IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/globus/v1y2000i1p11-47.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Do Nations Increase Workforce Skills? Factors Influencing the Success of the Singapore Skills Development System

Author

Listed:
  • Sarosh Kuruvilla

    (Comparative Industrial Relations and Asian Studies, Cornell University)

  • Rodney Chua

    (Hewitt Associates, Singapore)

Abstract

This article contributes to the partial resolution of the debate regarding the role of governments in leading national upskilling efforts through a descriptive case study of the Singapore system of skills development. The article identifies the major reasons behind Singapore's remarkable success in upgrading workforce skills in a relatively short period of 40 years. First, a general linkage between economic development needs and skill formation and development has been facilitated by an institutional structure that places the Economic Development Board (EDB) at the centre of the effort with responsibility for both areas. We argue that this general linkage is a necessary but insufficient condition for rapid skills upgradation. Second, the EDB's model of technology transfer, which over a period of time brought about the integration of three crucial aspects, that is, linking foreign direct investment to skills development and joint government-private sector operation for skills training, was crucial in the ability of the economy to meet its short- and medium-term skills development needs. Third, educational reform for long-term skills development, fourth, a levy/grant scheme (the Skills Development Funds) that induced private sector firms to invest in upskilling, and fi nally, the institutional linkages across different skills-development institutions and initiatives which further ensured the effectiveness and relevance of upskilling programmes, that is, the interconnectedness of the various parts of the system, were crucial elements in the success of the Singapore effort. In sum, Singapore's system is consistent with the notion of a concerted national effort. Given that several nations have indicated their desire to copy selected aspects of the Singapore system (for example, Skills Development Funds) this essay cautions that it is important to understand that each component works because of the institutional context, and so cannot be transplanted independently to a different institutional context and be expected to provide the same results.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarosh Kuruvilla & Rodney Chua, 2000. "How Do Nations Increase Workforce Skills? Factors Influencing the Success of the Singapore Skills Development System," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 1(1), pages 11-47, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:globus:v:1:y:2000:i:1:p:11-47
    DOI: 10.1177/097215090000100102
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097215090000100102
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/097215090000100102?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Robert J. Barro, 1998. "Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262522543, April.
    3. Huff,W. G., 1997. "The Economic Growth of Singapore," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521629447, October.
    4. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    5. Edgar C. Schein, 1996. "Strategic Pragmatism: The Culture of Singapore's Economics Development Board," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262193671, April.
    6. Mr. Kenneth Bercuson, 1995. "Singapore: A Case Study in Rapid Development," IMF Occasional Papers 1995/018, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Kuruvilla, S., 1997. "Globalization and Employment Relations: a Framework and Agenda for Research in Asia," Papers 97-12, Aarhus School of Business - Department of Economics.
    8. Nancy L. Stokey, 1991. "Human Capital, Product Quality, and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 587-616.
    9. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:ilo:ilowps:448389 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Bae, Johngseok & Rowley, Chris, 2004. "Macro and micro approaches in human resource development: context and content in South Korea," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 349-361, November.
    3. Vandenbosch, Tom & Nanok, Tutui & Tollens, Eric, 2004. "The Role Of Relevant Basic Education In Achieving Food Security And Sustainable Rural Development," Working Papers 31843, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    4. Lim, Lin Lean., 2011. "Building an Asia-Pacific youth employment coalition : reviewing past policies and the way forward," ILO Working Papers 994676873402676, International Labour Organization.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ruttan, Vernon W., 1998. "Growth Economics And Development Economics: What Should Development Economists Learn (If Anything) From The New Growth Theory?," Bulletins 12972, University of Minnesota, Economic Development Center.
    2. Kevin S. Nell & A.P. Thirlwall, 2017. "Why does the productivity of investment vary across countries?," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 70(282), pages 213-245.
    3. Sushil Kumar Haldar, 2009. "Economic Growth in India Revisited," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 10(1), pages 105-126, January.
    4. Antonio Paradiso & Saten Kumar & B. Bhaskara Rao, 2013. "The growth effects of education in Australia," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(27), pages 3843-3852, September.
    5. David Alan Aschauer, 1998. "Optimal Financing by Money and Taxes of Productive and Unproductive Government Spending: Effects on Economic Growth, Inflation, and Welfare," Macroeconomics 9808005, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Sep 1998.
    6. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Mehmet Ugur & Siew Ling Yew, 2017. "Does Government Size Affect Per-Capita Income Growth? A Hierarchical Meta-Regression Analysis," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(300), pages 142-171, March.
    7. Zoltán Bartha & Andrea S. Gubik, 2014. "Characteristics Of The Large Corporation-Based, Bureaucratic Model Among Oecd Countries – An Foi Model Analysis," DANUBE: Law and Economics Review, European Association Comenius - EACO, issue 1, pages 1-20, March.
    8. Arne Bigsten & Jörgen Levin, 2001. "Growth, Income Distribution, and Poverty," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Aysit Tansel & Ceyhan Ozturk & Erkan Erdil, 2021. "The Impact of Body Mass Index on Growth, Schooling, Productivity, and Savings: A Cross-Country Study," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2118, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    10. Richard Florida & Charlotta Mellander & Kevin Stolarick, 2008. "Inside the black box of regional development: human capital, the creative class and tolerance," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(5), pages 615-649, September.
    11. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:2:y:2002:i:1:p:1-15 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Bartha, Zoltán & Sáfrányné Gubik, Andrea & Tóthné Szita, Klára, 2013. "Intézményi megoldások, fejlődési modellek [Institutional solutions, development models]," MPRA Paper 50901, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Igor Kotlán & Zuzana Machová, 2012. "Vliv zdanění korporací na ekonomický růst: selhání daňové kvóty? [The Influence of Corporate Taxation on Economic Growth: The Failure of Tax Quota?]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(6), pages 743-763.
    14. Kuruvilla, Sarosh & Erickson, Christopher L. & Hwang, Alvin, 2002. "An Assessment of the Singapore Skills Development System: Does it Constitute a Viable Model for Other Developing Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1461-1476, August.
    15. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    16. Cook, Paul & Uchida, Yuichiro, 2008. "Structural change, competition and income distribution," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 274-286, May.
    17. Poot, Jacques, 1999. "A meta-analytic study of the role of government in long-run economic growth," ERSA conference papers ersa99pa171, European Regional Science Association.
    18. Michael Peneder & Karl Aiginger & Gernot Hutschenreiter & Markus Marterbauer, 2001. "Structural Change and Economic Growth," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 20668, April.
    19. Hibrahim Limi Kouotou & Boniface Ngah Epo, 2022. "Duration of heads of state in power and economic growth: a Sub-Saharan African tale," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(2), pages 1153-1170.
    20. Suri, Tavneet & Boozer, Michael A. & Ranis, Gustav & Stewart, Frances, 2011. "Paths to Success: The Relationship Between Human Development and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 506-522, April.
    21. Gaetano Lisi & Maurizio Pugno, 2015. "A matching model of endogenous growth and underground firms," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 11(4), pages 347-369, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:globus:v:1:y:2000:i:1:p:11-47. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.imi.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.