Wednesday, August 19, 2009

This was 1999...what about 2009?

The Economic Implications of International Education for Canada and Nine Comparator Countries: A Comparison of International Education Activities and Economic Performance

Prepared by The Conference Board of Canada

For

International Cultural Relations Bureau
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade


Current evidence suggests that involvement in international education yields many
economic benefits. Improved knowledge flows, better transfer of disembodied
technologies and ideas learned abroad, increased understanding of foreign market
opportunities and the enhanced development of cross-cultural competencies for global
and domestic business are all gains from international education that yield economic
rewards, directly or indirectly. To the extent that nations limit their involvement in international education, they forego these economic rewards.

The Canadian evidence suggests that we have incurred economic costs because of our
relatively modest support for international education. Specifically, our limited
involvement in international education means that we have limited the scale of the
economic rewards we gain from better knowledge flows and enhanced cross-cultural
competencies.

Since Canada depends highly on international trade and on acquiring technologies
from abroad for its economic well-being, the cost of foregoing these rewards is higher for us than it would be for most other nations. Conversely, international education is a particularly important strategy for improving our nation’s competitiveness.


FULL TEXT HERE

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