2.5. Analytical frameworks for skills policy Apart from industrial policy, reaction to the changing economic and technological environment also saw a more pronounced discussion as regards skills policies. Human capital and skills have for a long-time been recognised as an important prerequisite for economic growth, even if the some authors suggest that the role of different production factors might change when moving through different stages of economic development (Greiner, A., Semmler, W., & Gong, G., 2016). The current academic discussion on the role of skills and human capital in the global economy, while indicating the need for a new perspective, suggests that until now the existing approaches are either based on universalistic theories – i.e. human capital theory; skills bias theory or particularistic theories - notably the varieties of capitalism theory (Lauder, H., Brown, P. and Ashton, D., 2017). However, link between skills and industrial policies is not straightforward. On the one hand, from earlier discussion it has been evident that skills-focused interventions are usually an integrated element, among many others, of industrial policies. On the other hand, the level of integration between broader skills policies pursued by countries and industrial policies is often weak if at all present. It could be argued, that in many cases sector-specific industrial policy interventions concern skills in a very narrow way – limited both in terms of volume (i.e. number of people to be trained) as well as content (types of skills pursued). On the other hand, for horizontal industrial policy, skills governance interventions might seem too generic, lacking tangible indications of being identified as a pressing bottleneck (such as trade barriers or unfavourable exchange rates) or a visible outcome, such as an attracted FDI, jobs and infrastructure. Therefore, the approaches to govern as well as analyse skills systems across countries are often rather “soft”. Two primary examples are, firstly, pursuing statistical analysis to understand the way skills (or more broadly) – human capital markets function across countries and secondly, pursuing (qualitative) analysis of skills policies, adopted to influence skills markets and in most cases focusing on skills development - i.e. initial and continuing education and training. In the two sections below, a concise review will be provided of some of the existing work by the European Commission and the OECD in terms of monitoring skills systems and analysing skills policies. For further in-depth discussion on latest skills policy issue a good reference points is the evidence collected and reviewed within the latest annual Development in Americas (DIA) report (IAB, 2017). 2.5.1.Workforce skills (development) systems Two frameworks, developed at the international level since 2010 can act as a useful guide in monitoring skills systems. The first one, developed between 2011 and 2013 by the OECD and World Bank in cooperation with ETF, ILO and UNESCO. It was developed following a call by leaders of G20 and implementing G20 multi-year action plan on Development, adopted in Seoul summit in November 2010. The second one was developed by the European Commission in 2016 during a review process of skills statistics in the EU. The OECD-World Bank framework was developed with the aim to act as a guide supporting countries, particularly those at lowest level of development in selecting indicators to monitor and benchmark skills development policies. It is a based on a supply-demand framework and consisting of five main domains and proposing a list of internationally comparable indicators available for majority of countries globally. The five domains include: contextual factors that drive supply and demand for skills; skills acquisition covering investment, stock and distribution of skills; skills requirements covering the demand side; matching of supply and demand in terms of labour market relevance of
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