ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the notion that demand for education by individuals may be economically motivated. In economic terminology, education would then be an investment rather than a consumption item; or in more philosophical language it would be a means to an end, and not an end in itself. The main argument in support of this latter view is that young people do not find it easy to borrow funds for meeting direct costs, whereas indirect costs can be met, if necessary by reducing personal consumption. The usual theoretical distinction between 'consumption' and 'investment' is based on the purpose for which an item is used. The decision whether or not to undergo some educational course, if taken on investment grounds, must involve a comparison between two possible life-time streams of money receipts and payments, one stream with education, the other without education.
