Capital Accumulation and 'schooling in the Modern World Economy the Political Economy of Education and Inequality in Jamaica

Abstract

The main concern of the dissertation is to study the relation­ ship between education and mental/manualdivision of l~bor in .Jamaf.ca within the ModernWorld-Economy.Whogoes where at what level in schooling? \\]hat types of skills they obtain? Whattypes of jobs and Incomethey get at the work place after going to these schools?

'Whatis the relationship between educatLon,economicdevelopment, occupation and income? 'Whatroles does education play in the division of labor and social inequality. Whatare the consequences of these relationships? Andwhat are the policy implications? The main argumentis that differentiated access to educational system is a reproducer of differentiated labor power in a wage labor system characterized by a complete hierarchical social division of labor, which mayreproduce patterns of social inequality. A surrrnaryof economictheories relevant in studying determinants of earning is made, Determinants of incomeand their relative impor- tance between sectors and social classes of the Jamaican economywere investigated and estimated in order to adequately answer the above~ rrent.i.onedquestions. A data - analytic study of determinants of earnings, using a stratified sample survey of .1200industrial workers .in 40 firms representing 10 industry types in Jamaica, is carried out.

A basic rrodel.,which includes 10 variables and generating 10 hypotheses, ...... is specified. The analysis involves discriptive and analytical

statistics including recursive analysis.

It was found that workers in lower level jobs face lower rewards to schools (lower slopes) than workers in higher level jobs; and the marginal returns to an increase in the mean level of education are higher among managers and supervisors than other workers. Finally, the study gives evidence of: 1) a threshold effect of education with an extremely limited payoff to primary education; 2) work experience and specific on-the-job training, trade union mernber- ship, social class and school type are rrore important and powerful predictors of income inequality than age, sex and color in Jamaica.