试论教育的正外部性及政府作用

On Positive Externality of Education and Government Role

教育给受教育者本人所带来的好处是显而易见的,但教育给受教育者以外的人或组织以至一个国家或社会所带来的利益却常常被人忽视。这种被人忽视的利益就是教育的正外部性。教育的正外部性的存在往往导致现实教育远远小于社会所需要的最优量。对此,政府可以发挥其重要作用,即从战略的或全局的、长期的角度进行综合考虑,并通过投资和补贴等方式,促进教育供给与消费的增加,进而提高国家的整体教育水平。

The benefits of education for education receivers are obvious, whereas, its benefits for other people, or organizations, a country or society are often neglected. Those neglected benefits are the positive externalities of education. The existence of positive externality of education often results in the fact that realistic education can hardly meet optimal social need. Therefore, the government should play its important role in making comprehensive considerations strategically, and increasing educational supply and consumption through investment or subsidies so as to uplift the level of education of the whole country.