In order to deepen the discussions that started in the meetings of Education Ministers in Athens and Milan on the use of economic analysis to draw policy recommendations in the field of education and training, the Commission has launched projects in the economics of education. Indeed, to guide their political action, policy-makers need to have reliable elements of analysis which show the contribution of education and training to the economic and social objectives of the Union.
This is the objective of the project "Economics of Education". Consequently, in summer 2003 DG EAC launched a call for tender for a study in the field of economics of education on Returns to Various Types of Investment in Education and Training. The study was completed in September 2005 by the company London Economics (United Kingdom).
This project is related to the follow up of the Communication on Investing efficiently in education and training: an imperative for Europe and the activities of the Working Group responsible for the implementation of Objective 1.5 Making best use of resources of the Work Programme Education & Training 2010. The purpose of the study is to look at various investment scenarios for achieving the Lisbon targets in the educational field and compare investment costs with related benefits. The analysis of the investments and economic returns is done at a private and social level for the different Lisbon targets and for each Member State.