This paper argues the case for re-visiting the concepts of high and low skills as used in academic and political debates in the older industrial countries. There the concept of low skills has, for a number of reasons, acquired negative connotations in that low skilled jobs are seen to "drag down" the economy and therefore something which…

The article attempts to assess the major sources behind the exceptional Irish growth performance in the 1990s. Unlike other Tigers, Ireland's growth is due to efficiency gains, rather than capital deepening, but the causes for the swift growth in total factor productivity cannot be pinned down to a single factor. Human capital, foreign direct…

This article examines the effect of Japan's official development assistance (ODA) over 10 years that proposed to facilitate environmental conservation in developing countries. Special emphasis is given to ODA disbursements in the energy sector to evaluate whether Japan's foreign aid has shifted its policy toward more environmentally sound goals.…

This paper describes how New Zealand's leading research university, the University of Auckland, dealt with the issue of transforming knowledge into wealth using a "whole of institution" approach. The context of New Zealand's growth and innovation initiatives is outlined and the University of Auckland's engagement with and institutional…

Existing sociological analyses express differing expectations about state control over economic actors and the political feasibility of environmental regulation. Recent literature on the environmental state sees environmental protection as becoming a basic responsibility of postindustrial states, with economic actors no longer having the autonomy…

This paper considers the important issue of women's economic participation in rural community development and regeneration. The paper explores the economic lives and actions of women residents in ''Ilston'', a village in the Northumberland Rural Coalfield. The women's narratives illustrate the economic connections between private and public…

Purpose: To show the key points of a development education program for engineering studies fitted within the framework of the human development paradigm. Design/methodology/approach: The bases of the concept of technology for human development are presented, and the relationship with development education analysed. Special attention is dedicated…

Throughout Vermont, at every grade level, students are finding innovative ways to get involved with issues that challenge their communities and affect their future. The efforts reflect a 2000 state commitment to education for sustainability. Vermont educators often describe sustainability as a lens through which to analyze use of resources. By…

This paper examines discourses and developments of the knowledge economy and learning society in Australia and New Zealand. It outlines the international context of the rise of the knowledge-based economy and sets the New Zealand and Australian debates against this backdrop. A current heightened emphasis on education and learning in both countries…

The dominant view today is of a global knowledge-based economy, driven by the application of new technologies, accelerating the shift to high-skilled, high-waged European economies. This view is reflected in the expansion of higher education and the key role of higher education in national and European economic policy. The Lisbon agenda seeks to…

In environmentalist discourse, there is often an assumption that certain non-industrial peoples, usually called "traditional" or "indigenous" live in more "harmonious" relations with nature. The general argument is that instead of treating these communities as "backward" or "uncivilized," the…

Using data for 4th graders in primary schools from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), I compare across 25 countries the ways in which home literacy environments influence children's reading performance. Examined are three indicators: early home literacy activities, parental attitudes toward reading, and number of books…

This paper examines the effects of expansions in higher educational institutions and the medical service industry on the economic development of a metropolitan area. This examination pulls together previous research and provides some new empirical evidence. We provide quantitative evidence of the magnitude of economic effects of higher education…

Although China has made notable progress in liberalizing its economy over the past three decades, the Communist Party maintains a stranglehold on political freedom, and in no place is this more apparent than the roadblocks it places on the Information Superhighway. Indeed, according to Reporters Without Borders, China stands as "... the…

This article examines the World Bank's recent World Development Report on youth and development (2007) as an empirical example to explore the links between the employment of "group identity" and the use of policy frameworks. Drawing on feminist theory to analyse the representations of young people put forward within the report, this article…