Role of institutional quality in the public education financing–educational quality nexus: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Purpose – This paper investigates the moderating role of institutional quality in the relationship between public education financing and educational quality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a two-step system generalised method of moments (GMM) to investigate the dynamic relationships among the variables using data from the World Bank covering the periods 2002–2020 for 46 SSA countries. Findings – The results show that institutional quality moderates the effect of public education financing on educational quality at SSA’s primary, secondary and tertiary levels. This finding shows that improved institutional quality enhances the effectiveness of public educational investments. Practical implications – The findings of this study imply that policymakers seeking to enhance educational quality must not only increase educational investments but also institute measures to improve institutional quality. Originality/value – Prior studies fail to examine the moderating role of institutional quality in the nexus between public education financing and educational quality. This study analyses the role of institutional quality in the public education financing–educational quality nexus in SSA. The findings of this study contribute to improving the return on public education financing in SSA.

Keywords

• Public education financing
• Educational quality
• Institutional quality
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• System GMM