This article reviews the role of education in promoting economic growth, with a particular focus on the role of educational quality. It concludes that there is strong evidence that the cognitive skills of the population - rather than mere school attainment - are powerfully related to long-run...

An emerging economic literature over the past decade has made use of international tests of educational achievement to analyze the determinants and impacts of cognitive skills. The cross-country comparative approach provides a number of unique advantages over national studies: It can exploit...

Abstract ; Background: The health care reform of 2004 was intended to reduce moral hazard in the statutory health insurance through various financial incentives. An important element of the reform has been the introduction of a per-quarter fee for doctor visits. The second part of the reform has...