ABSTRACT
Human capital investments have played a crucial role in the early economic success of East Asian economies. In The East Asian Miracle, an important early investigation into the sources of the region’s rapid economic growth,1 the World Bank (1993) stated that
The growth and transformation of systems of education and training… has been dramatic… the [High Performing Asian Economies] HPAEs’ enrollment rates have tended to be higher than predicted for their level of income … By 1987, East Asia’s superior education systems were evident at the secondary level. (p. 43) … Primary education is by far the largest single contributor to HPAEs’ predicted growth rates … Physical investment comes second … followed by secondary school enrollment.
