TABLE OF CONTENTS -- List of Tables and figures XV -- List of abbreviations XVII -- Acknowledgements XXI -- Foreword XXIII -- PART A: THE FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY -- Introduction 3 -- The problem 3 -- Theoretical perspective 9 -- Case selection 14 -- Outline for the study 19 -- Literature review 23 -- Economic literature on skill formation in developing countries 24 -- Comparative education literature on skill formation in developing countries 27 -- Political economists on skill formation 39 -- Theory and methods 45 -- The heuristic model 46 -- A historical-institutionalist approach to political economy 46 -- Regimes and institutions 48 -- Actors 51 -- Institutional genesis, reproduction and change over time 52 -- Specification of the heuristic model 56 -- Skill formation institutions and skill formation regimes 56 -- Intersecting regimes 67 -- Political and administrative regimes 76 -- A causal model of the political economy of skill formation regimes in developing countries 80 -- Methods 84 -- Data requirements 85 -- Data collection 86 -- Data analysis 95 -- PART B: THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CONTEXT -- The development of the global textile and garment trade 101 -- The development of the textile trade until World War II 101 -- The development of the garment trade until 1995 103 -- The development of the garment trade after 1995 104 -- PART C: SRI LANKA -- The development of the political and administrative regime in Sri Lanka 111 -- The political and administrative regime before economic liberalisation 111 -- The political and administrative regime after economic liberalisation 114 -- The development of the education and training regime in Sri Lanka 123 -- The education and training regime before economic liberalisation 123 -- The education and training regime after economic liberalisation 130.

The overall development of education and training 130 -- The development of technical and vocational education and training 133 -- The development of the garment production regime in Sri Lanka 147 -- Industrial development before economic liberalisation 147 -- The garment production regime before the imposition of garment quota 152 -- The garment production regime during the quota regime 160 -- The garment production regime during and after the phase out of quota 168 -- The development of the skill formation regime of the garment industry in Sri Lanka 179 -- The development of the in-firm skill formation regime 179 -- The in-firm skill formation regime before the imposition of garment quota 180 -- The in-firm skill formation regime during the quota regime 184 -- The in-firm skill formation regime during and after the phase out of quota 187 -- The development of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 194 -- Skill formation programmes before the imposition of garment quota 194 -- Skill formation programmes during the quota regime 201 -- Skill formation programmes during and after the phase out of quota 208 -- Private skill formation organisations 208 -- Public skill formation organisations 214 -- The coordination of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 238 -- PART D: BANGLADESH -- The development of the political and administrative regime in Bangladesh 247 -- The political and administrative regime before the formation of Bangladesh 247 -- The political and administrative regime after the formation of Bangladesh 250 -- The development of the education and training regime in Bangladesh 261 -- The education and training regime before the formation of Bangladesh 261 -- The education and training regime after the formation of Bangladesh 266 -- The overall development of education and training 266.

The development of technical and vocational education and training 273 -- The development of the garment production regime in Bangladesh 283 -- Industrial development before economic liberalisation 283 -- The garment production regime before the imposition of garment quota 288 -- The garment production regime during the quota regime 299 -- The garment production regime during and after the phase out of quota 303 -- The development of the skill formation regime of the garment industry in Bangladesh 315 -- The development of the in-firm skill formation regime 315 -- The in-firm skill formation regime before the imposition of garment quota 316 -- The in-firm skill formation regime during the quota regime 320 -- The in-firm skill formation regime during and after the phaseout of quota 321 -- The development of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 329 -- Skill formation programmes before the imposition of garment quota 329 -- Skill formation programmes during the quota regime 335 -- Skill formation programmes during and after the phase out of quota 342 -- Private skill formation organisations 342 -- Public skill formation organisations 351 -- The coordination of the out-of-firm skill formation regime 366 -- PART E: FINAL PART -- The empirical evidence from a historical-institutionalist perspective 377 -- Institutional contexts of the skill formation regimes 378 -- The education and training regimes 378 -- The garment production regimes 381 -- The path-dependent development of the skill formation regimes of the garment industries in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh 386 -- The development of the skill formation regimes before the quota regime 386 -- The development of the skill formation regimes during the quota regime 390 -- The development of the skill formation regimes during and after the phase out of quota 394 -- Assessment of the hypotheses 403.

Country-specific trajectories of the skill formation regimes 404 -- Common aspects of the trajectories of the skill formation regimes 407 -- The development of the in-firm skill formation regimes 407 -- The development of the out-of-firm skill formation regimes 409 -- Theorising on the dynamics of skill formation regimes 414 -- Conclusions 419 -- The findings in brief 419 -- Contributions to the literature and an agenda for further research 420 -- Revisiting the debate on "high skills" in developing countries 424 -- PART F: ANNEXES -- Annex 1 Number of organisations, some of whose representatives were interviewed during fieldwork 431 -- Annex 2 Categorisation of firms 432 -- Annex 3 Categorisation of training organisations 433 -- Annex 4 Number of documents produced in the respective data categories 435 -- Annex 5 Overview of data gathered for the study in Sri Lanka 436 -- Annex 6 Overview of data gathered for the study in Bangladesh 440 -- INDEX 445.