We examine the role of universities in knowledge production and industrial change using historical evidence. Political shocks led to a profound pro-science shift in German universities around 1800. To study the consequences, we construct novel microdata. We find that invention and manufacturing developed similarly in cities closer to and farther…

An important driver of change in work, employment and skills is European Union policy aims of sustainable economic growth and the cultivation of a green economy. Part of the latter--which is supported by increasing environmental regulation--focuses on the development of a "green skills agenda," which involves the "greening" of…

The literature in economic psychology and quality-of-life studies alludes to a negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. In contrast, the macroeconomic literature implies a positive relationship between material consumption and economic growth. That is, materialism may be both good and bad. We develop a model that reconciles…

This essay contributes to a recent strain of research that questions clear-cut dichotomies between "scientists" and "artisans" in the early modern period. With a focus on the exploitation of agrarian resources, it argues for the appreciation of a more complex panorama of intersecting knowledge systems spanning from botany as…

In Western Europe, especially in Germany, private higher education is generally perceived as an alternative to public higher education for students from relatively affluent families; more broadly, there is a general perception that attending a private higher education institution is correlated to wealth. This perception is influenced by private…

Universities are under increasing pressure to help promote socio-economic growth in their local communities. However until now, no systematic, critical attention has been paid to the factors and mechanisms that currently make this process so daunting. In Universities and Regional Development, scholars from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia…

In the realm of reconfiguring Chinese vocational education and training (VET) the country is collaborating with Germany which provides guidance and support for the development of a dual system in China. The article outlines the circumstances that need to be considered in such a policy transfer and possible scenarios for the development of a modern…

Earlier studies of France, Germany and the UK suggest that a common framework exists to explain the relationship between public expenditure on education and economic growth in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This article shows that while a similar relationship exists in the USA, US policies were particularly committed to the educational…

Is the United States getting it wrong when it comes to educating tomorrow's innovators in critical fields? It has been known for years that the only way to compete globally in information technology, engineering, nanotechnology, robotics and other fields is to give students the best educational opportunities possible. But do individuals have a…

The 1980s and 1990s have been decades of quite good economic growth in North America and much of Western Europe. But how have the fruits of growth been shared? This paper reviews changing income distributions in the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands. These three countries may be taken as exemplars and leading economic performers in "the three…

In the late 1990s, sustained economic growth in most Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and the development of the information economy led to a considerable increase in migration of highly skilled individuals, especially in science and technology. Some OECD countries relaxed their immigration policies to attract…

In the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, employment trends have been considerably more favorable than in Germany. A country is considered successful in an employment policy context if unemployment is falling steadily or is low and if employment is increasing steadily or the employment rate has reached a high level.…

This volume is a detailed and up-to-date reference work providing an authoritative overview of the main issues in higher education around the world today. Consisting of newly commissioned chapters and impressive journal articles, it surveys the state of the discipline and includes the examination and discussion of emerging, controversial and…

Traditionally characterized by a mixed human capital and human skills and resources model, the German education and training system has come under pressure from structural changes in economy and society. The emerging "new economy" is more than the sector of information technology industries. Beyond global action and rapid exchange of…

The educational surveys of which some account is given in this bulletin do not by any means represent all the foreign investigations that have been made; it is believed, however, that they will serve to acquaint American students of education with certain foreign types, and at the same time throw some light on the history of surveys and of…