Institutional Quality as a Moderator of Education Investment Effectiveness in Latin American Democracies

Bibliographic Data

ID17818935
AuthorsMario Alberto De La Puente Pacheco (0000-0002-0783-1267, Universidad del Norte, corresponding author), Heidy Rico (0000-0003-4509-6117, Business Administration Program (Distance Learning Mode) Universidad de Cartagena Cartagena de Indias Colombia), Heidy Rico Fontalvo (University of Cartagena), Jose Torres (0000-0001-9474-1288, University of Sucre), Hernán Guzmán (0000-0001-9397-1639, University of Sucre), Daniela Navarro (0000-0002-3910-3993, Universidad del Norte)
Year2026
Volume17
Issue2
Publication date2026-04-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2041-7373 • E-ISSN: 2041-7365
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lamp.70052
OpenAlexW7155567459
LanguageEN
References cited14

This study tested whether institutional quality moderated the relationship between public education investment and educational outcomes in five Latin American democracies from 2013 to 2022. Using panel data analysis with interaction modeling, the investigation found that countries with stronger governance structures achieved substantially greater returns on education spending, with high‐quality institutions producing nearly three times the educational impact per unit of investment compared to weak institutional contexts. The analysis of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico confirmed that education investment remained statistically ineffective at the lowest levels of institutional quality while generating robust improvements in countries with strong governance capacity. These findings suggest that policymakers should prioritize institutional strengthening alongside budget increases to maximize educational investment effectiveness

Corporate governance · Institutional change · Latin Americans · Moderation · Panel data · Public investment · Educational Assessment and Improvement · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · School Choice and Performance

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