Skill Formation Regimes in South Asia: A Comparative Study on the Path-Dependent Development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training for ... Series / Bibliothèque d'Études Comparatives)

Description

In the face of accelerated economic globalisation, many of the industries in economically less developed countries have become more technology-intensive. Skill formation processes, both inside and outside firms, are therefore changing. This study scrutinises such transformations by comparing – from the perspective of historical institutionalism – the skill formation regimes of the garment industries in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It sheds light on the differences between the trajectories of the in-firm skill formation regimes of the two countries, and reveals the important part that varying paths of educational development in both countries have played in shaping these trajectories. At the same time, the study shows how, in both countries, state-led skill formation regimes have been transformed not only by market forces and the growing importance of corporate business interests, but also by the social demand for educational credentials. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables and figures XV List of abbreviations XVII Acknowledgements XXI Foreword XXIII PART A: THE FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY Introduction 3 The problem 3 Theoretical perspective 9 Case selection 14 Outline for the study 19 Literature review 23 Economic literature on skill formation in developing countries 24 Comparative education literature on skill formation in developing countries 27 Political economists on skill formation 39 Theory and methods 45 The heuristic model 46 A historical-institutionalist approach to political economy 46 Regimes and institutions 48 Actors 51 Institutional genesis, reproduction and change over time 52 Specification of the heuristic model 56 Skill formation institutions and skill formation regimes 56 Intersecting regimes 67 Political and administrative regimes 76 A causal model of the political economy of skill formation regimes in developing countries 80 Methods 84 Data requirements 85 Data collection 86 Data analysis 95 PART B: THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CONTEXT The development of the global textile and garment trade 101 The development of the textile trade until World War II 101 The development of the garment trade until 1995 103 The development of the garment trade after 1995 104 PART C: SRI LANKA The development of the political and administrative regime in Sri Lanka 111 The political and administrative regime before economic liberalisation 111 The political and administrative regime after economic liberalisation 114 The development of the education and training regime in Sri Lanka 123 The education and training regime before economic liberalisation 123 The education and training regime after economic liberalisation 130 The overall development of education and training 130 The development of technical and vocational education and training 133 The development of the garment production regime in Sri Lanka 147 Industrial development before economic liberalisation 147 The garment production regime before the imposition of garment quota 152 The garment production regime during the quota regime 160 The garment production regime during and after the phase out of quota 168 The development of the skill formation regime of the garment industry in Sri Lanka 179 The development of the in-firm skill formation regime 179 The in-firm skill formation regime before the imposition of garment quota 180 The in-firm skill formation regime during the quota regime 184 The in-firm skill formation regime during and after the phase out of quota 187 The development of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 194 Skill formation programmes before the imposition of garment quota 194 Skill formation programmes during the quota regime 201 Skill formation programmes during and after the phase out of quota 208 Private skill formation organisations 208 Public skill formation organisations 214 The coordination of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 238 PART D: BANGLADESH The development of the political and administrative regime in Bangladesh 247 The political and administrative regime before the formation of Bangladesh 247 The political and administrative regime after the formation of Bangladesh 250 The development of the education and training regime in Bangladesh 261 The education and training regime before the formation of Bangladesh 261 The education and training regime after the formation of Bangladesh 266 The overall development of education and training 266 The development of technical and vocational education and training 273 The development of the garment production regime in Bangladesh 283 Industrial development before economic liberalisation 283 The garment production regime before the imposition of garment quota 288 The garment production regime during the quota regime 299 The garment production regime during and after the phase out of quota 303 The development of the skill formation regime of the garment industry in Bangladesh 315 The development of the in-firm skill formation regime 315 The in-firm skill formation regime before the imposition of garment quota 316 The in-firm skill formation regime during the quota regime 320 The in-firm skill formation regime during and after the phaseout of quota 321 The development of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 329 Skill formation programmes before the imposition of garment quota 329 Skill formation programmes during the quota regime 335 Skill formation programmes during and after the phase out of quota 342 Private skill formation organisations 342 Public skill formation organisations 351 The coordination of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 366 PART E: FINAL PART The empirical evidence from a historical-institutionalist perspective 377 Institutional contexts of the skill formation regimes 378 The education and training regimes 378 The garment production regimes 381 The path-dependent development of the skill formation regimes of the garment industries in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh 386 The development of the skill formation regimes before the quota regime 386 The development of the skill formation regimes during the quota regime 390 The development of the skill formation regimes during and after the phase out of quota 394 Assessment of the hypotheses 403 Country-specific trajectories of the skill formation regimes 404 Common aspects of the trajectories of the skill formation regimes 407 The development of the in-firm skill formation regimes 407 The development of the out-of-firm skill formation regimes 409 Theorising on the dynamics of skill formation regimes 414 Conclusions 419 The findings in brief 419 Contributions to the literature and an agenda for further research 420 Revisiting the debate on “high skills” in developing countries 424 PART F: ANNEXES Annex 1 Number of organisations, some of whose representatives were interviewed during fieldwork 431 Annex 2 Categorisation of firms 432 Annex 3 Categorisation of training organisations 433 Annex 4 Number of documents produced in the respective data categories 435 Annex 5 Overview of data gathered for the study in Sri Lanka 436 Annex 6 Overview of data gathered for the study in Bangladesh 440 INDEX 445