Introduction

Abstract The introduction establishes the theoretical and empirical motivation for exploring how advanced capitalist democracies create high-level skills to compete in the knowledge economy. It situates the book within literatures in comparative political economy, labour economics, and higher education, and argues that national differences in skill formation persist despite a shared shift towards knowledge-intensive sectors and a common trajectory of higher education expansion. It outlines the key empirical puzzle: why do countries pursue divergent higher education reforms within the common trend of expansion of higher education? It reviews how existing theories underspecify the link between labour market demand and higher education supply, setting the stage for a novel theoretical framework.