Human Capital and Economic Growth: The Quest for the Most Relevant Level of Education in Pakistan

The study examines the role of human capital in the economic growth of Pakistan by using primary, secondary and higher education enrolments as proxies for human capital in three different specifications. The idea behind these models is to find out the most relevant level of education in terms of its contribution in economic growth. The order of integration of the variables is checked through Augmented Dickey Fuller and Phillips Perron test. In order to find out the evidences of the long run relationship, Engle-Granger two step procedure is used. The findings are re-examined through Johansen and Juselius method. The study found that human capital is positively related with the long run economic growth with primary education as the most relevant level of education. It is therefore recommended that special attention should be given to the primary level of education.