Health and Schooling Investments in Africa

Intercountry comparisons show Africa's health and education falls short of other regions, controlling for income, women's educations, and urbanization, but growth regressions do not clarify whether this low human capital caused slow growth. Microeconometric estimates of wage returns to schooling and health indicate relatively attractive private returns in several sub-Saharan countries, although data are severely limited. Biases due to household heterogeneity and selection into the sample of wage earners do not appear to alter these assessments that the quantity and quality of human capital investments will affect future economic growth in Africa and its more equitable distribution.