HUMAN-CAPITAL FORMATION AND SCHOOL EXPANSION IN ASIA - DOES A UNIQUE REGIONAL MODEL EXIST

Human capital formation through the expansion of formal schooling has long been cited as a fundamental part of the ''Asia-Pacific Rim econom ic miracle.'' Development scholars often assume that there is a distin ctly Asian model of state-sponsored school expansion because of both t he cultural and institutional uniqueness of the region. This assumptio n is questioned here and tested with panel data (1960 to 1990) for sec ondary school enrollments and other indicators, A cross-regional compa rison of the expansion of secondary school enrollments finds little ev idence for a sustained unique Asian approach to education expansion, i n that: 1) Asia is not leading the developing world in educational exp ansion, and 2) there is extensive variation in educational development within the region. This is followed by a short case study that compar es contrasting national educational policies and expansion outcomes in two developing Asian countries. We conclude that human capital format ion through school expansion is best thought of as an unevenly applied world-wide process, with little importance attached to regional cultu ral uniqueness.