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AEDE History

Throughout the decade of the eighties, there was a growing interest in Economics of Education in Spain. This interest sprouted mainly from academics who, together with researchers, directed their efforts primarily to issues related to the financing, management and performance in education. In the early nineties, Spain had enough professionals to form the Association of the Economics of Education (AEDE). The AEDE was founded in Barcelona March 30th 1992, by eight recognized experts: Mr. Esteban Oroval Planas (Chairman), Mr. José Luis Moreno Becerra (Vice President), Ms. Marina Solé Catalá (Secretary), Mr. José Ginés Mora Ruiz (Counter-Treasurer), Mr. Jorge Calero Martínez (Member), Mr. Julio Grao Rodriguez (Member), Mr. Alejandro Ipiña Abuin (Member) and Mr. Tomás Moltó García (Member). In November of the same year (1992), the Constituent Assembly was held in Valencia to adopt the following objectives:

  1. To help its members to perform economic activities related to education at all levels and in those places where it could or should be done, and set methods to conduct such activities.
  2. To stimulate the interest of the government and educational institutions in economics of education at all levels and places where it could or should be done, and support the conduct of such activities.
  3. To promote and disseminate studies of economics of education, as well as provide training and re-training of experts.
  4. To promote activities aimed at the improvement and modernization of the economic and financial management of schools.
  5. To encourage professional contacts and exchanges, sharing the work and research on the subject among the various individuals and institutions interested in it, both in Spain and abroad.
  6. To organize -alone or in collaboration with other organizations or entities- conferences or meetings and other scientific activities on economics of education.
  7. To publish literature related to the subject and maintain or promote the creation of specialized libraries.
  8. To promote the development of a homogeneous statistical database and ensure it’s maintained and updated.
  9. Any other function related to the specific field of economics of education.

Throughout its history, the AEDE has been helpful in co-ordinating, informing and training professionals as well as organizing events. One of the key events has been the annual celebration of the Economics of Education Meeting. This conference intends to provide a panel debate for the role of education in economic and social life, providing spaces for reflections on both traditional issues, such as education funding, planning and management aspects, equity and efficiency, educational production, job placement for graduates, and also current issues, such as social capital and immigration. At the meeting, academic interest binds the commitment of the organizers to transfer the main ideas proposed to society and public managers, as well as making papers and discussions derived from this conference available. The ultimate goal is to improve our understanding of education and educational policy guidance in all areas.

Until year 2010, in order to spread out the work presented in each of the conferences, the AEDE published a book every year with the proceedings of the meeting.

The AEDE is constantly becoming more internationally recognized. There are many AEDE members who are internationally renowned experts. There are also professionals from other countries who attend the annual meetings, particularly those from Latin America and Europe. This explains why the 11th Annual Meeting of the Association of the Economics of Education was held in Lisbon (Portugal) in 2002. The annual meeting was again held in Portugal in 2012, this time in Oporto.

The AEDE has organized its annual meeting together with other associations twice. In 1995, the AEDE Meeting was held under the National Economics Congress which took place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. More recently in 2007, the AEDE meeting was held in association with the Conference of Labor Economics, again in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Finally, another event promoted by the Association is the AEDE Jose Luis Moreno Becerra Award, for the most relevant doctoral thesis on the Economics of Education. This award is given in honor of Professor José Luis Moreno Becerra, a founding member and President of the AEDE, who died in 1999. The amount of the award is 1,500 euros. The name of the recipient of this award is announced on the closing dinner of annual AEDE Meeting