This paper evaluates economies of scale and scope, and the merger effect among national universities in Japan. We apply SUR for the total translog cost function in FY2014 and FY2018. The main results are: (i) there exist economies of scale as a whole university; (ii) but there exist no clear economies of scope except for in research; (iii) there…

This article examines the paradoxical teacher shortage in Japan 50 years after the enactment of the 1974 Securing Educational Personnel Act, which aimed to attract talented individuals to the teaching profession. It analyses how teacher education policies, administrative reforms, and fiscal measures have contributed to the current situation. The…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the technical efficiency of Japanese national universities over the period 2010-2016. In addition, the authors also sought to identify the determinants of efficiency, especially those amenable to public policy intervention. Design/methodology/approach: First, the authors ran a global intertemporal…

This study examines international brain race for world-class universities as measured by the QS World University Rankings (QS) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities, particularly in the context of Asian nations' institutional competition and benchmarking against American counterparts. Applying mixed methods with statistical analysis of…

How has schooling functioned in the construction of meritocratic national systems historically? To what extent will these historical patterns and normative commitments continue in the new era of a global meritocracy? And ultimately, how can educators effectively balance the inherent tension between individual merit and standardized quality? Kariya…

The objective of this research was to understand the current situation and challenges associated with the internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) in English-medium instruction (EMI) programs at Japanese universities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing a conceptual framework and ideas of 'enablers' and 'blockers' of IoC, we…

Module A of the OECD Higher Education Policy Survey (HEPS) 2022 elicited information on policies to promote digitalisation of higher education in OECD member and accession countries. In total, 30 jurisdictions responded, providing comparative information on various areas of digitalisation policy, from regulation and governance to financial and…

A skills gap challenges educators and policymakers alike. To help meet the economic and educational needs for the modern workplace, Congress recently reauthorized the Perkins Act. The bill, "Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act," emphasizes an important mission of education in the 21st century, that is,…

This book highlights some of Kenneth King's diverse contributions to international and comparative education, African studies and development studies over more than four decades. From his pioneering work on the first educational commissions to Africa, through his research on skills training in the informal sector, and on to his critical analysis…

This book examines some of the major higher education reforms and policy shifts globally, particularly in the light of recent shifts in quality and standards-driven education and policy research. It critiques the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of current higher education and policy reforms, and illustrates the way that changes in the…

The central focus of this book is the concept of higher education reform in the light of an international and global comparative perspective. After decades of far-reaching reform, higher education around the world has profoundly changed and now has to face the challenges of the present. This volume takes a close look at these changes, the drivers…

Japanese higher education policy since the 1990s has been more economic-centered and neo-liberal in nature than previous policy and is characterized by both governmentalism and managerialism. It is widely known that operating grants for national universities have been reduced since they became national university corporations. At the same time,…

Japan stands as a rare country in which ESD has been incorporated as mainstream policy. However, looking back on the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD), ESD has not brought about the transformation in Japan that one expects ESD to aim for, despite this support at the policy level. The cause may be that pouring…

This paper explores how bureaucracy impedes the implementation of higher education (HE) policy at Japanese universities. Administrative systems employ Weberian legal-rational bureaucratic practices that are central to the institutional identity of a university. Rather than the means to internationalisation and reform in general, these systems…

Educational policies and practices are influenced by cultural, political, and economic factors, and this is also true of specialized educational approaches such as gifted education. Factors such as a country's cultural tendency toward egalitarianism or meritocracy, whether the political system is centralized or decentralized, and the degree to…