Productivity, Machinery and Skills in the United States and Western Europe

1997 ◽  
Vol 162 ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Mason ◽  
David Finegold
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Precision Engineering ◽  
Mass Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Relative Productivity

In two very different industries—biscuit manufacturing and precision engineering—US leadership in labour productivity relative to Western European countries is found to depend heavily on greater opportunities for scale-economies of production. Inter-country differences in the age and sophistication of machinery contribute only very partially to relative productivity performance but the US does benefit from higher levels of physical capital per worker. In terms of human capital, American enterprises are well-served by access to a relatively large supply of technical graduates which helps to compensate for deficiencies at lower levels of vocational education and training. The comparisons suggest that the present development of a US-style mass higher education system in Britain could make a positive contribution to British productivity performance. However, the traditional ‘American model’ of production organisation based on a semi-skilled shopfloor workforce is not relevant to the current and future skill needs of most British manufacturing employers.

Assessing the Obstacles to Industrialisation: The Mexican Economy, 1830–1940

1992 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen H. Haber
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Growth ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
The North

After England began what came to be known as the First Industrial Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century, industrial technology quickly diffused throughout the nations of the North Atlantic. Within fifty years of the first rumblings of British industrialisation, the factory system had spread to Western Europe and the United States. Latin America, however, lagged behind. It was not until the twentieth century that manufacturing came to lead the economies of Latin America and that agrarian societies were transformed into industrial societies.This article seeks to understand this long lag in Latin American industrialisation through an analysis of the experience of Mexico during the period 1830–1940. The purpose of the paper is to look at the obstacles that prevented self-sustaining industrialisation from taking place in Mexico, as well as to assess the results of the industrialisation that did occur.The basic argument advanced is that two different types of constraints prevailed during different periods of Mexico's industrialisation. During the period from 1830 to 1880 the obstacles to industrialisation were largely external to firms: insecure property rights, low per capita income growth resulting from pre-capitalist agricultural organisation, and the lack of a national market (caused by inefficient transport, banditry and internal tariffs) all served as a brake on Mexico's industrial development. During the period 1880–1910 the obstacles to industrialisation were largely internal to firms. These factors included the inability to realise scale economies, high fixed capital costs and low labour productivity. During the period from 1910 to 1930 these internal constraints combined with new external constraints – including the Revolution of 1910–17, the political uncertainty of the post-revolutionary period and the onset of the Great Depression – which further slowed the rate of industrial growth.

scholarly journals Ontario Higher Education Reform, 1995-2003: From Modest Modifications to Policy Reform

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Glen A. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Liberal Government

Ontario higher education system has moved far and fast in the past decade. The early 1990s saw "modest modifications and structural stability." Since 1995, under a neo-liberal government in Ontario, major policy initiatives, with objectives not unlike those already at large in western Europe and most of the United States, have quickly followed one another. The author proposes an explanation of the timing and dynamics of the Ontario reforms, describing the driving forces behind reform.

From Scarcity to Abundance: Achieving Quality-Assured Mass Higher Education

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter P. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Secondary System ◽  
Mass Higher Education ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One

The United States is in a bind. On the one hand, we need millions of additional citizens with at least one year of successful post-secondary experience to adapt to the knowledge economy. Both the Gates and Lumina Foundations, and our President, have championed this goal in different ways. On the other hand, we have a post-secondary system that is trapped between rising costs and stagnant effectiveness, seemingly unable to respond effectively to this challenge. This paper analyzes several aspects of this problem, describes changes in the society that create the basis for solutions, and offers several examples from Kaplan University of emerging practice that suggests what good practice might look like in a world where quality-assured mass higher education is the norm.

Anne O. Krueger, Constantine Michalopoulos and Vernon W. Ruttan. Aid and Development. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1989. xiv + 386 pp.Price: U.S. $ 52.00

1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-217
Author(s):  
Mir Annice Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
International Development ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Infrastructure ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Impact

Foreign aid has been the subject of much examination and research ever since it entered the economic armamentarium approximately 45 years ago. This was the time when the Second World War had successfully ended for the Allies in the defeat of Germany and Japan. However, a new enemy, the Soviet Union, had materialized at the end of the conflict. To counter the threat from the East, the United States undertook the implementation of the Marshal Plan, which was extremely successful in rebuilding and revitalizing a shattered Western Europe. Aid had made its impact. The book under review is by three well-known economists and is the outcome of a study sponsored by the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. The major objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of assistance, i.e., aid, on economic development. This evaluation however, was to be based on the existing literature on the subject. The book has five major parts: Part One deals with development thought and development assistance; Part Two looks at the relationship between donors and recipients; Part Three evaluates the use of aid by sector; Part Four presents country case-studies; and Part Five synthesizes the lessons from development assistance. Part One of the book is very informative in that it summarises very concisely the theoretical underpinnings of the aid process. In the beginning, aid was thought to be the answer to underdevelopment which could be achieved by a transfer of capital from the rich to the poor. This approach, however, did not succeed as it was simplistic. Capital transfers were not sufficient in themselves to bring about development, as research in this area came to reveal. The development process is a complicated one, with inputs from all sectors of the economy. Thus, it came to be recognized that factors such as low literacy rates, poor health facilities, and lack of social infrastructure are also responsible for economic backwardness. Part One of the book, therefore, sums up appropriately the various trends in development thought. This is important because the book deals primarily with the issue of the effectiveness of aid as a catalyst to further economic development.

Educational Entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu - A Profile

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siluvai Raja
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Education System ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World

Education has been considered as an indispensable asset of every individual, community and nation today. Indias higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States (World Bank). Tamil Nadu occupies the first place in terms of possession of higher educational institutions in the private sector in the country with over 46 percent(27) universities, 94 percent(464) professional colleges and 65 percent(383) arts and science colleges(2011). Studies to understand the profile of the entrepreneurs providing higher education either in India or Tamil Nadu were hardly available. This paper attempts to map the demographic profile of the entrepreneurs providing higher education in Arts and Science colleges in Tamil Nadu through an empirical analysis, carried out among 25 entrepreneurs spread across the state. This paper presents a summary of major inferences of the analysis.

A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF DEPRECIATION ACCOUNTING — THE UNITED STATES STEEL EXPERIENCE

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Auman Reed
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Cost Accounting ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reporting Bias ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Replacement Cost ◽  
Historical Cost ◽  
Steel Corporation

This paper examines the magnitude of the reporting bias inherent in the historical cost accounting of a firm's physical capital. Reported depreciation data pertaining to U.S. Steel Corporation (currently USX) between 1939 and 1987 are compared with standardized historical cost figures and replacement cost estimates. The findings suggest that replacement cost depreciation would have provided more information about U.S. Steel's ability to maintain its productive capacity than historical cost depreciation did. Thus, this analysis provides an illustration of one of the primary arguments for replacement cost accounting.

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