Niccolò Durazzi – författare

Human Capital for the Knowledge Economy offers a compelling investigation into how advanced capitalist democracies have reshaped higher education to meet the demands of their national knowledge economies. As non-routine cognitive tasks become increasingly crucial in labour markets transformed by technological change, countries have expanded higher education since the mid-1990s. Yet, as this book reveals, national approaches to creating high-level skills diverge sharply, shaped by deep institutional and political differences. This study sets out to explain those differences. At its core is a novel analytical framework that links two key dimensions: the sectoral specialisation of national economies-whether oriented toward advanced manufacturing or high-end services-and the institutional design of higher education systems, including modes of financing and patterns of differentiation. From this, the book identifies four ideal-typical state-led strategies-allocation, modification, facilitation, and information-to explain how different countries align higher education with labour market demands. Drawing on cross-national quantitative data and detailed case studies of Germany, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, Human Capital for the Knowledge Economy explores how policy choices and institutional legacies shape countries' distinct 'upskill journeys'. The book also speaks to urgent contemporary policy debates. As governments confront the twin pressures of sustaining economic competitiveness and achieving broader societal goals-such as those entailed by the green transition-higher education becomes both more central and more politically contested.

Bringing together contributions from leading labour market policy scholars from across the globe, this state-of-the-art Handbook offers extensive and compelling analyses of labour market policy in advanced democracies.Drawing on the lively debates on labour market policy that have characterised comparative social policy and comparative political economy scholarship in recent years, the Handbook provides theoretical insights into the core concepts, changing contexts and main actors that shape contemporary labour market policy. Using macro-regional case studies spanning Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America, it offers detailed empirical illustrations of how major labour market policies and institutions have evolved over time and across countries. Chapters further examine the diversity of policy options and their various political implications, assessing the relationship between labour market policy and major socio-economic outcomes, such as inequality, well being and political participation.Integrating cutting-edge theory with rich empirical insights, this incisive Handbook will be an invaluable reference for students and scholars of comparative social policy and comparative political economy. Its comprehensive coverage will also allow policy-makers and practitioners to reflect critically on the role of labour market policy in today’s complex societies.