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The bulk of this position paper consists of statements in opposition to a September 2001 referendum on adopting 'right-to-work' (RTW) legislation in Oklahoma. The statements are by Joan Fitzgerald, William Sschweke, Raymond Hogler, Steven Shulman, Stephan Weiler, Ann Markusen, Robert G. Lynch, David R. Howell, James Galbraith, Colin Gordon, Wim Wiewel, Mark Cassell, Philip Shapira, Chris Tilly and Andrew Reamer and make the following points: (1) RTW results in low pay and income polarization; (2) RTW has limited positive effects on job creation and economic development and significant social costs; (3) in a global economy, RTW primarily attracts low wage firms, which are later easily lured away; (4) other factors, such as a highly skilled workforce, infrastructure, vibrant communities, and a clean environment are often more important in attracting businesses than low labor costs; (5) RTW encourages low wages resulting in lower tax receipts and more need for social services; (6) fewer high skill jobs will result in the out-migration of higher education graduates and skilled workers; and (7) nurturing home-grown businesses and start-ups has recently become a preferred economic development strategy over luring businesses from elsewhere. (CG)

The model currently used to represent the impacts of Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) programs implies a one-way flow of impact from TAFE to student to community. It may be argued that TAFE could better serve its clients by developing a social capital-based, two-way, reciprocal dynamic of vocational education and training (VET) planning and development. The evidence from a 5-year research effort encompassing more than 50 whole communities largely supports an integrated rather than segregated model of VET. The research has identified the following needs ("drivers") of the vocational learning experience: community; culture; enterprise; natural resource management; policy; providers; and industry. Vocational policy depends on two factors. The first is identifying vital checkpoints in the process of vocational learning where quality learning can be seen to have occurred. The second is identifying accurate benchmarks for profiling these checkpoints of quality. The solution to meeting these needs and conditions at the local level while juggling the demands of national strategic measures and data requirements lies in adopting a "community capacity inventory" model and resourcing through key performance measures. An integrated model of VET would be fairer and more accurate to all VET stakeholders, be more cost-effective for TAFE, and be better for enterprise and policy outcomes. (Contains 19 references.) (MN)

In May 1994, 26 experts from 10 countries attended a technical meeting on economic policies and employment. After hearing and discussing eight papers on the nature of the employment problem and its macroeconomic solution, the group formulated an outline for global action that called on nations to act together to increase their chances of providing remunerative and sustainable work for all their citizens. Among the principles and recommendations included in the outline were the following: (1) the industrial countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development must coordinate their policies for faster growth; (2) the momentum toward freer trade must be sustained with reductions in tariffs and other barriers by countries at all levels of development; (3) the system of official development assistance should be revamped to concentrate available resources on the countries that need them most; (4) the outstanding debts of the poorest developing countries should be reduced or eliminated; and (5) basic education for all individuals and retraining for adults are essential preconditions for increasing/upgrading employment everywhere. (Appended are lists of 8 background papers and the 26 participants in the technical meeting.) (MN)

During the past 5 years, groundbreaking studies of adult literacy and literacy education have been conducted that can help policymakers and practitioners shape the next generation of adult literacy work in the United States. Among the topics examined in those studies were the following: relationship between literacy and economic well-being; literacy instruction and measurement; workplace literacy and competitiveness; English as a second language; family literacy; professionalization and standards; and electronic technologies in education. It was discovered that, despite increased awareness of adult literacy as a social issue and increased enrollment in literacy programs, efforts to improve adult literacy have not yet brought the dramatic gains for which policymakers, the literacy community, or the public have hoped. Useful ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of adult literacy programs were identified, and specific recommendations concerning adult literacy practice, research, and policy were formulated. It was concluded that making major gains toward the goal of a fully literate United States will require the following: more funding of literacy efforts; better targeting of available resources toward improving customer service; tailoring programs to address diverse needs; and developing user-friendly educational technologies. (Contains 74 endnotes and 88 references.) (MN)

Charles Vest gave the first of three Clark Kerr Lectures on the Role of Higher Education in Society on April 19, 2005 on the Berkeley campus. This essay argues that research-intensive public and private universities increasingly have far more similarities than differences in missions, structures, and even financial support. For both, the federal government, despite numerous tensions, remains our indispensable partner. At the same time, the role of state governments toward their public universities has evolved from that of patron to that of partner-sometimes a minor partner financially. Yet at every level-federal, state, and local- governments and universities each consider themselves to be the protagonist having the central role, moral authority, and last word in setting the objective and the course. Despite its complexities and tensions, out of this stew (with philanthropists and the private sector thrown in for good measure), we have forged the greatest system of higher education in the world and we must work hard and effectively to sustain and continuously improve it. We must strive for innovation and excellence, but also nurture broad access to this system and stay true to our fundamental mission of creating opportunity. (Contains 7 notes.)

In six policy areas, states can better equip rural community colleges to serve their communities. In the area of economic and community development, states can use rural community colleges to promote community development efforts and service learning and to provide small business assistance and entrepreneurship education. States can improve access to education by keeping community college costs affordable; empowering colleges to serve a diverse student population; ensuring colleges have adequate staff to provide counseling and support services; helping rural students overcome the barrier of distance; supporting partnerships between community colleges and K-12 schools to prepare low-income youth for college; and funding developmental education, literacy, and basic skills instruction. Concerning workforce preparation, states can designate community colleges as presumptive deliverers of workforce education and training, mandate collaboration among workforce agencies, fund noncredit workforce instruction, and develop policies that enable welfare recipients and the working poor to attend community colleges. In the area of technology, states can ensure that rural areas have an affordable telecommunications infrastructure and provide funding to small, rural colleges to maintain their technological capacity. In funding matters, states can provide base funding to small colleges and those in low-wealth districts, help resource-poor colleges initiate new programs, and facilitate intercollegiate partnerships for greater economies of scale. Concerning governance, states can give state and local boards appropriate powers for shared governance; ensure that board membership reflects community diversity; encourage collaboration among colleges, universities, and K-12 schools; and place community and technical colleges in their own state system. Congressional delegations from states with tribal colleges should make adequate federal funding for tribal colleges a high priority, and states should reimburse tribal colleges for the education of non-Indian state residents. Sidebars describe successful initiatives undertaken by rural community colleges. (Contains 28 endnotes.) (TD)

Rural development is rarely defined and there is no clear definition of what the development process intends to accomplish. The nature of the larger economy in which rural places must operate has changed in ways that reduce the relative advantage of most rural areas and have left them struggling to define new economic functions. The political process--the last great hope of rescue for too many rural people and places--is reorganizing in ways that will disappoint most rural communities. Economic development options for rural places are few. Those with high amenity value may become retirement or recreation destinations; places with good road and rail connections may capture a role as distribution centers; and the growing solid waste industry relies upon rural areas to accept waste. Many success stories in rural America are, upon closer examination, not really examples of rural development but of urban expansion. If rural America is to be competitive with other developed regions, it will have to improve the skill levels of the local labor force, and rural places will have to integrate themselves into markets. As the key factor in the future competitive position of states, education has become too important to be left to local control, and the independence of rural school boards is declining. Development entails specialization and scale effects, and rural places need to find ways to accomplish them without being captured by an urban center. To achieve scale effects and maintain local control, rural places will have to cooperate within some functional economic and political structure. (Contains 13 references.) (TD)

On October 7-8, 1996, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund joined with the World Bank to host a gathering of foundation executives, leaders of major humanitarian and environmental nongovernmental organizations, and officers of large multilateral institutions. The meeting was entitled "Building a Constituency for Global Interdependence," and its agenda reflected a sense of shared concern about the apparent waning of public and political support for the policies, programs, and agencies of cooperative international engagement. This paper draws from ideas voiced at that meeting to describe one possible and persuasive new framework for cooperative engagement. It begins by explaining the need for cooperation if interdependent nations are to advance their common interests in three areas: (1) economic growth; (2) military security; and (3) "social stewardship," which involves the promotion of health, social stability, and human potential. The second section of the paper traces the history of political and public support for social stewardship and discusses its current falling-off. In so doing, the paper provides new information on U.S. attitudes toward cooperative engagement generally and social stewardship in particular, suggesting that constituency-building is complex, involving not so much a lack of awareness about global issues but rather the low priority assigned to those issues and the absence of a compelling policy context in which to address them. The paper notes that constituency-building should include women, people of faith, youth, educators, businesspeople, and labor union leaders. The third section lays out messages and methods that might help generate a renewed commitment to social stewardship among policymakers and opinion leaders, key constituencies, and the general public. Finally, the paper argues for a model of cooperative engagement in which social stewardship, economic growth, and military security are seen as mutually reinforcing expressions of U.S. interests and values. (BT)

A Virtual Research and Extension Communication Network (VRECN) is a set of networked electronic tools facilitating improvement in communication processes and information sharing among stakeholders involved in agricultural development. In developing countries, research and extension personnel within a ministry of agriculture, in consultation and collaboration with key stakeholders, can develop and implement a VRECN. The tools are artifacts of a planned and ongoing process of stakeholder involvement in mapping communication- and information-sharing relationships and identifying critical relationships that require improvement to reach agricultural development and food security goals. Creating a VRECN in a developing country requires a planned process of stakeholder engagement, multi-stakeholder assessments of communication and information needs, and collaborative workshops to determine the desired characteristics of a VRECN, management relationships, and development partnerships. Six steps are to conduct project preparation, information technology assessment, and VRECN prototype development; identify product and services for VRECN; create VRECN prototype and directory; evaluate product and services; identify and secure staff support; and evaluate project. A number of tangible products result from a preplanned process for creating a VRECN, particularly through efforts to establish stakeholder needs assessments and collaborative working groups. (YLB)

This working paper is a product of a regional study in industrial South Wales of the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. Based on this data, three alternative ideal-typical orientations to education and training are proposed to supplant the current utilitarian human capital model. Type A orientation holds that if there is some knowledge or skill that is required on the job, then either it will be picked up as the employee or potential employee goes along, or the employer should arrange for the employee to acquire it. Type B orientation, credentialism, holds that education and training credentials give one a better chance of the job one wants, but considers the actual content of the education and training to be unimportant. Type C orientation holds that one should educate oneself before one gets the job so that one will be able to do the job better. Employers usually hold to Types A and B orientations. Type B, which is closest to the human capital theory, has been the determinant of educational and economic policy in the United Kingdom (UK), but this orientation may not be helpful to economic success in the country. Those countries, such as Germany, which have been more successful, have more Type C oriented-workers who prize education for its own sake and for making them better workers. Thus, the UK's policy of producing more Type B-oriented workers may not improve the country's economic position, despite enormous amounts of money spent on training. (Contains 72 references.) (KC)

Based on an analysis of federal legislation related to workforce training, this six-part position paper describes the possibilities of new workforce legislation in Kansas and the role that Cowley County Community College (CCCC) and the state's other 18 community colleges might play in a new plan. The first part provides an overview of CCCC's role and efforts in workforce development, highlighting partnerships with community and corporate organizations and addressing expected outcomes of the 1995 Workforce Development Act. The second part discusses the need for a collaborative effort among agencies and programs in Kansas to design a system of workforce development that will form the basis for applying for funding from the Department of Labor. The third part describes the role of Kansas community colleges in supporting economic growth and development, focusing on the creation of Workforce Development Education Training Centers at each of the 19 colleges and the contribution of this effort to the state economy. The fourth part reviews the contributions of CCCC in particular to the Kansas economy, highlighting services currently provided by the college. The fifth part describes plans for one-stop centers to handle career intake, assessment, education and training referral, and job placement, highlighting 11 recommended services to be provided by the centers. The final part discusses the need for planning and transition efforts from 1995-98 to meet provisions of federal, state, and local legislation. (TGI)

This paper is the third in a series of yearly efforts to identify the top public-policy issues facing higher education. Each of the 10 issues is discussed in terms of likely developments in 1996 and the near future, the issue's various aspects, and sources of further information on the issue. Issues identified and discussed are: (1) cost containment and productivity (Congressional hearings on college costs and tuition increases are likely in 1996); (2) affirmative action (how this controversial issue is resolved could have a major impact on hiring, promotion, and admission policies); (3) student financial aid (focus will be on funding levels of federal and state aid); (4) governance and privatization (the role of governing boards and privatization is a major issue in several states); (5) federal tax debate (proposals concerning a flat-tax, consumption-tax, and discontinuation of private institutions' tax exemptions will impact institutions); (6) economic development (more debate at the state level on higher education's role in stimulating economic development is likely); (7) federal research issues (Congress will debate federal research funding and indirect-cost recovery policies); (8) distance learning and technology (the federal telecommunications bill could have important effects in this area); (9) campus climate (deterioration in campus climate could have public policy implications; and (10) regulation and accountability (regulatory relief will continue on the federal and state levels). (DB)

Drawing from national studies calling for expanded and improved workforce training to keep the nation competitive in the global economy, this report reviews research on workforce training and argues for a concerted national effort to define and support a coordinated program of workforce training. First, the paper defines workforce training as those activities designed to improve the competence and skills of current or new employees and reviews the basic arguments for expanded workforce training. Next, the principal economic and educational imperatives of improved workforce training are reviewed and the role of formal and informal education systems in workforce training is discussed. The paper then describes the need to redesign the system of training and examines the central role of community colleges in this process, highlighting the existing infrastructure for delivering high-quality training at a reasonable cost. Finally, the paper discusses public-private partnerships and provides specific recommendations for community colleges, business and industry, and government in implementing a national workforce training system. Recommendations include the following: (1) community college leaders should develop organizational structures that bring workforce training from the margin into the mainstream of their institutions; (2) business and industry leaders should explicitly acknowledge that workforce training is an unavoidable cost of doing business and being competitive; and (3) the federal government should identify the expansion and improvement of workforce training as the core of a national economic strategy. (PAA)

This essay discusses the expanded role for two-year postsecondary institutions. It suggests that global competition and recent developments in new technologies are creating new conditions in the workplace and in the postsecondary educational system. These conditions are creating an increased demand for highly skilled workers, new management styles, and entrepreneurial skills. These workplace trends suggest the need for community colleges to emphasize an institutional and public commitment to economic development as a community enterprise. The essay outlines some possible strategies for fostering economic development through partnerships between industry and postsecondary institutions. It also analyzes the effects upon the United States of lower wages being paid by industrialized countries to hire workers in developing countries. In response to global competition, U.S. industry began to consider automated systems and computer programs. The two-year colleges demonstrate an important potential to expand their participation in community development within the context of emerging vocationalism, but questions remain as to whether they can make the changes necessary to support the needs of the established local industry, help individuals ease the transition to business ownership, and become proactive players in the development of the community. Contains 21 references. (NB)

A study was conducted in Australia, to determine the factors that affect demand for job training. The study consisted of 30 detailed industry case studies, an industry analysis, and a literature review. Each case study examined current training practices, training decision making in the business, and the determinants of training for the enterprise. Industries studied included manufacturing (food processing and electronics) and construction. For each case study, information was provided on the following: the firm, the organization and management of training, the determinants of training, and the impediments to training. The findings were then synthesized across industries. Some of the findings were as follows: (1) training is primarily an operational, not a strategic issue in companies; (2) there were as many outcomes for training as there were companies studied; (3) the quality assurance movement has had a major impact; (4) the mix of company needs and individual needs for training is confusing; and (5) there is a lack of understanding of the national training reforms. (Contains 20 references) (KC)

There is widespread agreement in Great Britain that the work force must receive more skills training if the country is to be competitive in the future. Of special concern is the 70 percent of the work force who left school at the earliest possible opportunity, and the (overlapping) 70 percent of the work force who have not received training for a long time. Barriers to training are seen as lack of time, lack of money, and negative attitudes toward learning. Recommendations can be made to government, to employers, to training and enterprise councils, and to educational institutions to improve access to skills training for all workers. Recommendations offered in this paper include the following: (1) the government should support paid learning for 30 hours per year for all adults and grant them the right to an additional unpaid 30 hours per year for study; (2) government should require employers to spend a minimum amount on employee development programs; (3) government should support adults seeking to reenter the labor market; (4) employers should audit skills of their existing staff, analyze organizational needs, and offer more job training opportunities to employees, including part-time employees; and (5) educational institutions should provide more accessibility for classes and more flexible requirements for entry and program completion. (KC)

Skilled workers are needed in developing countries to facilitate economic development and to respond to a changing economy. Training is often provided by private employers, but governments must continue to play a role to help train workers in companies too small to provide training, and because training benefits society in ways too remote for employers and employees to pay for. Public training policies in developing countries can be designed to create strategies ensuring that the skills needed by the economy are developed and that equity objectives for the poor and socially disadvantaged are effectively addressed. The key elements of this approach include strengthening primary and secondary education, encouraging private sector training, improving effectiveness and efficiency in public training, and using training as a complement to equity strategies. The World Bank has been the largest single source of international financial support for skills training. Five actions will improve the quality of World Bank support for skills training: (1) analysis of the economic context of training, including labor market training, should be improved and used in formulating national strategies; (2) lending for prevocational courses should be replaced by programs to strengthen quality and access in academic secondary education; (3) lending should address the policy changes needed to create a favorable economic climate for private training; (4) lending should improve the efficiency of public training; and (5) training should require development of long-term strategies for the evolution of governments' role in training and should encourage broad-based coordination of donor support. (177 references) (KC)

Written at the request of the presidents of the New Mexico Association for Community and Junior Colleges as a means of informing the deliberations of the legislatively appointed Higher Education Reform Committee, this position paper outlines the history, mission, and function of New Mexico's community colleges, branch colleges, and vocational-technical schools. The first section provides an overview of the history of the community college movement and of the community colleges in New Mexico. Next, a section on the mission of the community college examines curricula, community college characteristics, the profile of the community college student, commitment to excellence, services provided by the community college, and geographical distribution. The next section offers a description of the role of the community college in the state's economic development, focusing on community college partnerships with New Mexico business and industry. The final sections review the benefits afforded to the state by its community colleges and look at the present and future of the institutions, considering such factors as telecommunications technology, community college partnership with business and industry, and community college recreational and cultural opportunities. Extensive appendices making up two-thirds of the document provide detailed data on all the major topics discussed plus supporting information on tuition and fees, enrollments, remedial instruction, faculty degrees and salaries, budgets and revenues and other related topics. (LAL)

This paper reviews Iceland's performance in skills accumulation against the backdrop of a rapidly changing economic environment and discusses directions for further improvements. Since the late 1990s, the government has considerably raised expenditure on education, which is now among the highest in the OECD relative to GDP. Nonetheless, Iceland continues to have one of the largest shares of those in the working age population who have not attained upper secondary or higher qualifications, and educational achievements of 15-year olds are not outstanding relative to the country's advanced state of economic development. This is all the more unsatisfactory because spending per student in the compulsory education sector exceeds the OECD mean considerably, even after controlling for differences in per capita GDP. Measures to improve outcomes include curriculum adjustments and an enhancement of teaching evaluation and quality. While ensuring that students acquire a satisfactory basic set of competencies, there is room for reducing the average duration of primary and secondary education, which is quite long by international comparison. In contrast to upper secondary attainment, that for the tertiary sector is above the OECD average, and higher education has to cope with an enormous rise in participation. With a view to maintaining quality in the face of these developments, the government has introduced legislation that is welcome. However, it does not address the issue of tuition fees, which are authorised in the private but not in the public sector. (A bibliography is included. Contains 6 figures, 1 box, and 9 tables.) [This paper is based largely on material from the OECD Economic Survey of Iceland published in August 2006 under the authority of the Economic and Development Review Committee (EDRC).]

The aim of this Working Paper is to broaden the debate on "pro-poor growth". An exclusive focus on the income dimension of poverty has neglected the non-income dimensions. After an examination of prominent views on the linkages between economic growth, inequality, and poverty reduction this paper discusses the proper definition and measurement of pro-poor growth. Bolivia serves as a case study to illustrate the usefulness of applying the analytical toolbox for pro-poor growth to non-income dimensions of poverty and offers some important new insights about differences in the evolution of both poverty dimensions. Growth in Bolivia has been more pro-poor in the non-income than in the income dimension. The analysis furthermore shows that extending use of the pro-poor growth toolbox to non-income dimensions of poverty greatly improves our understanding of the trends in non-income indicators. Such understanding is pivotal for a careful assessment of the linkages between income and non-income poverty along the entire income distribution. It is equally important for poverty monitoring and for defining policy interventions. It also allows deeper analysis of the relative merits of economic growth, compared to direct intervention aimed at improving non-income dimensions of poverty. (A bibliography is included. Contains 25 footnotes, 14 figures and 8 tables.)

Natural disasters (droughts, earthquakes, epidemics, floods, wind storms) damage wellbeing, both in their immediate and long-term aftermath, and because the insecurity of exposure to disasters is in itself harmful to risk-averse people. As such, mitigating and coping with the risk of natural disasters is a pressing issue for economic development. This paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding natural disasters. Disasters, which imply tragic human costs, are distinguished from hazards, which are events like earthquakes or flooding: hazards only translate into disasters when societies are vulnerable to them. Consequently international development policy can play a role in reducing the costs of disasters by addressing vulnerability. A review of two recent disasters -- the Turkish earthquakes of 1999, and Hurricane Mitch in 1998 -- illustrates the importance of precarious urbanisation and environmental degradation for increased vulnerability to natural hazards. These cases furthermore demonstrate the heterogeneity in adaptive capacity to disasters, as similar hazards have vastly different social consequences in different countries. Adaptive capacity is a function of countries' "ex ante" vulnerability to natural-disaster risk and their "ex post" resilience once such disasters have struck. Three key dimensions of public action are highlighted: domestic versus international policies; ex ante versus ex post measures; and private versus public efforts. The paper closes with an overview of innovative proposals to mitigate disaster risk and broaden the range of insurance instruments available to households and firms. (A bibliography is included. Contains 17 footnotes and 3 tables.)

The resource paper examines urban problems related to the environment. It is suitable for use in undergraduate or graduate courses in urban geography, economic development and environment, urban environment, and environmental policy analysis. The paper is organized in five chapters. The introduction traces the concern with environmental quality which began in England and the United States around 1900. Chapter II provides perspectives on urban environmental quality. Topics include economic activities and environmental problems, and differentials in urban environmental quality. Chapter III discusses principles of urban environmental quality. Subjects are the physical impacts of urbanization; externality, social costs, pollution, and congestion; spatial structure of the urban environment; and input-output analysis of economic and envrionmental interactions. Chapters IV and V focus on the urban environment in affluent and low income societies. The Strategic Environmental Assessment System (SEAS) developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, the context of contemporary urbanization, resources for urban environmental improvement, and implications for environmental policy are discussed. Charts, maps, and tables depict problems and principles illustrated in each chapter. (KC)

This paper considers the economics of employment and education in industralized countries, particularly European countries. The paper covers six main topics. The first part deals with the present European employment situation, using figures mainly from Holland; the second part is an economic outlook for the 1980s; in the third, the employment and economic situations are combined, and the resulting employment prospects are considered. Discussed in part 4 are economic policies to cope with unemployment. Labor market policies are the subject of the fifth part, while the last section looks at social and cultural policies and what education can do within an overall packet to cope with the unemployment problem. A question-and-answer section follows. The paper maintains that actual unemployment is worse than the figures would indicate because of the rate of disability retirement; suggestions are made for policies of re-education, economic restructuring, and stimulation of international demand. (KC)

This paper notes that vocational education has been associated with economic growth since the turn of the century, when such growth was used as a justification for the funding of early vocational training. Today, vocational education's contributions to economic growth include efforts such as employer demand research, dislocated worker programs, strategies for school/business linkages, and entrepreneurship education. Following a short history and rationale for the connection between vocational education and economic growth, this paper (1) describes a variety of connections between vocational education and economic growth and their underlying theoretical foundations, (2) notes the historical context in which the connections were shaped, (3) lists policy initiatives that were stimulated by the various connections, and (4) suggests future vocational education policy issues to be resolved in order to maximize the effects of vocational education on economic growth. Throughout the paper, the ways in which vocational education supports growth are divided into four types that reflect different periods in the nation's economic history: traditional, locational, emerging, and potential. The discussion is restricted to vocational education provided by the public sector, on which public policy can have a direct effect. Questions and answers on school-business cooperation, entrepreneurship education, and skill training in relation to economic growth follow the presentation. (KC)

This working paper discusses the critical role that higher education in the United States and Mexico must play since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The paper gives an overview of recent transformations in areas of economic development and business needs which require that higher education better prepare students to compete in the global workforce. These include changes in the economies of the U.S. and Mexico since World War II, with world leadership for the U.S. and an inward-looking development path for Mexico. The rapid collapse of Mexico's oil economy in 1981 led to a full-scale economic crisis. Higher education institutions in both countries are now responding to new global market challenges. In response to changing business and workforce training needs and advances in educational technology and communications, these institutions are working to implement curricular reform, increase access to higher education, and keep higher education affordable. The paper concludes with initiatives currently underway and gives recommendations for higher education policy makers for the development of a competitive and culturally aware workforce. (Contains 41 references.) (JLS)

Inner-city business development is often proposed as a solution to inner-city poverty. However, research evidence suggests that creating new jobs in the inner city is unlikely by itself to increase significantly the employment or earnings of the inner-city poor. Public subsidies for inner-city business development may be justified by greater environmental, congestion, and fiscal benefits of inner-city versus suburban business location decisions. Research suggests that some boost in inner- city business development may be provided by a combination of economic development incentives and enhanced public services. A different set of policies must be used to increase the earnings of the inner-city poor. Employment solutions to inner-city poverty should include two components: (1) creating more effective labor market intermediaries to make it easier for inner-city residents to find good jobs and for employers throughout the metropolitan area to find good inner-city workers; and (2) enhancing the job skills of the inner-city poor, particularly their "soft skills," by training programs that have closer ties to employers and incorporate subsidized employment experience. Given the magnitude of the poverty problem, any realistic policy to significantly reduce inner-city poverty through enhanced earnings will require tens of billions of dollars of annual government spending. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/KC)

Intended to assist Agency for International Development officers, advisors, and health officials in incorporating health planning into national plans for economic development, this tenth of ten volumes in the International Health Planning Methods series deals with the relationship between health and economic development. In an introduction, W. Boyd Littrell discusses the three articles which make up this volume. Health, Income Distribution, and Source of Health Expenditures in Developing Countries, by Milton I. Roemer, addresses the issues of income and health spending. To improve the general health of the population, he suggests increased public sector spending for health services. In A Systems Perspective on Health and Development, Paul O. Wooley, Jr. (1) summarizes the issues associated with the definition and measurement of health and (2) describes the uses and limitations of various methods, particularly as related to less developed countries (LDCs). Theodore D. Woolsey's paper, Needed Development Research for Measuring the Health of Populations in the LDCs, first sets out eight principles clarifying the meaning and importance of "health." He then summarizes key issues in the health and development dilemma before discussing the effects of improved health upon socioeconomic development. To bring the needed clarity to this matter of health and development, he recommends systems analysis. (YLB)

Focusing on vocational education as a facilitator of rural economic development, the author of this paper discusses how to develop a rural community that will attract new jobs. His discussion includes the following key points: the role of local development corporations; concerns about quality of living for employees; encouragement of home-grown industries to expand; and the importance of agriculture. Implications for research are summarized. Finally, the author presents a case study based on the experiences of the rural community of Staples, Minnesota. (BM)

The United States is facing two major ongoing structural economic changes. First, the United States has helped create a world of open trade, and it is competing with underdeveloped countries who have an opportunity to industrialize very rapidly. Second, technological development is proceeding at a fast pace. High-wage industries in the United States, the Western industrial nations, and Japan will have to find profitable enterprises other than manufacturing because of the low-wage workers in the developing world. Economic opportunities need to be found in which American companies can do well enough to sustain present wage levels. The United States must cultivate or develop enough industries that are so technically advanced that they create near monopolies. Technical competence must first be enhanced greatly at the highest scientific level in the universities. Then, vocational and technical education must be delivered early, in the grade schools, high schools, and two-year postsecondary institutions. This recommendation requires finding funds to acquire expensive equipment, to change the curriculum, and to hire people who can deliver technical instruction. (Questions and answers about vocational education and economic change are appended.) (YLB)

Employment potential in developed and developing nations is analyzed from an economic viewpoint. Estimates by the International Labor Office are that the global labor force will grow by about 900 million people from 1980 to 2000. It is projected that these 900 million people will join the current labor force including approximately 50 million unemployed and about 300 million underemployed. Accurate measures of employment are difficult because different countries count employment in different ways and often employ statistics of poor quality. The employment problems of poor countries center of low productivity and low earnings--both problems related to lack of technological advancement. In industrial nations, on the other hand, employment problems are exemplified by accelerating wage costs, inflation, and unit labor costs which are too high to compete with production from developing nations. To deal with these employment problems, policy makers must tailor economic strategies to meet specific needs. For example, policy makers in industrial nations might stress adjusting to long term trends such as slower growth, slowing the inflation rate, and targeting more funds to employment programs. In developing nations, policies should emphasize productivity, capital investment in labor-intensive industries, and massive agricultural aid. (DB)

Reindustrialization problems in the United States (U.S.) include unemployment, low productivity, inflation, and inadequate economic growth. To determine how to improve economic performance, a careful, rational evaluation must be made of such factors as tax policy, spirit of risk, managerial effectiveness, rates of innovation, research and development, and human resource training and education as they apply to industry. Unlike Japan and countries in Western Europe, the U.S. does not understand the need to invest in major training and education efforts to service the skill needs of private and public sectors. Neither is there evidence of an awareness of the key relationship between the inadequate investment in human resources and problems of inflation and productivity. The Japanese human resource investment approach--life-long employment with continuous retraining of all employees--has major implications for some U.S. labor force problems. To move toward a really modern labor force, the U.S. should rethink the decision to change the definition of acceptable levels of unemployment and consider the experiences of other major industrial countries. Vocational education researchers should evaluate the human resources-capital investment programs in Japan and West Germany and determine how such approaches can be adapted in U.S. industry. (YLB)

Economic policy today is often stated in the terms of "demand managers" and "simple supply-siders" who look upon economic policy simply as a matter of stimulus or restraint. It matters little what programs are cut as long as overall spending is reduced to cool inflation. On the other hand, the real supply-side economists recognize the necessity for an education, training, and social services structure to develop human capital into a productive work force. Current antinflationary policies are especially destructive of human capital development, the real force that will lead to increased prosperity. A plan of moderate, rather than indiscriminate, budget cutting would be more sensible; this plan should scrutinize every expenditure, sparing certain ones, such as for vocational education, that have a potential for encouraging productivity and price stability. As we move toward this type of real supply-side policies, programs that emphasize the development of human capital should become more important. Also, if supply-side policies are to succeed, they must be more decentralized in their application. The real supply-side economics would encourage an increased capacity for bottom-up, subnational economic development. Vocational education should continue to play a major role in this process of development. (KC)

After a generation of unprecedented economic growth, the world economy appears to be losing momentum. Double-digit inflation, high interest rates, and soaring deficits are often cited as causes of the global economic slowdown, but these are more symptom than cause. More fundamental is the depletion of the global resource base that allowed the economy to triple during the century's quarter. This depletion of renewable and nonrenewable resources is undermining the long-term potential for rapid, sustained economic growth. Oil played a central role in the century's third-quarter economic boom. In addition to making overall growth easy, cheap oil revolutionized agriculture by spawning spectacular gains in food output. However, growth in oil production and other basic economic activities has declined because of rising oil prices, deteriorating biological systems, or both. As the world population moves toward 5 billion, humanity is moving into uncharted territory. The relationship between population size and the sustainable yield of the earth's biological resource systems is uncertain. With the progressive depletion of readily accessible oil and gas reserves and the widespread deterioration of the economy's biological support systems, economic growth has slowed markedly. These economic trends call for dramatic shifts in population policy to avoid declines in consumption levels. (JN)

Research that occurs in universities under conditions of patronage is distinguished from research that occurs under less distorted market conditions. It is claimed that academic research is shifting from an area of patronage consumption to one of economic development investment. In addition to considering the markets for academic research and research and development funding under conditions of patronage, implications for economic development policy are considered. Markets for research in universities under conditions of patronage have special features: patronage commonly occurs under conditions of oligopsony, where research is sponsored by a relatively small number of federal agencies, the largest foundations, and top industrial supporters; patronage implies unequal bargaining power; the patron gains indirect consumption benefits, some of which are based on exclusion; and consumption as opposed to investment is a key element of patronage. Some universities wish to decrease their dependence on federal support and are attempting to broaden their revenue base by a move toward state or regional economic development. The life sciences are used as an example of the problem of "misspecialization" of research that can create "blockages" as it flows into the economy, generating low economic growth. (SW)

While preparing for reauthorization of the Vocational Education Act, the United States Department of Education is looking at the inadequacies of the present law: overemphasis on process and accountability resulting in its being administratively burdensome, inadequate provision for basic skill development, and no provision for improving and developing new training programs, particularly in areas of critical skills shortages--areas necessary to economic revitalization. The Vocational Education Act needs to be refocused in the direction of cooperation between schools and employers and provision of federal incentives without federal coercion. One of the greatest needs in promoting productivity is to improve the delivery of vocational education skills and vocational education students to the employer. Management problems in the delivery system include unclear definitions of the vocational education mission at national and state levels and a need for delineation of roles and responsibilities for all partners in vocational education. The Department of Education considers the reauthorization an opportunity to target the program to high school youth; out-of-school, unemployed youth in depressed urban and rural areas; postsecondary and adult vocational students; and prisoners in penal institutions and also an opportunity to address national problems that hinder economic revitalization. (Questions and answers are appended.) (YLB)

Problems of the American economy can be eased by developing a national economic policy based upon human resource development and training. Ten observations on economics can be made as they relate to human resource development and the role of two-year institutions in that area. The poor national economic performance is connected to continued use of worn-out economic policies. People must be encouraged to be trained, not because they are poor, but because they are untapped human resources. More research is needed in the area of how to encourage greater investment in human resource development. Employment growth, currently concentrated in the service sector, must be shifted. Specific steps should be taken to alleviate the discrepancy between high unemployment and skilled worker shortages. The cycle must be completed from new technology to reduced prices to higher quality in order to regain a competitive edge in the world market. New thinking about vocational education and vocational needs is required. Postsecondary institutions need to prepare to serve new types of students--adults with prior life experiences and work history. Urban extension programs are needed to address unique city problems. Finally, a national human resource development policy needs to be implemented through community and technical colleges. (Questions and answers are appended.) (YLB)

On an overall basis, the United States is still the cheapest free world country in which to produce goods. If the United States is to retain this distinction, however, steps must be taken to reverse the trend toward yearly declines in the rate of gain in U.S. productivity. One way in which vocational education can help increase the productivity of the American labor force is to place less emphasis on the job- and industry-specific skills that can be taught most effectively by industry itself and to concentrate instead on preparing students for a world of work in which they must never cease learning and growing. In general, vocational education has neither the facilities nor personnel to provide effective training in high technology areas. What vocational education can do, however, is to train workers in the basic, transferable skills that they will need to succeed in the job-specific training that is best provided by the private sector itself. Vocational educators also need to develop courses that will teach students how to handle, manage, and just get along with others. To do this most effectively, teachers and administrators alike must make increased efforts to ascertain first hand exactly what skills business and industry require of their prospective employees. (A series of questions and answers is appended.) (MN)

Reasons for increased interest in higher education-economic development relationships are reviewed and the nature of the guidance that policy analysts may be able to provide decisionmakers is outlined. Attention is directed to the merits and drawbacks of six possible approaches to increasing higher education's contributions to economic development without spending large additional sums of state tax dollars. Emphasis is given to two types of approaches used in Washington State: additional investments in technology transfer of university research and development and additional support for campus-based technical and management assistance to firms. Two types of technology transfer investment strategies were studied. The applicability of the approaches to colleges and universities seeking to enhance their contributions to rural economic development are assessed. It is concluded that programs with this objective need to have some special emphases designed for the contemporary rural context, and that expectations for their impact should be modest. It is recommended that attention be directed to objective data-gathering and independent assessment of the impacts of campus-based economic development efforts. (Author/SW)

This document focuses on the need for public schools in the United States to develop the capacity of individuals to participate successfully in the nation's economy. An introduction discusses the impact of schools on the American economy and the effects of the economy on education. Section 2 lists objectives to which the American education system must be rededicated in order to improve economic growth and development through workers. Section 3 presents those activities that state departments of education must undertake to develop the capacity of individuals to participate successfully in the nation's economy. In section 4 recommendations for improving education and thereby economic development are directed at a variety of organizations and agencies, including the Council of Chief State School Officers, state education agencies, local education agencies, business/industry and labor, the U.S. Department of Education, and higher education. Section 5 provides the Council of Chief State School Officers' policy statement on education and economic development. (YLB)

The role of small business and entrepreneurship in today's economy is well documented. Entrepreneurship and small business ownership are an especially attractive option for women. Women have been seeking an escape from traditional, low-paying, dead-end jobs by choosing entrepreneurship at a rate five times faster than that of men. Women now own almost 26 percent of small businesses in America, and the number of female-owned firms in the United States rose 75 percent between 1977 and 1983. Over 91 percent of female small proprietorships fall into the categories of service, retail, finance, real estate, or insurance compared with 73 percent of all sole proprietorships. Education has a key role to play in educating women in the skills and the options of business ownership from the time they are young girls. Programs are especially needed in the following areas: management education (the operation of the free enterprise system, basic business skills, math and risk taking, and money management); marketing, particularly selling and negotiating skills; and business capitalization and financial management. Although federal, state, and local policymakers have already begun to recognize the potential of entrepreneurship as an economic development resource for women, the message has been slow in reaching educators. It is especially important for educators to develop better career orientiation material that reflects the rapid labor market changes taking place, to introduce more female role models with high-growth businesses as speakers, and to develop case studies and materials featuring female business owners. (MN)

Food supply and scarcity are closely linked with issues of gender and poverty. Traditional economic development models do not guarantee equitable distribution. Home economists, with their knowledge of the economic food chain and women's cooperative enterprises, can work to improve food security worldwide. (SK)

The goal of this comparative essay on higher education in Mexico and the United States is to provide a description of the common issues within the different contexts of each country to facilitate discussions of new binational programs. Government and business sectors of both countries have acknowledged the need to reform their education, scientific, and technological systems as well as workforce training capabilities. Factors contributing to the need for reform include: a perceived decline in educational quality; increasing enrollment demands; increasing social, economic, and skill diversity within the workforce; rapid advances in technology; and global economic competition. Both countries are seeking a balance in several areas including responding to individual needs versus societal needs, maintaining institutional autonomy while increasing accountability, improving program quality while opening access, addressing global concerns while maintaining national identity, balancing conflicting economic needs, reinventing the university, and developing innovative ways to collaborate between institutions and countries in a global context. (Contains 62 references.) (JLS)

Training systems are facing three basic considerations: (1) adjustment to demographic trends such as the population explosion in developing countries, the aging of the work force in developed countries, and the increased participation of women in economic activities; (2) changing patterns of demand, such as lower rates of growth, restructuring of the economies of many countries, and technology; and (3) matching supply with demand. Realistic and effective planning for training programs can begin only if sound data are available; therefore, the first step in coping with future changes is to obtain the requisite information on economic changes and training requirements. Education and training linkages need to be considered. Enterprise-based training is a highly convenient and efficient way of training because the curricular contents can be changed rapidly to meet evolving needs, such as changing technology, and it has a built-in quality control measure. The manner in which training is financed constitutes the strongest tool that can be used to bring supply in line with demand for trained workers. Training in the nonunionized and informal sectors include small enterprise development and training for self-employment. (This discussion paper includes policy recommendations for the roles of policymakers, employers, workers, training institutions, and the International Labor Organization.) (CML)

Finland is challenged to make the most of globalization by reinforcing its positive aspects. The 1990s taught that success in creating innovations is a key factor for success of business and societies. A precondition, high-level technological and business know-how, requires systematic input into producing social innovations that prevent societal and social development from diverging from economic and technological development. This set of actions constitute the national strategy's core. Internationalization must proceed at the level of the innovation system, and Finland must be able to internationalize its operations and its national science and technology institutions through quality and cooperation. Success in implementing the national strategy entails determined development measures. Finland's foremost strengths in knowledge--the national competencies--must be developed further. Measures must be taken to promote the use of technological and social innovations in business enterprises to accelerate renewal of traditional industries. Research organizations must be developed as active and dynamic cooperation partners for business and industry. Investment in basic information society skills must continue. Research and innovation financing must be increased to accelerate internationalization of the innovation system and improve overall conditions for innovation. Regions face the same internationalization challenges and need to enhance their own factors for development. (Appendixes include report excerpts and policy reports.) (YLB)

A task force studied adult education services in Maryland. The task force heard presentations from a wide range of stakeholders, including adult learners, professional associations, administrators, practitioners, and educational researchers. The presentations confirmed that the need for adult education services in Maryland is extensive and the impact of adult education on the state's workforce and economy is substantial. Existing client groups include workers in need of retraining, those without high school diplomas, nonnative speakers of English, adults needing literacy and/or basic skills instruction, and inmates and probationers. Although federal funding for adult education services has increased substantially since 1998, state funding has decreased, creating additional burden on local funding sources. Among East Coast states, only New Hampshire and Rhode Island had lower state appropriations for adult education in fiscal 2001. The task force issued the following recommendations to Maryland policymakers: (1) significantly increase public and private investment in the adult education system; (2) target new resources to improving adult education outcomes by increasing access to services, removing learner barriers, ensuring a professional workforce, and connecting students to careers, further education, or the workplace; (3) enhance accountability to increase the return on present and future investments; and (4) improve services for incarcerated individuals and probationers. (Contains 29 tables.) (MN)

In the United States today, too many hardworking people are unable to earn enough through work to support their families. Policymakers can help change this situation by taking the following steps: (1) keep work central; (2) promote family-supporting work; (3) invest in education and work skills; (4) make it easier for individuals to stay employed and advance; (5) make it easier for employers to hire, train, and support low-skill, low-wage workers; (6) and promote public and private sector policies in education, economic development, and workforce development that help low-wage workers become more productive and help the employers who hire them improve the quality of available jobs. Congress should take the following actions to increase economic opportunities for low-wage workers: (1) reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in ways that promote labor market advancement; (2) strengthen the emerging workforce development system; (3) reform Unemployment Insurance to increase access and coverage for low-wage workers; (4) make it easier for those who are already working to gain postsecondary credentials; (5) provide employers with incentives to train and support low-wage workers; (6) structure individual tax relief to reward work and help low-income families; and (7) encourage employers to raise entry-level wages. (MN)

This policy statement looks at America's basic research enterprise and lays out the processes and systematic reforms needed to meet emerging risks to the outcomes from investments in basic research. The Committee for Economic Development (CED) undertook this project in the belief that significant progress with many of society's problems and new discoveries will primarily depend upon fundamental scientific insights derived from basic research. Fourteen recommendations include: (1) Policymakers in Congress and the Administration should set broad national priorities for basic research that reflect the needs of society at large; (2) Federal support for basic research should continue to be diverse in its sources and objectives; (3) Within broad priorities established by policymakers, the primary mechanisms for allocating federal basic research funds in all agencies and to all institutions should be based on scientific merit determined through peer review; (4) Basic research should be a high priority in the federal budget in the decades to come; (5) Leadership and productivity of the nation's research universities should continue to guide other institutions receiving federal support; (6) Mechanisms should be devised to allow researchers to compete for longer-term funding, and administrative burdens from granting agencies should be reduced; (7) Development of simplified system for determining indirect costs; (8) Clear definition of the missions of the Department of Energy's national laboratories and realignment of missions and functions; (9) Government should not be in the business of directly funding the development and commercialization of technologies; (10) The federal government should continue to play a major role in funding large-scale infrastructure projects that are used extensively by many; (11) Raising of academic achievement in math and science in grades K-12 through adoption of nationals, policies to increase teacher knowledge and skills, and upgrades in classroom curricula, facilities, and teaching materials; (12) Higher prioritization of graduate training and increased federal funding of scholarships and training grants; (13) Industry-university relations and university patenting and licensing should be directed towards maximizing benefits for society at large; and (14) Expansion of U.S. efforts to benefit from international collaboration and the globalization of basic research. Two appendixes are included: (1) Overview of Resources for Basic Research; and (2) University Patenting Guidelines. (Contains 81 notes and 21 figures.)

The United States should provide all young people entering the work force with opportunities to develop productive careers. Despite that fact, the nation's schools fail to equip many young people with appropriate skills, the job market often fails to link them to long-term advancement-oriented employment, and their communities often provide few role models of adult employment success. These problems are particularly acute in the nation's inner cities. The following are among the actions that communities, schools, and employers can take to create a more favorable environment and employment in inner cities: provide prenatal/postnatal health care, parenting education, developmentally oriented preschool programs, and health/social services for students and their families; initiate gun and drug control measures; establish higher educational standards; improve teacher quality; increase schools' use of information technology; strengthen school-based management; expand charter schools and public school choice; increase employee recruiting through inner city schools and other community-based sources of job referrals; provide student internships for inner city job seekers; use school transcripts and teacher recommendations when making hiring decisions; and expand "diversity management" initiatives to enhance the retention and productivity of employees from diverse demographic backgrounds; and redesign career ladders to provide workers with initial access at younger ages. (MN)