Labor market for agricultural graduates in India, a benefit-cost case study of G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology

This study is an evaluation of one of these universities, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, from the standpoint of economic efficiency and equity. At the outset, it should be emphasized that economic criteria are only one of several vantage points from which to assess investments of society"s resources. Political and social criteria are also valid. The selection of economic criteria in no sense attempts to impart an implicit value judgment with regard to the hierarchical ordering of criteria. The weighting of criteria is a legitimate and correct function of the political process. This study"s principle value is an input into this process by providing knowledge of the economic effectiveness of the investment of society"s scarce resources which have alternative uses. The primary orientation of this study is an evaluation of the unversity"s teaching function. Ignored is the university as a research and extension institution. These other two functions are discussed only to the extent they bear directly on the teaching activities of the university. The output from the teaching activities is the individual graduates. Their performance in the labor market sheds light on the effectiveness of the university as a teaching institution. A measure of performance is the net gain in earning resulting from having obtained an education at the university. Measured against the cost of obtaining that education, it is possible to estimate the rate of return on the investment.