Industry - Public Education Sector (PES) linkages in Costa Rica: knowledge transfer for human resources development

Abstract

Technological change is a common denominator included in the explanation of theories of economic growth. Economic globalization is increasingly putting pressure on firms and territories to find new ways to keep growing and avoid contestability. A territory’s quality of human resources is one of the key elements for promoting technological change (TC) and innovation. Knowledge is the fuel of TC and one way of obtaining it is by borrowing it from others. In particular, from the Industry to public sector, a direct transfer to the largest knowledge system for human capital formation: the Public Education Sector (PES). The study will focus on the case of Costa Rica. All the literature available for this country and with relation to these kinds of linkages has been on particular cases of firms or the ICT industry. The aim of this study is to deliver a Bird’s view on the Industry-PES linkages in Costa Rica. By analyzing information gathered from interviews with the Ministry of Education and other key actors involved in the Industry-PES linkages; and a survey conducted to large firms in Costa Rica three main conclusions are reached: i. There are two main types of linkages, Human Resources Linkages and Corporate Social Responsibility Linkages; ii. There is unexploited potential by the PES increase its knowledge absorption and iii. Industry-PES linkages should be further studied.