Panama has achieved socio-economic improvements in recent decades thanks to strong economic growth and consequent poverty reduction. Its growth model is characterised by a dual economy in which a small number of activities, including those related to the Canal and Special Economic Zones, have exhibited high productivity growth but limited job…

Subjecting vocational training to economic analysis, the author points to the high degree of uncertainty affecting employment and training policies, and urges that economists attempt to integrate their analyses with specific knowledge of the realities of the labor market. (Availability: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities,…

Expansion of public employment is probably a wise strategy, but it is not above question. Certainly the evidence of its effectiveness is mixed, and it has hardly been subjected to careful analysis. (Author)

By embracing education as an economic development tool, policy makers adopt a new economic metaphor--a new way of understanding how the economy works and identifying determinants of development. Development policy has shifted focus, from providing incentives for the accumulation of physical capital to emphasizing investments in human capital. Most…

This paper's overiew of the relationship between vocational education and productivity includes the presentation of results from a multiple regression analysis of vocational education enrollments and various productivity indices. This tentative analysis contributes additional observations to the studies reviewed and offers pertinent suggestions…

A study examined the role of technology in the European Union's (EU's) economy and its impacts on employment. Starting point was Technology and Employment Maps of the FUTURES project that identified main emerging technological developments (TDs) and their implications for employment. Technologies' potential impact on productivity growth and…

Numerous sources of data about family incomes, taxes, wages, unemployment, wealth, and poverty were used to analyze the impact of the economy on living standards in the United States in 1994-1995. It was discovered that most individuals in the United States are worse off in the 1990s than they were at the end of the 1970s. Between 1979 and 1989,…

The conference "People and Technology: Investing in Training for Europe's Future" was the largest combined conference and exhibition ever launched by the European Community in the field of vocational training. The major themes discussed during the course of the conference were the future of training and work in light of technological…

The following papers are included in this volume: "Technological Change: The Future of Training and Work" (Lord Young of Graffham); "L'Education, la Formation et l'Evolution Technologique dans l'Industrie" (Mathias Hinterscheid); "Education, Training, and Technological Change in Industry" (Philippe Meyer);…

This volume consists of four articles dealing with strategies for combatting unemployment in the 1980s. In the first article, entitled "The Problem of Unemployment in the United States," Martin Neil Baily examines the nature of unemployment, the inflation trade-off and the natural rate of unemployment, indicators of structural change,…

Despite 6 years of economic growth, California's workforce investment system faces the following challenges: (1) meeting the needs of workers who do not earn enough to bring their families significantly above the poverty level; (2) meeting the needs of employers who face continuing shortages of workers with needed skills; and (3) meeting the needs…