Human capital formation under neo-liberalism: the legacy of vocational education training in Australasia and implications for the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

This appraisal considers the role and impact of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and New Zealand, and suggests directions such policy might take in other Asia-Pacific countries. It identifies key issues and constraints in making VET more responsive to emerging labour market needs in the region as an important factor in sustaining high economic growth. It focuses on the way in which the demands of the government, industry, trainees, and, in particular, shifts in political ideology that have influenced the education and training sectors in both countries. It addresses points of specific relevance for the delivery of VET in the broader Asia-Pacific context and concludes with a consideration of lessons and experiences of Australia and New Zealand with VET that may hold for other countries in the region in formulating priorities and implementing strategies in meeting their current and emerging needs for skills development.     

农村信用社改革中法人治理问题研究

农村信用社改革,应综合考虑我国农村不同地区经济发展的特点和各种外部因素的综合影响,根据各地农村信用社不同的经营管理水平选择不同的改革模式。在外部治理方面需要创建公众人士、政府行为、金融监管、行业规则、法律规范等良好的制度;在内部治理方面则需要针对“三会”制度中各个方面所存在的缺陷来进行改革。     

Trade Union Responses to Outsourcing in a Neo-Liberal Environment: A Case Study Analysis of the Australian Public Sector

Australia has witnessed a rapid growth in outsourcing over the past decade with the public sector being the clear leader in these initiatives. Explanations of the rise of outsourcing tend to emphasize economic and human resources management factors and neglect the political dimension. In particular, unions and collective labour relations have been a target of a neo-liberal reform agenda pursued by both Labour and conservative governments, which has included outsourcing as a means of individualizing the employment relationship and reducing union influence. This can be seen clearly from the experience of the state of Victoria both in its reform of local government and its electricity generation industry where a carefully implemented programme of downsizing and outsourcing played upon existing divisions in the workforce. In both cases a pragmatic, survival oriented response from the major unions was elicited.     

Vocational education and training – an engine for economic growth and a vehicle for social inclusion?

Vocational education and training (VET) has in recent years enjoyed a revival for two major reasons. Firstly, it is regarded as a suitable means of promoting economic growth. Secondly, it is seen as a potentially powerful tool for fostering social inclusion. In this review, these assumed effects are critically examined on the basis of the vastly expanding literature in the field. Evidence of the productivity‐enhancing effects of VET at company level is quite solid, but evidence of the effect on overall economic growth is far from conclusive. The effects on social inclusion are uncertain because reform of VET systems has not been sufficient and because it has proved difficult to bring about the necessary institutional change. The review identifies policy implications and makes some suggestions for future research.     

Employer training in Australia: current practices and concerns

This paper presents and analyses results from a research project on current trends in employer training in Australia. While the formal vocational education and training (VET) system is well‐researched, the everyday training that happens in workplaces is relatively under‐researched in Australia. Using some of the results of an employer survey undertaken in 2015, the paper describes and analyses employer‐based training across a range of industry areas. The survey included groups of questions on a range of matters, including the reasons why employers train, and how these relate to employers’ perceptions of their operating environment, and the structures they have in place to manage and organize training. Detailed data are provided about three specific forms of training: in‐house training and learning; the use that employers make of external providers of training; and employers’ use of nationally recognised training – training from the VET system. Finally the paper reports what managers said about the barriers to providing more training. The paper analyses the findings in relation to the literature and also identified changes over time in training practices in Australian companies. Implications for training policy and practice, as well as for future research, are identified.     

Vocational education and training and employer engagement: an industry‐led sectoral system in the Netherlands

The overall objective of this paper is to determine, through a qualitative case study of the Dutch sectoral training system, factors associated with successful employer engagement. As well as examining the key features of the Dutch approach to vocational education and training (VET), the article makes a number of specific arguments: (1) employer ‘buy‐in’ is crucial to the success of the sectoral approach to VET; (2) simply establishing a system of sector‐based training bodies (e.g. skills councils) does not guarantee effective employer engagement; and (3) to make sectoral training work, especially in countries where a ‘supply‐led’ system dominates, a fundamental reform is required in areas such as funding, qualification structure, leadership and system support.     

Training‐related dimensions of apprenticeship programmes in crisis‐ridden Greece: an exploratory study

Since the 2008 financial crisis there has been increased interest in apprenticeships in Greece, largely due to the perception that apprenticeships, in comparison to academic studies, may improve the employment prospects of young people. Before this time, there had been little interest in vocational education and training (VET) and consequently few efforts to develop the VET system. This exploratory article focuses on training, a crucial aspect of apprenticeship programmes, and offers a critical overview of key dimensions of the training content of apprenticeships in Greece. The article draws on the findings of a large‐scale, mostly qualitative research project (carried out between December 2015 and March 2017), which aimed at reviewing the Greek apprenticeship system and gathered, inter alia, the views of 150 individuals representing different groups of stakeholders. It is argued that, despite positive features, the training offered in Greek apprenticeships still suffers from severe shortcomings, which highlight the need for urgent reform and restructuring. Without such reform, the potential of the system to be an effective, alternative to the academic pathway or to boost employment will be seriously constrained.     

Globalization,non-standard employment and Australian trade unions

This article explores the impact of the growing non-standard workforce on trade union membership and union policy in Australia in the context of neoliberal policy responses to globalization. It is no coincidence that trade union density has rapidly declined in Australia as the non-standard employment share has rapidly increased. The characteristics of the jobs and the workers filling non-standard jobs are largely outside of the traditional domain of trade unions. While trade unions are faced with an increasingly hostile political environment in Australia, one of the real challenges they confront is to make themselves more relevant for non-standard employees and to increase their recruitment among non-standard employees.     

Managing the transformation to e‐government: An Australian perspective

Australia is recognized as a leading country in the move to an information economy, and the Australian government has played a pivotal role in this transformation. This commentary outlines some of the key issues confronting Australia as it moves towards its policy goal of achieving e‐government. Although governments differ in the pace and nature of reforms required to bring about the transformation to e‐government, many of the underlying issues are the same for most governments. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Economic reforms in Poland

The reaction of the Polish leadership to the strikes in August 1980 was to promise reforms, and a scheme of reforms has been presented in the meantime. What would be the most comprehensive attempt yet at transforming the present system, which is geared to the Soviet model, and at launching the country on a road of its own is to be undertaken by 1983. What are the prospects for this new reform scheme?     

Privatization and Regulatory Reform in Brazil: The Case of Freight Railways

A variety of proposals for creating more competition within the railroad sector and in the broader freight transport sector are under consideration in countries throughout the world. Brazil, though something of a latecomer to wider infrastructure reform, has recently taken large steps in restructuring its railroad system. This paper analyzes Brazils ongoing railroad reforms, seeking to place them in the context both of the broader reform project going on in Brazil and of railroad reforms taking place in developing and developed countries worldwide.     

Hartz IV: The Solution to the Unemployment Problems in the Eurozone?

The Hartz IV reforms are consistently regarded as a successful German model for the reduction of structural unemployment. Is it therefore appropriate to advise other member states of the European monetary union to carry out similar reforms? This paper strongly disagrees, arguing that the reduction in unemployment in Germany since 2005 is mainly due to cyclical factors and to the petering out of the negative employment effects caused by the economic transformation after German unification.     

Trade Policy in Burundi: Reform Without Political Stability

This paper evaluates Burundi's progress with trade policy reform, by comparing earlier analyses of Burundi's trade policies undertaken in the 1980s with that of the WTO's recent Trade Policy Review. Since the mid‐1980s Burundi has been trying to reform its trade and macroeconomic policies against the background of continuous socio‐political tensions and periodic outbreaks of violent tribal conflict. A ‘then and now’ comparison allows us to assess both the extent of the trade reforms and of the economic return to those reforms. It is evident that there has been a significant rationalisation and simplification of trade policy. Burundi has eliminated most quantitative import restrictions and reduced the average level and range of its tariffs. The scope for allocative distortions, undesirable redistributive effects and for impediments to investment and growth has been substantially reduced. However, a return to reform in terms of export growth or diversification and of overall economic growth is not discernible yet. This is unsurprising, given the scale of the economic disruption. Sustained socio‐political stability, among other things, will be required to induce the investment in human and physical capital needed for a positive return to trade policy reform.     

De Tocqueville's ‘Dangerous Moment’: The Importance of Getting Reforms Right

Economic reform, on an ongoing basis, is vital if economies are to achieve, and maintain, rapid and sustained economic growth. Yet governments face challenges when introducing economic reforms. Policymakers must judge what reforms are needed; when to introduce them; and how rapidly to pursue their reform programme. Failed reforms can discredit the reform process as a whole, and so make it more difficult, and more costly, to retry in the future. The reform process in emerging market economies provides many lessons that are widely applicable. Perseverance is critical: reforms must be followed through if they are to be successful. Reforms also need to be wide‐ranging, encompassing not just monetary, fiscal and trade policy but reform of the financial sector and of public institutions. Reforms in many countries need to include the protection of property and individual rights; improved tax administration and greater efficiency of public spending; and commercial codes. Reforms can be most easily implemented at times of global expansion. Fiscal consolidation, for example, is more easily accomplished in a more favourable environment partly because it helps deliver future growth and partly because it gives governments scope for counter‐cyclical policy during future downturns.     

Trade Unionism and Welfare Consequences of Trade and Investment Reforms in A Developing Economy

This paper explains the existence of intersectoral wage differential in a developing economy in terms of trade union behavior in the formal sector industry and analyzes its role in predicting the outcomes of trade and investment reforms on welfare. It provides theoretical explanations of certain real life phenomena e.g. why the developing countries are yearning for foreign capital despite the standard immiserizing result and why these countries are not reducing the tariff rates beyond certain levels although they have chosen free trade as their development strategy.     

Can apprenticeships contribute to innovation in SMEs? The case of Catalonia

The objective of this study is to analyse the contribution of students of vocational education and training (VET) to the innovation processes of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) during their apprenticeships. Qualitative research was conducted through in‐depth interviews with 97 respondents in Catalonia, including VET teachers and students, SME managers, and social and institutional agents. Our findings reveal that public institutions have a partial view of innovation, mostly influenced by an industrial positioning, which leads to the neglect of other components, such as the social aspects. In addition, regarding public programmes designed to foster innovation through VET, the results show a lack of coordination between VET schools, SMEs and public administrations. Finally, in relation to apprentices, we find a low participation in innovation processes by students during their apprenticeship as a consequence of the bad implementation of innovation public programmes, due to the lack of coordination between VET schools and SMEs.     

A critical review of primary health care reform in Bulgaria: impact on consumers

The Health Care System in Bulgaria is in a period of transition and is undergoing profound changes in financing, organization and ownership. A priority of this reform is to shift the focus of healthcare to the primary sector and to emphasize general practice. New legislation in support of this health care reform has been passed over the last few years. However, this legislation, although consistent with the global aims to be achieved, has proven to be contradictory in terms of its practical implementation. This has had a negative impact on health care consumers’ interests and rights. This paper evaluates the effects of primary health care reform in Bulgaria from the perspective of patient satisfaction. For this purpose, a major task to be fulfilled is to identify the contradictions emerging between the legislation outlining the reforms and the realities of practical implementation with respect to its impact on consumers. The methods applied include: a review of the legislation, a review of the practical progression of the reform process, and an assessment of the new developments in health care consumers’ interests and rights. Considerable contradictions have been found between the legal framework of health care reform in primary care and existing experiences, traditions and expectations. The legislation is inconsistent with the existing realities of healthcare provision. This is leading to turmoil in the health care system during its present transformation and is infringing upon consumers’ rights. Problems emerging in the process of reform need to be identified, and solutions need to be found and worked out as the reforms progress. An assessment system has to be developed to monitor the overall reform process and to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the changes introduced. The impact on consumer and patient satisfaction should be an area of prime concern during these assessments.     

Keynote Speech: Opportunities and Challenges for Mexico Today

Since its pre-colonial history, Mexico has demonstrated two contrary tendencies: the outward-looking, global trader and the protective, nationalist instinct. Today, the seven major constitutional reforms of the PRI government reflect the former. However, the teacher’s union, some presidential advisors, and the criminal justice system reflect a preference for the latter. The more progressive sectors of Mexican society assert the need to participate in the global economy, but latent protective and nationalist tendencies throw up challenges. This article examines several contemporary examples of each tendency and demonstrates how they coexist uneasily in modern Mexico.     

商务部主政新贸易时期解读

机构改革是推进政治体制改革的重要内容。商务部进入主政新经贸时期，这是经济形势发展的结果，是世界市场规则统一化的需要，也是市场经济已成气候的结局。     

Beachtlicher Erfolg der Hartz-III-Reform

The Hartz reforms of the labour market constitute an important turning point in the evolution of the labour market in Germany. While the reforms consisted of four parts, it was especially the reform of the unemployment benefit system — the Hartz IV reform — that led to a strong response in the public and the media. Andrey Launov and Klaus Wälde demonstrate that the Hartz III reform of the German public employment agency (the ‘Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA)’), that took place one year earlier, was much more successful in reducing unemployment. The reorganisation or the BA accounts for around 20% of the reduction of unemployment between 2005 and 2008. By contrast, the Hartz IV reform can account for only 5% of this reduction.