The dominant role played by the state in the financing, regulation, and provision of primary and secondary education reflects the widely-held belief that education is necessary for personal and societal well-being. The economic organization of education depends on political as well as market...

This paper updates and extends the work of Barro (2000). International data confirm the presence of the Kuznets curve-an inverse-U shape relationship between income inequality and per capita GDP-that is relatively stable from the 1960s into the 2000s. The direct effect of international openness...