ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the rationale for such reforms, including their possible benefits and limitations. It interprets the relationship between these HRD reforms and economic restructuring, especially with regard to the peculiar characteristics of the Mexican state. The chapter discusses the process of human resource development in the USA and analyzes whether a pluralist or a national approach, or a combination of the two, are most effective for meeting the challenges posed by globalization and economic restructuring. The chapter argues that the government has attempted to make the education system more responsive to structural change by developing a loose national framework for meeting new skill needs, while at the same-time maintaining the benefits of a decentralized system of provision. It analyses how state elites, institutions connected to the state and global agencies affected the process of change. The chapter documents the structural changes that have occurred to the country's economy.
