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Human Capital Accumulation
Sociologyindex, Human Capital, Capital
accumulation, Capital, Sociology
Books 2012, Human Capital Accumulation
Human capital theory claims that the wealth of a nation is vested in its people.
In a global economy characterized by complex production, communication and logistical
processes, the argument continues, knowledge has become a key factor in international
competitiveness. Since 2001, Canada's immigration policy has been framed by human
capital theory, revising previous policy that brought immigrants to compensate for
shortages in specific trades and professions. Shifting to a human capital approach has
meant identifying the most qualified potential immigrants in the world, based on their
formal qualifications, skills and especially their educational attainments. The assumption
is that they will contribute to Canada's global competitiveness by improving the quality
of the labour force. Once such immigrants arrive in Canada, however, they find their
skills, qualifications, work experience and talents go unrecognized and they have a
difficult time establishing themselves. Their experiences represent a personal tragedy,
but also the breakdown of the 'human capital' approach at the domestic level, with
implications for Canada's competitiveness strategy. Indeed, the paper suggests that
Canada's policy reflects a new form of mercantilism, where people are treated much like
territory once was. In a similar way to Portuguese or Spanish mercantilisms of old, the
new Canadian mercantilism wastes many of the human resources it has worked so hard to
acquire. Simultaneously, the approach potentially undermines less industrialized economies
by contributing to their deskilling, again underscoring the parallels between Canada's
current immigration policy and mercantilism. - Abstract: Human Capital
Accumulation: Canada's New Mercantilism, Bassett, Carolyn, Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the International Studies Association 48th Annual Convention.
From Physical to Human Capital Accumulation: Inequality in the Process of
Development
Oded Galor, Brown University - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic
Policy Research
Omer Moav, Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Department of Economics; University of London,
Royal Holloway College - Department of Economics; Shalem Center; CEPR
Brown University Working Paper No. 99-27
Abstract: This paper develops a unified theory for the dynamic implications of income
inequality on the process of development. The proposed theory argues that the replacement
of physical capital accumulation by human capital accumulation as a prime engine of
economic growth has changed the qualitative impact of inequality on the process of
development. In early stages of industrialization as physical capital accumulation is a
prime source of economic growth, inequality enhances the process of development by
channeling resources towards individuals whose marginal propensity to save is higher. In
later stages of development, however, as the return to human capital increases due to
capital-skill complementarity, human capital becomes the prime engine of growth and
equality, in the presence of credit constraints, stimulates investment in human capital
and promotes economic growth. As wages increase, however, credit constraints become less
binding, differences in the marginal propensity to save decline and the aggregate effect
of income distribution on the growth process becomes therefore less significant.
Ethnicity and human capital accumulation in urban Mexico - Hugo Ņopo,
Natalia Winder.
Inter-American Development Bank, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID)
Research Department, Departamento de Investigation, Working Paper #660 ME-N1053
Abstract: This study analyzes social mobility and human capital accumulation among ethnic
minorities in Mexican urban areas, exploring changes in educational attainment and labor
market status and using panel data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MFxLS). The
results indicate important ethnic differences in human capital accumulation patterns,
especially in education, where non-indigenous individuals seem to accumulate human capital
more rapidly than individuals of indigenous descent. Also, key socio-demographic
characteristics linked to those patterns of human capital accumulation seem to differ
between indigenous and non-indigenous individuals. In particular, for indigenous peoples
in urban areas, human capital accumulation and wealth accumulation seem to work as
substitutes rather than complements in the short run.
Conclusions: The results indicate important differences in the patterns of human capital
accumulation between indigenous and non-indigenous groups living in urban areas. In
education, although individuals living in urban areas have greater access to basic social
services, the quality of those services remains a challenge for social protection and
education policies. Although gaps are closing in terms of education attainment between
indigenous and non-indigenous groups, a closer comparison between repetition rates and
incremental schooling achievements among non-indigenous and indigenous groups continues to
raise questions regarding the pertinence and quality of education services in urban areas.
The results from the parent-child transition matrices in education, showing lower mobility
for people of indigenous descent than for their non-indigenous peers, suggest that
policymakers have an opportunity to identify specific and targeted interventions to
enhance the development of indigenous peoples in urban areas. The results from the
regression exercises suggest that non-indigenous individuals have been able to accumulate
more schooling during the three-year span than indigenous individuals. As shown, specific
household conditions may play a positive role in accumulation for the non-indigenous but a
negative role among the indigenous. However, occupational characteristics and poor health
status, as measured by body mass index (BMI) are positively linked to schooling
accumulation among the indigenous, as opposed to the non-indigenous.
The picture seems to suggest, at least for the case of indigenous individuals, that even
though efforts to improve living conditions and the efforts to accumulate human capital
can be regarded as complementary efforts in the long run, in the short run they seem to
operate as competitors.
Child mental health and human capital accumulation: The case of ADHD revisited
Fletcher, Jason & Wolfe, Barbara, 2008, Journal of Health Economics,
Elsevier, vol. 27(3)
Recently, Currie and Stabile (2006) made a significant contribution to our understanding
of the influence of ADHD symptoms on a variety of school outcomes including participation
in special education, grade repetition and test scores. Their contributions include using
a broad sample of children and estimating sibling fixed effects models to control for
unobserved family effects. In this paper we look at a sample of older children and confirm
and extend many of the JCMS findings in terms of a broader set of measures of human
capital and additional specifications.
Peer Effects and Human Capital Accumulation: the Externalities of ADD
Anna Aizer, The NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health, nber.org/papers/w14354.pdf
Recent work shows that peers affect student achievement, but the mechanisms are not well
understood. I show that peer behavior is an important mechanism, perhaps more so than
ability, by exploiting exogenous timing in diagnosis/treatment of ADD among peers that
improves peer behavior while holding peer achievement constant. Improvements in peer
behavior increase student achievement. Moreover, resources mitigate the negative effects
of peer behavior. These findings imply that the optimal response in the presence of peer
effects is not necessarily to reorganize classrooms. Rather, existing institutions can
modify peer effects by improving behavior and/or mitigating the impact of poor behavior.
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