THE DIVISION OF LABOR, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION: CROSS-NATIONAL EVIDENCE

A review of writings by E. Durkheim, K. Marx & A. Smith suggests that the DofL & technological development lead to expanded education. Using 1960 data for 29 countries from UN publications, rank-order correlations (Kendall's Tau & Spearman's r) are examined. Age-specific school attendance rates corresponding to primary, secondary, & advanced education are shown to correlate positively with J. P. Gibbs & W. T. Martin's measures of DofL & technological development--namely LF dispersion among industries, & annual per capita consumption of inanimate energy, respectively (see SA 11:4/63A5121). Further analysis, involving Kendall's rank-order partial correlation, indicates that the effect of technology on primary & secondary education is mediated by the DofL, & that advanced education is associated only weakly or not at all with technology & the DofL when the effects of lower educational levels are controlled. These results are therefore consistent with the position, shared by Smith, Marx & Durkheim, that primary & secondary education are fostered to meet the demands for social consensus & vocational skills imposed by economic development, & that technology is antecedent to the DofL. On the other hand, advanced education apparently bears little relationship to either technology or the DofL--a finding contrary not only to the 3 classical theorists discussed, but also to the emphasis on advanced education in most recent treatments of economic development. AA.