The New Zealand Centre for Workforce Literacy Development has published a 
paper which may be of interest,

"Adult literacy and economic growth"
Author: Grant Johnston


The abstract outlines the content of the report.
Developed countries, including New Zealand, used to consider their 
populations wholly literate, in the sense that almost all adults could read 
and write. Contemporary definitions expand the concept of literacy to 
include wider cognitive skills, and extend it across the whole population: 
people are more or less literate depending on how well they understand and 
use printed information to solve everyday problems at home and at work. 
Using this wider definition, the International Adult Literacy Survey found 
that developed countries contain a considerable number of people who have 
poor literacy skills. This paper looks at whether an increase in the basic 
literacy skills of adults would have a positive effect on the New Zealand 
economy. It finds good evidence for the benefits of literacy: studies 
consistently find that adults with better literacy skills are more likely 
to be employed, and to earn more, than those with poorer literacy skills, 
even when taking account of other factors which affect work performance. 
There is little rigorous evidence, however, for the benefits of adult 
literacy training and almost no accompanying information on the costs of 
this training. While there is a good case for an increased focus on adult 
literacy, and on workplace literacy in particular, these findings suggest a 
cautious approach to expanding publicly-funded adult literacy programmes. 
There is a clear need for more and better New Zealand-based research, for 
piloting innovative literacy programmes and for undertaking good-quality 
evaluations. A modest increase in literacy training may not materially 
affect economic performance. It may, however, be a worthwhile investment, 
but only good-quality research and evaluation will tell us this.
A copy of the report can be downloaded from:
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/workingpapers/2004/04-24.asp