Across the industrialized and developing world, education and training are regarded as paramount to economic growth, but this view is rarely questioned or analysed. This major book is an in-depth multi-disciplinary investigation of the link between modern economies and education and training systems. Education, Training and the Global Economy takes issue with the notion that simply more or better education and training will inevitably bring economic success. The authors examine theoretical approaches to education and training before surveying empirical data and our knowledge of current skills trends in the global economy. The institutional and historical determinants of routes to low or high skill formation in industrialized economies are thoroughly considered. Particular attention is paid to the new routes to skill formation found in the dynamic Pacific Rim economies. This book will be welcomed by researchers, policymakers and students concerned with training, education and labour economics.