Purpose: The study aims to investigate whether participation to massive open online courses (MOOCs) may lead to labor market returns and through which mechanisms such relative advantage may take place. Indeed, despite high figures of registered users, empirical studies on occupational returns are limited and MOOCs may represent a viable,…

The experience of developed countries--particularly member-states of the OECD--has shown that employers are actively investing in developing the human capital of their employees. According to research conducted by the World Bank, more than half of the companies in developed countries provide their employees with training in one form or another.…

In Australia, like many western countries, there has been a convergence of education policy around a set of utilitarian and economistic approaches to vocational education and training in schools. Such approaches are based on the assumption that there is a direct relationship between national economic growth, productivity and human capital…

This paper reviews the literature on job-related training and the effects of these investments for different groups of individuals. The paper also elaborates on the theories, empirical explanations, and policy implications that can be drawn from these findings. Employer-provided training is by far the most important source of further education and…

The terms "overeducation" and "undereducation" can be misleading. The rise in overeducation might be taken as evidence that expansion of schooling has gone too far. However, there are positive and substantial returns to overeducation. (SK)

This document, a review of labor market effects of human capital, focuses on two related topics. Part I describes the following early findings of the research on effects of education and job training on the wage structure, labor turnover, and unemployment: decline of training with experience, positive and significant effects of training on length…

This working paper is a product of a regional study in industrial South Wales of the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. Discussion begins with an…

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) programs can be coordinated in a number of ways, some of them especially focused on women. For example, research suggests the following: (1) WIA and TANF can be coordinated to improve low-income women's human capital development; (2) many states and localities…

These four papers are from a symposium on evaluating the impact of human resource development (HRD). "Pre-Job Training and the Earnings of High-Tech Employees in Taiwan" (Tung-Chun Huang) reports on a study that concludes that public training programs have no impact on participants' earnings in later jobs, but participation in private…

This book studies how structural factors may contribute to determining both the volume and the composition of educational activities for adults. It then examines results or outcomes from work-related training. Part I outlines the agenda of the book. Chapter 1 introduces the metaphor of the shadow educational system, which describes an educational…

Educational performance has become a crucial element in the United States' capacity to prosper in a new global economy of fierce competition. In addition to the traditional question of how the educational system contributes to students' intellectual growth, a new question is being asked: How does the educational system contribute to national…

A project has been designed to identify how a non-metropolitan community consolidates and develops sustainable social and economic activity. For many authors, the political position reiterating vocational education and training (VET) as the pivotal contributor to building national economic sustainability is framed in terms of human capital…

This paper identifies important knowledge gaps in adult education and training (AET) in Canada and starts to explore strategies to fill these gaps. Following an introduction in English and French, each of the next three sections is comprised of a review of the current state of knowledge on three topics (outcomes of adult learning, motivations and…

An effective system of education and training is important for both social and economic reasons. Its role in the Polish economy is to provide the current and future labour force with skills to facilitate both continuing productivity growth and reallocation of resources as structural adjustment proceeds. Important reforms to decentralise primary…

There is a strong and growing argument for higher educational attainment in the United States. The jobs that are expected to support the economy in the coming years will depend on a skilled workforce that is able to learn and adapt quickly to new challenges. However, demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K-16 pipeline to…