ABSTRACT
We make the case that the economics of education as a research field has had a significant impact on both the theoretical and empirical evidence base on education across the world and that it is now an exciting, rapidly advancing field with enormous influence on policy-making in many countries. We begin in the next section by placing the economics of education research field into its appropriate historical context. We also show bibliometric evidence from economics about the upsurge of research in the area, in terms of increased numbers of publications in the top economics journals. The following section then discusses some of the key theoretical advancements in the field. The fourth section considers methodological innovations, while the discussion in the fifth section considers wider impacts of the economics of education research field. The final section concludes by highlighting key contributions of the field and by assessing future prospects in the area.
