Figure 27.5 and its discussion in the text identify one of the immediate causes of the wealth of nations as human capital. Visit Gapminder World again at Gapminder www.gapminder.org and select “Education” and “Literacy Rate, Adult Total” for the vertical axis while leaving GDP per capita on the horizontal axis. (See the previous problem for more detailed instructions.)
a. What does this display of data convey to you about the value of education?
b. Now change the vertical axis to the “Mean Number of Years in School” for men and then create a second graph for women older than age 25. How do your conclusions change? Is education still as valuable?
c. Finally, select eighth-grade math achievement for the vertical axis and determine if this measure of education is also positively associated with GDP per capita.
d. How do these measures of education work to support or refute the relationship between education levels and GDP per capita?
e. Now try an additional educational measure using two graphs. Under “Schooling Cost,” explore “Expenditures per Student, Primary” and “Expenditures per Student, Secondary.” What do you find in these cases and how can you explain these differences?