ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship among education, education finance and economic growth on the basis of secondary education. In the research, the number of students enrolled in secondary education is the indicator of education, net government education expenditures per student is the education finance variable and per capita GDP is the growth variable. The research included on 30 countries participating in the PISA 2015 exam. The data cover between the years 1998-2015. Since the study has unit and time data, panel model was preferred and cointegration test was applied. DOLS and FMOLS methods were used to estimate the coefficients. Our findings suggest, there is a negative relationship between education and education finance across the panel. However, there is a mutual positive relationship between finance and growth and education and growth. In countries that have higher scores than the OECD average, the situation is the same as that of the overall panel. In countries that have lower scores than the OECD average, it has been obtained no relationship between growth and education. According to the results we get before the crisis of 2008, education finance affects both education and economic growth negatively. At the same time economic growth only has a positive effect on education finance. Likewise, we were found a positive relationship between education finance and economic growth after the crisis of 2008. This relationship is mutually positive. This study contributes to do relevant literature on the fact that secondary education is financed by the public, reducing the inequality of opportunity in education and contributing to human capital positively affecting economic growth.

Keywords: Secondary Education, Economic Growth, Finance, Panel Analysis, PISA 2015

Jel classification: A20, C33, H52, I22, N30