Details
- Publication date
- 31 January 2013
- Authors
- Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture | European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE)
- Geographical scope
- European Union
- Level of education focus
- Adult education
- Non-formal and informal learning
- Vocational education and training (VET)
- Thematic areas covered
- Education-to-work transitions, education and labour market
- Educational effectiveness and efficiency
- Governance of education
- Investment in education, economic impact of education
- Lifelong learning
- Monitoring and quality assurance
- Skills development
- Teachers and trainers
Description
This report challenges the widespread assumption that adult learning is systematically underfunded and in need of large-scale public subsidies. It evaluates various financing mechanisms—such as tax incentives, vouchers, and direct subsidies—concluding that these often have limited effects and are associated with high deadweight losses.
Evidence shows that private sector solutions, such as agreements between employers and employees or internal training contracts, may already provide sufficient incentives for investment in adult learning. Moreover, when properly measured, the returns to adult training tend to be modest.
The report recommends caution in expanding public funding and argues that current EU targets in this area lack strong empirical support. It calls for more rigorous evaluation before designing or scaling new financing instruments.
Authors
Hessel Oosterbeek
Cite as
Oosterbeek, H. (2014), The financing of adult learning, EENEE report.
