Economic Development

            Most economists argues that it is not the physical capital or natural resources that determine the character and pace of its economic and social development, but its human resources. Developing countries must agree because they devote so much of their resources and capital into education. The late Professor Frederick Harbison of Princeton University argues that "Human resources constitute the ultimate basis for wealth of nations. Capital and natural resources are passive factors of production; human beings are the active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, build social, economic and political organizations, and carry forward a national development." Most third world nations believe that rapid quantitative expansion of educational opportunities is the key to national development. Most countries contribute most of their public revenues to education, and poor nations have invested huge sums of money to education. The basic premise these countries are following is that there is a direct correlation between level of education and income level. In areas where the average level of education is higher, the average income is also higher. These countries believe that to increase the wealth of their country they can put this premise to use by educating their people in order to increase the income level and all that comes with a higher level of income, such as higher quality of living, higher savings and higher investment levels. .
             There is also a trend of developing countries to invest more in the development of women's education. In almost every developing country young females receive considerably less education than men. This gap in education gets even greater with greater poverty. The book Economic Development by Michael P. Todaro states that there is now ample empirical evidence that educational discrimination against women hinders economic development in addition to reinforcing social inequality.