This paper provides a state of the art survey in selected aspects of globalisation and education. It emphasises the central role that education plays in shaping and responding to globalisation. It also describes how globalisation affects education outcomes. The methodology followed in this paper defines globalisation as a set of economic processes and focuses on four key aspects of education to achieve human capabilities. This survey then examines the main links between economic globalisation processes and education by discussing and testing three issues: The quantity and quality of education and training determine whether and how countries can participate in the processes of globalisation, such as global value chains, fragmentation, increased trade in final products, and migration.

The processes of globalisation (as measured by FDI, trade and migration) affect the demand and supply of education and training.

Public policies (in particular national policies) have effectively attempted to reconcile human resource development and the processes of globalisation in order to obtain the maximum impact on development. These three issues are discussed on the basis of evidence worldwide, leading to three globalisation-education processes. The combination of these three issues and the inclusion of recent studies from trade, investment and migration literatures add to the innovative nature of the survey.