the provision or financing of education. As public resources are allocated for this purpose, a transparent and objective discussion about the effectivity of such investments becomes mandatory. A large number of studies has been performed in the field of Economics on Western countries during the last half-century, which attempt to precisely identify and quantify the causal effect of public resources on educational outcomes.

In Japan, collection, preparation and access to the necessary data is rather limited, and as a result, empirical research on this matter has fallen behind. However, the panorama has changed drastically in recent years due mainly to several factors, including : better availability of data on academic ability tests and the initiatives of researchers in the fields of Economics, Sociology and Psychology.

In this report, I attempt to present the basic methods and concepts employed in the quantitative educational policy evaluation, and to summarize what empirical studies have （and have not） been able to show so far. I also discuss about the proper implementation and interpretation of empirical studies for educational policy selection and design.