Cost‐Effectiveness as a Method of Evaluating Social Objectives Among Countries

Social scientists writing in the development field often simply assume that public education expenditure in developing countries has been largely ineffective. Reasons offered in support of this assumption include uncertain goals and unsystematic implementation of programmes, lack of training of administrators, poor quality teachers and facilities, educators bound by tradition, systems modelled upon those of industrialised nations, and in some cases even graft and corruption. Although the above may reflect reality in many nations, full acceptance of these conditions as universal may severely restrict both necessary and useful analysis of the delivery of educational services in the developing world.