Population not only as an economic resource: the concept of human potential in a broad sense

Abstract

The limitations of economocentrism are shown by the example of the correlation of nature, society, and economy in the socio-ecological-economic system. In fact, the secondary status accepted in society and the economy, the subordination of the natural environment, has now been refuted by the pandemic, which caused damage to both the economy and society. The economocentric view is also overcome in relation to the concept of human potential. The author emphasizes the insufficiency of research on the human potential of the economy and the need for an expanded understanding of the qualitative characteristics of the population, i.e., human potential in a broad sense, in all spheres of life: political, economic, social, cultural. Such area of activity as interaction with natural environment is also added to the analysis. The fundamental difference between the concepts of human potential and human capital is investigated — two distinctive features of human capital are highlighted: the need for making investments in its creation and getting income from them. One should not also identify human potential with labor potential. Beginning of the transition from a comprehensive study of demographic indicators to studying qualitative characteristics of the population was facilitated by N. M. Rimashevskaya's articles, in which more than two decades ago the main problems of improving the quality of human potential were posed and structured. Human potential in a broad sense is manifested in the political, socio-cultural, demographic, labor, environmental behavior of the population, therefore, its study requires an interdisciplinary approach. The article sets the tasks to formalize the characteristics and assessment of human potential in the context of regions; to search for factors affecting development of human potential, the main of which is quality of life of the population; to analyze the impact of the global Sustainable Development Goals on human potential.