Fiscal decentralisation and inclusive growth: Considering education

This chapter focuses on whether fiscal decentralisation can help to promote the sustainability of education funding. The linkage between fiscal decentralisation and education expenditure and performance is examined using data from OECD countries. The results clearly show the positive effect of fiscal decentralisation on education expenditure. In addition, the results reveal how regional disparities in the distribution of the total national budget, affects education expenditure. The findings suggest that fiscal decentralisation and balanced regional development may increase the solidity of education expenditure. Regional disparities reduce the efficient allocation of the national budgets and may cause declining education expenditure. This empirical study confirms that OECD countries tend to spend more money on education in order to provide educational opportunitites for lower income populations, when income inequality worsens.