Wednesday, October 29, 2008
[IWS] RAND: ARAB REGION: HUMAN CAPITAL CHALLENGES 21st CENTURY--Education & Labor Market Initiatives in Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates [24 October 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
RAND
Facing Human Capital Challenges of the 21st Century: Education and Labor Market Initiatives in Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates - October 24, 2008
Gabriella Gonzalez, Lynn Karoly, Louay Constant, Hanine Salem, Charles Goldman
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG786/
or
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG786.pdf
[full-text, 333 pages]
or
Summary
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG786.sum.pdf
See also Research Brief - http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/2008/RAND_RB9383.pdf
Countries in the Arab region are faced with the challenge of developing their populations' skills and technical knowledge, or human capital, in order to compete in the 21st century global economy. The authors describe the education and labor market initiatives implemented or under way in four countries in the Arab region Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to address the human resource issues they each face as they prepare their countries for a place in the 21st century global economy. Three of these countries Oman, Qatar, and the UAE are in the Arabian Gulf; the fourth, Lebanon, is in the Levant. Together, they highlight the similarities and dissimilarities of the challenges faced by countries in the region and the responses to those challenges. The study answers three main questions: What are the human resource challenges each country faces? What education, human capital, and labor market reforms have recently been implemented or are under way to address these challenges? What mechanisms and information are used to assess whether reforms are meeting their objectives, and is there evidence of success? Answers were sought through analysis of relevant literature, the most-recent population and labor force data from international and in-country sources, and a series of elite interviews in 2006 with government officials and individuals in private organizations in the four study countries. The authors found that while the study countries have instituted reforms to their education and training systems that are designed to raise the skills of the population, and have made changes to the labor market and economy aimed at facilitating the use of human capital in diverse sectors of the economy, a disconnect remains between implementing reforms and evaluating them to ascertain whether they are having the intended effects. In many cases, reforms have only recently gotten under way, so it may be too early to measure their impact. In other cases, however, the lack of systematic assessment stems from gaps in the data needed to track the effects of policy changes. If policy evaluation is made integral to reform, the countries in the Arab world will have the information they need to make the best investments in their human capital in the decades to come.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
RAND
Facing Human Capital Challenges of the 21st Century: Education and Labor Market Initiatives in Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates - October 24, 2008
Gabriella Gonzalez, Lynn Karoly, Louay Constant, Hanine Salem, Charles Goldman
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG786/
or
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG786.pdf
[full-text, 333 pages]
or
Summary
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG786.sum.pdf
See also Research Brief - http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/2008/RAND_RB9383.pdf
Countries in the Arab region are faced with the challenge of developing their populations' skills and technical knowledge, or human capital, in order to compete in the 21st century global economy. The authors describe the education and labor market initiatives implemented or under way in four countries in the Arab region Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to address the human resource issues they each face as they prepare their countries for a place in the 21st century global economy. Three of these countries Oman, Qatar, and the UAE are in the Arabian Gulf; the fourth, Lebanon, is in the Levant. Together, they highlight the similarities and dissimilarities of the challenges faced by countries in the region and the responses to those challenges. The study answers three main questions: What are the human resource challenges each country faces? What education, human capital, and labor market reforms have recently been implemented or are under way to address these challenges? What mechanisms and information are used to assess whether reforms are meeting their objectives, and is there evidence of success? Answers were sought through analysis of relevant literature, the most-recent population and labor force data from international and in-country sources, and a series of elite interviews in 2006 with government officials and individuals in private organizations in the four study countries. The authors found that while the study countries have instituted reforms to their education and training systems that are designed to raise the skills of the population, and have made changes to the labor market and economy aimed at facilitating the use of human capital in diverse sectors of the economy, a disconnect remains between implementing reforms and evaluating them to ascertain whether they are having the intended effects. In many cases, reforms have only recently gotten under way, so it may be too early to measure their impact. In other cases, however, the lack of systematic assessment stems from gaps in the data needed to track the effects of policy changes. If policy evaluation is made integral to reform, the countries in the Arab world will have the information they need to make the best investments in their human capital in the decades to come.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 10:58 AM
