

Study: School is not about learning and too much of it wastes billions [pdf] - cronjobber
http://www.econ.brown.edu/students/alexander_eble/Eble_Hu_CPEE.pdf

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dalke
The link text should be the title of the paper, which is "Demand for
Schooling, Returns to Schooling, and the Role of Credentials". The paper does
not use the link text given here.

The paper tries to "estimate the impact of extending the length of primary
school by one year on individuals’ later educational outcomes." It does not
say that "school is not about learning." The text used in this HN link appears
to be editorializing.

They paper concludes by saying they "interpret [their] results as suggestive
that the signaling value of attaining a credential is the dominant driver
behind schooling decisions in China in the modern era." They don't say that
there are other drivers, which can include learning. They don't say that it's
applicable to all other school systems.

The term "waste" is part of the editorializing. The paper does not use it. It
states "We estimate that this policy, while redistributive, likely generates a
net loss of at least tens of billions of dollars, reallocating nearly one
trillion person-hours from the labor market to schooling with meager overall
returns."

If the economy is the goal, then this can be seen as a "waste". However, if
redistributive equalization is the goal then it is not a waste, though it is
perhaps an inefficient way to get to that goal.

