Trends in International Trade in Higher Education Services: Implications and Options for Developing Countries

International trade in higher education services has grown rapidly in recent years in a variety of forms. The most common form of this trade is the movement of students to study in foreign universities, which has been supplemented by the delivery of foreign higher education programs and institutions to transition and developing countries.

Among the factors propelling demand for foreign higher education services are the excess demand for domestic higher education and the need for internationally recognized qualifications in emerging regional and global markets for highly skilled labor. Several countries have also encouraged foreign collaboration to improve the quality of domestic higher education.

However, there are concerns in developing countries about possible negative effects of this trade on under-funded and inefficient domestic higher education systems operating within weak regulatory systems. The possibility of losing sovereignty over a sector that is vital to national development is another major concern. As a result, despite the growth in international higher education trade, most developing countries have been unwilling to make binding commitments in the current round of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) negotiations and in bilateral trade agreements.

This research project analyzed data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on international student flows, the International Monetary Fund’s balance of payments, trade statistics of selected countries, and GATS schedules.

The project findings showed that this trade is bound to increase and diversify due to growing demand for foreign qualifications and increasing competition among industrialized nations in the higher education market. The findings also showed the increased entry of higher education institutions.

from developing countries, which can compete on both price and quality. These developments offer options for developing countries, including low-income countries, to expand and strengthen their domestic higher education systems.

University-Industry Linkages in Metropolitan Areas in Asia

Universities as an axis for the urban economy are attracting a great deal of interest in middle and upper-income economies in Eastern and Southern Asia. In these regions, growing integration with the leading global industries coincides with rapid urbanization and a dramatic re-scaling of economic activity. However, research that could guide university development and supportive metropolitan as well as national policies in Asia is very thin, despite the fact that clusters of innovative activities have sprung up in China, India, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan (China).

This research project studied how universities could participate in a development strategy based on innovation and knowledge-intensive activities when pressure on urban economies is especially severe. The study identified the likely effects of different policies and institutional mechanisms for promoting successful university-industry linkages in Asia and maximizing the spillovers from universities. The project primarily relied on detailed interviews of representatives of firms, universities, and municipal authorities; quantitative data on innovation outputs by universities (published papers and patents); the performance of firms linked to universities; and material drawn from the academic literature.

The project findings indicate that the leading universities and research institutions in Asia are likely to increase their linkages with industry. Similarly, Asian firms are finding that. in-house research is insufficient even for the largest corporations. Contracting out research to universities, entering into alliances with research institutes, and collaborating with university researchers can confer substantial advantages.

The project’s case studies of countries and urban centers highlighted problems as well as innovative guidance on policies for remedying them. Thus, the study hoped to inform World Bank policy dialogues with member countries on the tertiary education sector and technology development.

The project sparked wide interest in the World Bank. A similar study has been launched on countries in Sub-Saharan African. In addition, the idea of innovation activities in core urban areas was included in the report on Thailand’s Knowledge Economy and similar work has been requested by the authorities in Malaysia and Thailand.

5 patial factors applied areas within a framework of analysis and economic theory

I have discussed about  he spatial factors applied areas within a framework of analysis and economic theory., where there are five factors include

The second, is related to the concept introduced in the territory of theoretical analysis. region in this case defined as the spatial sub-system of national economic system. with the concept of the region has encouraged the preparation of spatial development plans and regional development and measurement of economic activity. several criteria have been developed to determine the limits of an area of development (development region), although it is recognized that this is not an easy thing. for easy determination of boundaries of development in general is still in use determination of boundaries of development in general, he used the administrative territorial units (the government).
The third issue is to analyze the interactions among regions. can distinguish two forms of interaction between regions is 1, the current movement of production factors and 2, the exchange of commodities. explanation of why the current movement of factors of production and exchange of commodities and how they affect economic activity of a region considered to be a central point in the study of the economic problems of the region (regional).

The fourth is the question of optimum analysis or balance among regions. optimum condition is always associated with the goals and objectives to be achieved as the optimal allocation of resources (Pareto optimum allocation of resources) or minimization of certain inputs. some questions raised in this connection to them is about the selection of optimal location for economic activities vary. specialization of production conducted in optimal regions and commodities exchanges also conducted optimally between areas. can finally be said that the analysis was viewed as a discussion of the optimum and the implications of the objectives that have been determined.

fifth, that is related to policy issue areas. regional economic policy is intended as the activities that try to pay attention and take into account the effect of economic behavior in a spatial environment. trying to control the region's economic policies and control structures and economic processes in the sub-national economic system.

some questions can be raised whether such objectives of the policy area? how the policy objectives diinterealisasi region with national policy objectives and so forth. events that occurred in the past has made it clear that market forces are not able to fully create the similarity of national income.

movement of production factors can lead to imbalance and the areas that are less developed will suffer losses due to flight of capital and migration to the outer region. agglomeration benefits can provide a boost for the region is relatively less affluent to develop more forward again. to create harmony between the regions required appropriate regional economic policy. if at first attention to the problem of economic development is directed at the growth of income levels, but now tend to study the distribution of results due to economic developments both sectorally and geographically. thus the role of each region in the development and economy are becoming apparent, in addition to visits of importance to the growth of each region, but also show the role of each region, but also show its role on the national economy as a whole. thoughts as stated above has prompted the emergence of new economic discipline of economic development. study - a study and the deliberations of a very broad field of territorial aspects.