• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.287-310
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• 2010

Developed nations are increasingly seeking to secure competitiveness in the international market through the development of human resources of workers in high value-added industries. And what is especially important in this process is the fact that workers, employers, and concerned government agencies are participating together in building and improving workers' skills through partnerships. This is based on the perception that workers training programs conducted according to the interest of one side are difficult to bring desired results. For the past decades, Korea has focused mostly on labor-management-government partnerships and strategies for developing the human resources of workers in developed nations in Europe. Related case studies show labor-management-government partnerships in European countries established through powerful trade unions, and interested parties actively cooperate and participate in employment and training programs that benefit both workers and employers. In contrast, studies on human resource development participated by workers and employers are relatively rare in the US, the reason being the lack of a mechanism for establishing labor-management-government partnership due to the country's strong tradition of decentralization and the emphasis on market principles. However, while it is difficult to find such channels for dialogue between workers, employers, and the government in th US on the federal level, there are many regional-level or industry-level programs that tackle common problems through partnerships between interested parties. This study analyzes how the regional labor-management-government partnerships in the US work and examines the types of programs operated by investigating the One-Stop Center based on the Workforce Investment Act and the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership. While the One-Stop Center is a regional labor-management-government partnership model that is institutionally executed in each state according to the Workforce Investment Act, the WRTP is a regional labor-management -government partnership model led by the private sector. The two examples are introduced in the OECD as best practice examples of regional partnerships, and are key references to Korea's current human resource development policy.