Human Resource Needs

Abstract

The rate of return to human capital is a major determinant of the demand for schooling. In an unregulated world, the supply of education might be expected to respond to demand variations, so that at the equilibrium price there exists sufficient provision of educational services to clear the market. More realistically, since education is provided largely by the state, the authorities determine provision. In either case it is necessary to investigate how well the system responds to variations both in the human resource requirements of the economy and in the demands of the potential consumers of education. Two questions are pertinent in this context. First we need to establish how labour market signals reach potential students and influence their decisions, and second, how the suppliers of education services respond to the needs of the economy and to the demands of potential students.