Page 245 - Proceeding 2015

ANDRONICEANU Armenia and OHANYAN Gurgen FAMP
IMF POLICIES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON EDUCATION IN ROMANIA CCASP

Another paper evaluating effects of IMF programs on school enrollment covers data on school attendance
at the district level aged 9-11 and 12-14 from 44 developing countries between1997-2007 (Vrankenet al,
2011, p. 11). The authors using multi-level analyses find significant positive short-term impact on school
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enrollment in the age 9-11, and positive significant for 14-14 age group if employed specific group of
control variables. Meanwhile long-term insignificant negative impact on boys and girls in age 12-14 is

found and bivariate analyses show positive but as well insignificant impact on growth in school enrollment.

Case studies from Latvia, Jamaica and Uganda come to corroborate the critiques towards the IMF
adverse effects on education during the global financial crisis. The author exploring alternative ways to

avoid cuts on education, claim that education advocates need to be unified in fighting against the
neoliberal regime put forward by the IMF like institutions (Rowden, 2011, p. 68).

IMF experts conducted another research to evaluate effects of IMF programs on social spending in 2011

and found positive significant impact on growth of health care and education spending (Clements et al,
2011). Particularly, the authors use cross-country panel regression model for data of 140 countries from
30 th – 31 st October 2015 ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” Bucharest concessional loans contributes to the growth in social spending, where over a five-year period education
between 1985 and 2009, where all countries are eligible for concessional IMF lending. They argue, that

spending as a share of GDP increases 0.8 percentage point of GDP, and for health care, about 1
percentage point of GDP.

The most recent research on the topic of IMF effects on social spending was conducted in 2014, which
claimed that IMF had negative impact on social indicators inclusive health and education in 9 under-
program countries (Kotsios & Kotsios, 2014, p. 218). The authors simply compare under-program

countries’ social indicators with non-program ones and conclude about lower rates in under-program
countries without accounting selection bias. In many cases, IMF under-program countries are affected by
crisis and other factors that should have been included in the analysis.

By reviewing appropriate literature on chosen topic, we find that our research may fill the niche on case
studies revealing the nature of domestic bargaining under the shadow of IMF austerity measures as it is
proposed by Nooruddin & Simmons (2006).

3. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ROMANIAN EDUCATION SECTOR: EXOGENOUS ANTECEDENTS

It is, indeed, a difficult and harmful path transformation from socialism to capitalism towards market-

oriented economic system. Romania, after the famed revolution in 1989 and termination of Ceausescu’s
socialist regime, has started collaboration with international financial institutions such as IMF and WB, to

mitigate the economic slow-down, rising inflation with its adverse consequences on the population.

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