There is a general conviction in the People's Republic of China that vocational education is key to improving economic development and thereby increasing the competitiveness of the nation. During the period of economic transformation at the beginning of a new century, as the state moves from a command economy to one more responsive and…

This paper explores the social and educational implications of the "Secondary Schools Scholarship Project" (SSSP) in which Australia gave over 1,000 adolescents from Papua New Guinea three-year scholarships to study in Australian high schools. Drawing from postcolonial theory, the paper uses concepts of ambivalence, hybridity, hegemony,…

This analysis examines the relationship between federal public investment spending and economic development in the special case of Appalachia. We propose that the effects of federal public investment spending on economic development operate indirectly through private capital accumulation. We use a spatial lag regression model to test our ideas for…

Amartya Sen's writings have articulated the importance of human agency, and identified the need for information on agency freedom to inform our evaluation of social arrangements. Many approaches to poverty reduction stress the need for empowerment. This paper reviews "subjective quantitative measures of human agency at the individual level." It…

What does being an entrepreneurial university mean? The University of Novi Sad in Serbia is taken as an example of how one University in a transition country, which was lacking tradition in entrepreneurial practices, is striving to become an entrepreneurial university. Examples of new practices are also described such as the establishment of a…

Using Washington State as an example, considers the political and economic developments causing community college presidents to devote increasing amounts of time to external constituencies, such as the state legislature and business and industry. Advocates the formation of new alliances to address problems related to economic development and…

Several national trends are converging to impact adult education today. First, the increasing presence of adults in higher education is accentuated by the expansive Baby Boom generation who are demanding greater access to the higher education system in the United States. Second, regarding workforce and economic development in the 21st century,…

This paper is a draft of Chapter 8 of a planned book, "Preschool and Jobs: Human Development as Economic Development, and Vice Versa". This book analyzes early childhood programs' effects on regional economic development. Four early childhood programs are considered: (1) universally accessible preschool for four-year-olds of similar…

The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) program was designed to meet the unique needs of the state of Tennessee by incorporating the hallmark elements of existing merit-based aid programs in other states. Developed through a process involving elected officials and members of the academic community, the TELS program aims to address the…

This dissertation explores organizational narratives of engagement initiatives involving two comprehensive universities and the larger regional communities they serve. The purpose of this study is to develop a holistic description of engagement initiatives, reflecting data collected through interviews, documents and other artifacts from…

Bridging the areas of political-economic sociology, the sociology of agriculture and environmental sociology, this study tests two hypotheses derived from a refined theory of foreign investment dependence. The hypotheses state that pesticide and fertilizer use intensity in less-developed countries are both positively associated with foreign…

These four diagnostic guides, developed as part of the Investing in People Project in Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Washington, and West Virginia, can be used to help states in assessing their current work force and economic development systems and in building more comprehensive, integrated, and effective strategies for improving the work force.…

Recognizing the importance of technology transfer to economic growth, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) provided the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute (CATI) with a grant to coordinate the development of a plan for using technology transfer in Colorado's economic development. The plan, outlined in this report, describes the…

This book contains eight papers presented at a symposium on the process of redefining the relationships between business and older workers and how older workers might enhance U.S. competitiveness, now and in the future. The book includes an introduction by U.S. Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich and an overview, "U.S. Competitiveness and the Aging…

"The Development Data Book," published by the World Bank presents statistics on countries with populations of more than one million. The statistics relate to economic development and the changes it is bringing about in the world. Sometimes called indicators, the statistics are measures of social and economic conditions in developing and industrial…