Cultural Competence as Human Capital: Embedding Multicultural Education into TVET/Higher Education to Strengthen Comparative Advantage in Export-Oriented Sectors

Abstract

Export competitiveness is increasingly shaped by how education systems equip workers to operate across diverse markets and production networks. Yet, while prior studies emphasize technology, trade policy, and productivity, the economic role of cultural competence remains insufficiently theorized and tested. This study examines how multicultural education and language skills interact with technological capability and export-related institutions to generate sectoral revealed comparative advantage. Drawing on crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) of nine country sector cases, the results identify multiple equifinal pathways to competitiveness and reveal strong causal asymmetries. Cultural competence emerges as a complementary form of sector-specific human capital that conditions, rather than substitutes for, technological strength and policy support. By reframing cultural competence as an economic input, advancing configurational analysis in trade research, and offering new sector-level evidence, the study yields important insights for education, trade, and industrial policy in open economies.