Benefit-cost approach to manpower and educational planning

Abstract

There are two prevailing approaches in manpower and educational planning. One of them is Manpower-Requirement (M-R) approach, and another is Benefit-Cost (B-C) approach. In M-R approach we can project the required manpower for the attainment of economic growth targets and decide the level of educational investment to supply them without considering the efficiency of resource allocation. On the other hand, in B-C approach we can calculate the internal rate of return (IRR) on investment in education under present educational system. The purpose of this study is to integrate these two approaches in order to allocate limited investment resources for an education of college students in different fields more efficiently and to improve better distribution of human capital by readjusting the quotas for specific fields in terms of social rate of return (SROR).