Forming more effective partnerships with national governments in the Asia-Pacific region has been an important policy focus for the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) since 2006. AusAID is increasingly engaging in sector-wide approaches and working through partner government systems. This paper explores how new partnerships…

In March 2009, the RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition hosted a workshop called "Shaping Tomorrow Today: Near-Term Steps Towards Long-Term Goals." The workshop gave policymakers and analysts an opportunity to explore new methods and tools that can help improve long-term decisionmaking. The…

Policy makers confronted with the need to introduce health and safety regulations often wonder how to value the benefits of these regulations. One way that a monetary value could be placed on reductions in health risks, including risk of death, is through understanding how people are compensated for the different risks they take. While there is an…

One of the conundrums of free primary education (FPE) policy in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is the "mushrooming" of fee-paying private schools. Several researchers have become interested in studying this phenomenon and have raised the question--does free primary education meet the needs of the poor? Emerging voices among this…

The dimensions of the social problem of street children in developing countries is being recognized and the need for social action is being addressed. The tone of recent policy papers, however, is one of sympathy rather than of empathy. This sympathetic stance is prone to distortion and misrepresentation and may result in social action which is…

Policymakers often use Rate of Return information in formulating public resource allocation decisions. The World Bank uses this strategy to advise developing nations in setting student subsidy levels, tuition, and allocation by educational level. However, Rate of Return may be an inappropriate policy device for these objectives. (Author/MSE)

This paper examines the "brain drain" phenomenon particularly in the context of Chinese students studying in the United States and the People's Republic of China's attempts to respond. An opening section critiques the "brain drain" notion arguing that it is an inadequate construct for the actual flow of personnel and ideas…

In April 2000, the World Bank hosted a global conference that addressed the benefits and challenges of investing in early child development (ECD). The landmark conference brought together the world's leading experts, academicians, practitioners, and policymakers to focus on various aspects of ECD. This volume contains the proceedings of the…

Noting that the advance of new technologies and the rise of service economies have dramatically changed the socioeconomic development of the world and forced nations to adopt national information policies, this handbook explores the concept of such policies. It is based on the experiences reported in numerous country case studies, meeting…

Hearings on international student exchanges are presented. Information is presented on the countries of origin of foreign students in the United States and the fields they tend to study. It is noted that only 2.2 percent of foreign students studying in the United States are provided scholarships by the U.S. Government; the vast majority are…

Intended for policymakers, this document focuses on environmental factors limiting the expansion of the world's food supply, the dilemma of fostering third world economic development, and prospects for energy development. The first of five parts gives an overview of a 1983 Population Reference Bureau conference which focused on current thinking…

Cooperation between universities in northern and southern hemispheres in the current economic and geopolitical climate is discussed. The relationship between Canadian universities and the government is chronicled, and mechanisms of international cooperation are analyzed. Certain ethical principles are proposed as a framework for Canadian…

The administrative problems of public sector research programs in developing nations include lack of major public policies and too many minor ones, inadequate or haphazard planning, budgetary constraints, inadequate evaluation and monitoring, inadequate or obsolete equipment and facilities, trained manpower shortages, and limited motivation. (MSE)

This paper offers reflections on the role of the agricultural university in developing nations by analyzing in turn the factors that contribute to stagnation of these universities. It first takes up the policy conditions that govern the broad outlines of the agricultural university mandate such as the university's relationship with the ministry of…

The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) selected three areas of inquiry as its focal concerns for the years 1984-1989. The first of these centered on the influences on each other of education and technological development, and on the implications of these mutual influences for educational planning on a national scale,…