In his article 'Globalisation, the Learning Society, and Comparative Education', Peter Jarvis recommends lifelong learning in the period of globalisation as a topic ripe for scholarly research. In particular, he argues for the examination of the extent of lifelong learning around the world and its relation to different levels of employment. This article contributes to this line of inquiry by analysing how education policies facilitate adjustment to economic change and examining how advanced industrialised countries (AICs) compare in their promotion. Principal component analysis is used to construct indices for education systems that reflect these two objectives, and the results reveal considerable cross-national variation. The Nordic countries appear well-positioned to cope with changed skill needs. A closer look at the cases of Denmark and Italy portrays how a national education system can facilitate or hinder adaptation, respectively. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.
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