Introduction to the special issue on Economic Research for Education Policy

Highlight
• The issue illustrates and promotes the role of empirical research for critical policy questions for government.
• The issue focuses on effective operation of the labor market or for its relevance to equity and access.
• The issue reflects a shared commitment on strong empirical evidence as a basis for all policy reform.

This special issue of Economics of Education Review is a collection of papers presented at the 2nd Conference on the Economics of Education Policy, organized jointly by Dhurakij Pundit University (DPU), Thailand, and the Australian National University (ANU). The issue illustrates and promotes the role of empirical research for critical policy questions for government. The papers represent a shared commitment by an international group of economics of education researchers to the value, indeed necessity, of methodologically strong empirical evidence as a basis for all policy reform. The selection of papers has been guided by judgments concerning two issues: (i) is the research question posed of central importance to education policy-makers, in terms of its contribution to the effective operation of the labor market or for its relevance to equity and access? and (ii) are the methods and data used in the analyses characterized by both outstanding quality and careful application?