ABSTRACT
The historical transformation of certain societies in East Asia continues to fascinate scholarly and popular observers. The emergence of the first-tier ‘miracles’ of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore has been variously attributed to early adoption of an export-oriented industrialization strategy, to sound macroeconomics including a high savings ratio, to marketcomplementing industrial policies and to a culture of hard work (e.g. Stiglitz, 1996). Often highlighted, but rarely explored, in accounts of the East Asian miracles is the role of education and training. High levels of educational attainment and skill formation are recounted, and a simple correlation is made between economic and educational success. With the latter accorded a causal role, one has the proposition that the miracles were ‘HRD (Human Resource Development)-led’. Influential in this perspective is the finding from crosscountry, econometric studies that show that high primary and secondary school enrolments in 1960 can explain the experience of higher growth rates in later decades (World Bank, 1993; Benhabib and Spiegel, 1994).
