ABSTRACT
The model we have identified in the last chapter is essentially dynamic in character. It focuses on the ways in which governments have linked changes in the demand for the skills created either by inward investment or indigenous growth with the supply of suitably qualified personnel. We have suggested that, despite the weakening of these links following increases in democracy and in economic liberalisation, the tigers are likely to retain, at least for a while, their comparative advantage in managing skill formation. Our conclusion begs the question as to how far the model—or elements of it—could be taken up elsewhere. Such a question splits into two: first, can the model be applied in other as yet undeveloped economies and, second, are any elements of it relevant for advanced industrial nations. With regard to the latter, the apparent success of the model suggests that taking a strategic approach to a developed country’s skill formation system is likely to have substantive economic benefits. Nevertheless, the extensive controls over individuals’ and firms’ skill formation decisions, characteristic of the tigers’ history, may not be possible in complex advanced industrial societies. 1 In this concluding chapter, we focus on the former question, the exportability and relevance of the model to other developing societies.
