The article further investigates the relationship between returns to education and trade openness in developed and developing countries. It contests Babones’ interpretation of the divergent experiences in terms of the greater credentialism associated with education in poorer countries. It identifies an alternative explanation based on classical trade theory which is at least as convincing. However, it further argues that the heterogeneity of labour markets is greater than either model suggests and that the characteristics of specific national and regional economies, rather than globalization, might be primarily responsible for the interesting statistical differences.