| Abstract: | Educational targets are usually determined by one of the conventional planning approaches without adequate prior knowledge of the behavioural relationships concerning the educational market. The insight into the functioning of the relevant demand and supply factors within the framework of an educational market can effectively serve as the groundwork and consistency check for any planning exercise. After reviewing various concepts regarding the structure of educational market, a demand and supply system of education is developed in the paper. Apart from the consideration of the relevant demand and supply factors, a novel concept of education's price is introduced. Empirical tests of this system are carried out for Africa, Asia and Latin America for two periods of time with encouraging results. Some basic conclusions can be drawn from these results particularly with regard to the changing impact of the demand and supply factors, the link between economic growth and income distribution through education, and the co-existence between the excess demand for education and unemployment. |
