Ensino público superior e crescimento econômico: uma análise de painel para municípios da Paraíba

Abstract

The objective of this research is to verify whether the presence of educational units has positively contributed to local economic growth through the analysis of variations in the Municipal Gross Domestic Product in municipalities of 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants in the period from 2018 to 2021. The delimitation of the study area considered the presence of public higher education institutions in the municipalities included in the mentioned population range. The theoretical foundation was based on the proposed Human Capital Theory. The theoretical foundation used consisted of the effects on revenue flows in the economy of the municipalities as a consequence of the presence of Higher Education Institutions. The research methodology consisted of the econometric model of Multiple Regression of Panel Data to verify if the variables of number of enrollments and number of graduates as proxies for higher education can explain the variations in the economic growth variable. The research results did not indicate significant evidence to support the hypothesis that the presence of public higher education institutions contributes to the economic growth of the municipalities from 2018 to 2021. However, it was possible to indicate actions of public management attribution, pertinent to the improvement in the availability of higher education indicators as an intermediary for the development of policies for the improvement in the dynamics between the universities and the analyzed municipalities.