This Selected Issues paper examines productivity, growth, structural reforms, and macroeconomic policies in Tanzania. Tanzania experienced macroeconomic stabilization and significant structural change over the last three decades, including two major waves of reforms, first in the mid-1980s and more importantly in the mid-1990s. Both reform waves were followed by total factor productivity (TFP) and growth spurts. Over the recent period, TFP growth decreased, which coincided with a less strong reform drive. It is suggested that a TFP-led growth model is superior and that vigorous reforms are needed to foster further structural transformation of the economy and sustain high productivity gains and investment.
This paper develops a public education scheme that takes uncertainty aspects of private educational investments explicitly into account. In the author’s framework, the social merits of public education schemes are related to the lack of markets in which students can insure against educational risks. A case is made for tuition fees that depend on the expected returns of investments in education. The consideration of uncertainty provides a neglected link between educational choice, resource endowment, and productivity growth, which may serve to redefine the public role of education financing.