High Levels Of Human Capital Research Articles

The Role of Human Capital in University-Business Cooperation: The Case of Mexico

The interaction between industrial firms and academia has long been extremely weak in Mexico in spite of the manufacturing revival sparked by NAFTA since 1994. This situation is paradoxical given the persistent efforts from the Mexican State to encourage university-industry linkages. Over the years, this uncoupling has produced two effects: on the one hand, university research has followed its own agenda, mainly driven by scientists’ interests based on their career tracks, and on the other hand, most firms lack research and development capabilities because they have preferred to seek abroad for technological advice. Because human capital plays a crucial role in this phenomenon, we then focus on answering the following question: to what extent are Mexican industrial firms able to harness university knowledge? Analyses carried out on a survey of 39,336 enterprises, which were collected by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), suggest that larger firms are more capable of absorbing the knowledge generated by universities thanks to their higher level of human capital, whereas smaller firms face harder challenges to harness academic knowledge because of their lack of qualified engineers and technicians that can help them to address their innovative endeavours. The implication of these results for public policy is that collaboration between industry and academia in Mexico can be encouraged by selectively supporting the hire of relatively low-trained engineering graduates and technicians, whereas universities should also be able to promote key programming skills, technical training, infrastructure skills and even sales training and negotiation skills, much earlier in the academic process.

Bodies of Knowledge in Reproduction: Epistemic Boundaries in the Political Economy of Fertility

Professionals compete and cooperate over how states should govern their population. Declining fertility rates in advanced economies have led to debates about how to enable those of reproductive age to have more children and to have them earlier. This springs from political and socio-economic concerns about fulfilling desired fertility rates, maintaining high levels of human capital, and supporting fiscal and pension systems. This article investigates professionals addressing declining fertility through assisted reproductive technologies (ART), including doctors, demographers and economists. These professional groups have their own bodies of knowledge on how they view fertility, fecundity and the role of women in social reproduction. They can also cooperate to create ‘issue linkages’ on ART across their professional ecologies. The article discusses how professionals apply their bodies of knowledge to the political economy of fertility. Professional bodies of knowledge directly inform how women and men are treated on fertility issues and the policy options available.

Job search methods and immigrant earnings: A longitudinal analysis of the role of bridging social capital

This paper analyses how finding a new job affects the earnings of immigrants. I hypothesize that job changes are more successful for individuals who have access to bridging social capital. Using data from the German Socio-economic Panel (1996–2011), fixed-effects models show that finding a new job results in higher earnings only when immigrants have both native German friends and high levels of human capital. The effect is, however, not dependent on the search method: both formal (advertisement, employment agency), and informal search methods (referrals via friends) result in higher earnings. The presented evidence shows that bridging social capital can be activated and converted into a better position on the labour market. However, the effect of contact with natives is limited to those who are higher educated, or who have good German language proficiency, suggesting that only those individuals who are better off already profit from bridging social capital.

Analysis of Human Capital Level and Inequality Interrelation

This article presents the results of the relationship between human capital and inequality in income distribution in European countries analysis. To test the hypothesis of research the cluster approach was applied, that allowed to divide investigated countries into 9 clusters. The study has concluded that countries with high level of human capital are characterized by a lower degree of inequality in income distribution. Correlation and regression analysis confirm the presence of feedback between the HDI and Gini index. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s3p252

Valuation of Angel‐Backed Companies: The Role of Investor Human Capital

This article examines how angel investors' human capital affects the valuation of their portfolio companies, based on the pre‐money valuation of 123 investment rounds in 58 elgian companies. We argue that angel investors with higher levels of human capital will perceive a higher value‐creating potential in entrepreneurial opportunities through their ability to see more value‐creating options, a higher value‐adding potential post‐investment, and an enhanced legitimacy provided to the venture. Economic theories suggest they appropriate these rents through lower valuations, whereas stewardship theory suggests they share value creation with entrepreneurs. Consistent with stewardship theory, we show angel investors negotiate higher valuations when they have higher levels of human capital, more specifically if they studied longer, have a business degree, more entrepreneurial experience, or previous professional law experience. As such, our results contrast with the behavior of venture capital investors who negotiate lower valuations when they have more experience.

The neglected heterogeneity of spatial agglomeration and co-location patterns of creative employment: evidence from Portugal

Empirical literature on the geographical location of creative activities has been traditionally based on the spatial analysis of industries, often disregarding the creative employment that lies outside the necessarily limited boundaries of creative industries. As an extension to the most recent methodologies using industry and occupational data on industrial cluster analysis, this paper analyses agglomeration and co-location patterns of core creative activities, considering both ‘embedded’ (creative professionals working outside the creative sectors) and ‘specialized’ (creative professionals working in the creative sectors) creative employment. Using location quotients and principal component factor and cluster analyses, applied to all 308 Portuguese municipalities, we found that the geographical agglomeration and co-location patterns of core creative groups differ substantially. The typical arguments sustained by the literature—the tendency of creative industries/employment to agglomerate and co-locate in large metropolises—are only supported in the case of knowledge-intensive activities subjected to Intellectual Property Rights, most notably ‘Advertising/Marketing’, ‘Publishing’, ‘TV/Radio’, and ‘Software/Digital Media’, densely concentrated and co-located in highly developed, large urban centres, with high levels of human capital. These arguments do not hold for the traditional creative activities of ‘Architecture’, ‘Design/Visual Arts’ and ‘Crafts’, which, although co-located, appear mostly dispersed with small concentrations around intermediate urban centres. ‘Teaching/training/research’ present quite dispersed geographical patterns with some clusterization around municipalities with tertiary education institutions. ‘Film/video/photography’ and ‘Music/Performing Arts’ show some dispersion throughout the Portuguese territory with concentration around small urban centres and in rural areas. It is evident that, from agglomeration to co-location patterns, creative employment reveals heterogeneous characteristics across creative groups.

Communicating Employability: the Role of Communicative Competence for Zimbabwean Highly Skilled Migrants in the UK

Skilled migration is an increasingly important topic for both policy and research internationally. OECD governments in particular are wrestling with tensions between their desire to use skilled migration to be on the winning side in the ‘global war for talent’ and their pandering to and/or attempts to outflank rising xenophobia. One aspect that has received relatively little attention is skilled migration from the African Commonwealth to the UK, a situation in which skilled migrants have relatively high levels of linguistic capital in the language of the host country. We focus here on the case of Zimbabwe. In spite of its popular image as a failed state, Zimbabwe has an exceptionally strong educational tradition and high levels of literacy and fluency in English. Drawing on 20 in-depth interviews of Zimbabwean highly skilled migrants, we explore the specific ways in which the communicative competences of these migrants with high formal levels of English operate in complex ways to shape their employability strategies and outcomes. We offer two main findings: first, that a dichotomy exists between their high level formal linguistic competence and their ability to communicate in less formal interactions, which challenges their employability, at least when they first move to the UK; and second, that they also lack, at least initially, the competence to narrativise their employability in ways that are culturally appropriate in England. Thus, to realise the full potential of their high levels of human capital, they need to learn how to communicate competently in a very different social and occupational milieu. Some have achieved this, but others continue to struggle.

Migrant and ethnic diversity, cities and innovation: Firm effects or city effects?

The growing cultural diversity caused by immigration is seen as important for innovation. Research has focused on two potential mechanisms: a firm effect, with diversity at the firm level improving knowledge sourcing or ideas generation, and a city effect, where diverse cities help firms innovate. This article uses a dataset of over 2000 UK small- and medium-sized enterprises to test between these two. Controlling for firm characteristics, city characteristics and firm and city diversity, there is strong evidence for the firm effect. Firms with a greater share of migrant owners or partners are more likely to introduce new products and processes. This effect has diminishing returns, suggesting that it is a ‘diversity’ effect rather than simply the benefits of migrant run firms. However, there is no relationship between the share of foreign workers in a local labour market or fractionalization by country of birth and firm level innovation, nor do migrant-run firms in diverse cities appear particularly innovative. But urban context does matter and firms in London with more migrant owners and partners are more innovative than others. Firms in cities with high levels of human capital are also more innovative.

Estimating Regional Technical Efficiency and Its Determinants: Evidence from China’s Provincial Panel Data

:This paper applies a stochastic translog production function to examine the underlying causes of technical inefficiency for 28 provinces in the Chinese mainland over the period 1970-2011. We find that inefficiency was present in production and several relevant explanatory variables contributed to it. Specifically, we find that the provinces with higher level of human capital, higher engagement in international trade, a further relaxation of the household registration (hukou) system and a smaller government size tended to lie closer to the national frontier. In addition, public infrastructure was not productive and we find no evidence to support the general view that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were operating relatively inefficiently when compared to non-SOEs.

Dynamics of Development and Uprisings in the Arab World

This essay examines the structural economic reform measures undertaken in the Arab world in the past two decades. Developmental projects in the region have attained growth in gross domestic product, higher levels of human capital, and stable governments. These, however, have been accompanied by corruption, structural economic problems, social exclusion, and negligence of good governance and the rule of law. This essay suggests that the juxtaposition of economic reform and liberalization with corruption, authoritarianism, and absence of good governance were a recipe for the social tumult that became the Arab Spring. Social unrest will remain the rule rather than the exception in the Arab region for the foreseeable future, especially in countries that have undergone regime change, such as Egypt and Tunisia, due to the lack of expected economic and political reforms.

You are Kind, you are Smart, you are Important: the Linkages between Individual Factors and the Intention to Repatriate among Malaysian Self-Initiated Expatriates

‘Brain drain’ is a terminology used to describe the migration of people endowed with a high level of human capital. Countries, a developing such as Malaysia, consider this to be a detrimental effect to the country’s growth with the outflow movement of their talented professionals. Problems seem to increase when these individual have silo mentalities regarding their home countries’ development when they show limited number of return. Thus, there is a need to study the determinants of the intention to repatriate among these talented professionals. In addition, it becomes a more interesting study when it is directed to the selfinitiated expatriates who determine their own outgoing and incoming. The development of the proposed model would be in line with the Malaysian government efforts to attract the talented professionals to serve their home country. The theoretical framework for this study consists of factors from the individual perspective and their relationships with the intention to repatriate. The Theory of Reasoned Action developed by Fishbein seems to be the appropriate theory to be applied in this study explaining factors to determine intention. This paper concentrates more on conceptualizing the relationship between individual’s factors and the intention to repatriate among the self-initiated expatriates. Based on a review of extent literature on self-initiated expatriates and the intention to repatriate, a model is presented and propositions outlined for future empirical testing.

Force and Field Factors of Growth and Development: Evidence from International Experience

It is widely accepted that parents in many developing countries make extra ordinary efforts to educate their children and to instil a higher level of human capital in them. I label such a development in human capital as a ‘force factor’ of economic growth. However, this force factor alone cannot generate lasting economic growth and development when ‘field factors’ of growth are not present. Field factors are the growth promoting factors the economic environment should provide. Examples are national security, law and order, governance and property rights. In the absence of healthy field factors, the human capital development gets retarded, or flies out of the country, inhibiting economic growth and development. In this paper, I provide an analysis of international data on force and field factors to support this hypothesis. Sri Lanka Journal of Advanced Social Studies, Vol 2:No. 2, July – December 2012; Page 43-56 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljass.v2i2.6206

Lake Amenities, Environmental Degradation, and Great Lakes Regional Growth

Regional migration and growth are increasingly associated with high-quality in situ natural amenities. However, most of the previous US research has focused on the natural amenities of the Mountain West or the South. The Great Lakes, with their abundant fresh water and natural amenities, would also appear well positioned to provide the foundation for this type of economic growth. Yet, while some parts of the western Great Lakes region are prime examples of amenity-led growth, other areas in the eastern Great Lakes may not have capitalized on their natural amenities, perhaps because of their strong industrial legacy. Using a unique county-level data set for the Great Lakes region (including Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), we test whether growth in the region is associated with proximity to lake amenities and whether there are offsetting industrial legacy or pollution effects. We also examine whether amenities have additional attraction value for those with high levels of human capital. Consistent with theory that suggests that natural amenities are normal or superior goods, we find that coastal areas in the region are positively associated with increases in shares of college graduates. However, we find little evidence that lake amenities contribute to broader household migration, especially after 2000. Based on these results, there may be opportunities to leverage Great Lake amenities to support economic growth in terms of attracting individuals with high levels of human capital who are most likely to make quality of life migration decisions.

Chinese professional immigrants in Australia: a gendered pattern in (re)building their careers

Few studies have investigated contemporary professional migrant women from mainland China to developed economies like Australia to understand their motives of migration and the strategy they may adopt to advance their careers. This paper fills part of this important research gap by investigating the career rebuilding experience of Chinese professional immigrants in Australia. It examines the motives of their migration, their career aspirations, the strategies they adopt to rebuild their career and the types of career they are rebuilding. It explores how the compounded effect of gender, race, immigration and family commitment may be articulated in the family and social relations, and how these factors affect women's career aspirations and outcomes. This paper concludes that whilst social capital is important for Chinese migrant women professionals who already possess a high level of human capital, to restart their post-migration career, cultural capital is crucial for their managerial career advancement.

Modelling geographical graduate job search using circular statistics

AbstractTheory suggests that the spatial patterns of migration flows are contingent both on individual human capital and underlying geographical structures. Here we demonstrate these features by using circular statistics in an econometric modelling framework applied to the flows of UK university graduates. While the traditional statistical techniques applied in economics do not fully account for the complexity of mobility flows, these techniques to study directionality are still relatively unexplored. The database used includes observations on around 30,000 British graduates. Our results suggest that a higher level of human capital is associated with more unidirectional flows as higher human capital migrants selectively target specific labour markets.

Local multipliers and human capital in the United States and Sweden

We show that every time a local economy generates a new job by attracting a new business in the traded sector, a significant number of additional jobs are created in the non-traded sector. This multiplier effect is particularly large for jobs with high levels of human capital and for high-technology industries. These findings are important for local development policies, as they suggest that to increase local employment levels, municipalities should target high-technology employers with high levels of human capital.

Equal Opportunities for All?– A Critical Analysis of Mexico'sOportunidades

SummaryIn this paper we challenge the theory of change behind the Mexican Conditional Cash Transfer ProgrammeOportunidades, by questioning whether it sufficiently addresses the structural factors that prevent its poorest group of beneficiaries, indigenous people, from climbing out of poverty. Conditional cash transfer programmes likeOportunidadesmake cash transfers conditional upon school attendance and accessing health care services. The theory of change is based on the human capital theory and predicated on individualistic understandings of poverty, assuming that higher levels of education will ultimately translate into higher salaries and better jobs and thus break the intergenerational transmission of poverty.We argue that the particular situation of indigenous people poses programme‐specific and structural constraints on the ‘one‐size‐fits‐all’ application ofOportunidadesand challenges its theory of change, thereby compromising its effectiveness in both the short‐term and long‐run. The remoteness of indigenous communities and the higher levels of marginalisation compromiseOportunidades' performance in terms of coverage, outreach and targeting for indigenous people and may exacerbate and reinforce the groups' marginalised and disadvantaged positions in comparison to the non‐indigenous population. One of the shortcomings of the programme's theory of change is an insufficient focus on constraining factors in the market, unequal access to good quality education and health care services, as well as different capital and asset levels of individuals who enter the job market. Higher levels of human capital can be an important condition to achieve higher levels of income, but unequal opportunity structures may seriously inhibit the successful progression out of poverty for different groups of poor people.Oportunidadeshas had remarkable positive impacts, such as increasing school attendance and facilitating access to health care services for the poor. But in order to be transformative, it needs to be responsive to particular vulnerabilities and it needs to address the underlying causes of poverty.

Effects of Human Capital on Attracting Foreign Direct Investment

The main purpose of this study is to use cross sectional analysis to examine the effects of three alternative proxies for human capital on attracting FDI inflows and FDI stocks for 114 different countries. The results of this study is consistent with the market-seeking motive of FDI and supports the notion that countries with higher levels of human capital, as measured by school life expectancy or the gross enrollment at schools have been able to attract significant foreign capital into their economies.

Rural livelihoods and access to natural capital: Differences between migrants and non-migrants in Madagascar.

Although natural resources play a central role in rural livelihoods across the globe, little research has explored the relationship between migration and natural capital use, particularly in combination with other livelihood capitals (i.e., human, social, financial and physical). Grounded in the rural livelihood framework, this paper explores the association between the livelihood capital availability, especially natural capital, for migrants and non-migrants in rural Madagascar. Data from the 2008/2009 Demographic and Health Survey are used in combination with satellite imagery of vegetation coverage (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) to proxy natural resources. Hierarchical multilevel models allow for inclusion of cross-level interactions between migrant status and proximate natural resources as determinants of the status of livelihood assets. Three key findings emerge. First, higher levels of proximate natural resources are associated with greater financial, human, and social capital for both migrants and non-migrants. Second, migrants have, on average, greater financial, physical, human, and social capital than non-migrants, and urban-to-rural migrants do exceptionally well on all capital asset categories. Third, migrants residing in areas with higher levels of natural capital tend to have significantly higher levels of human capital (education). Although we cannot examine livelihood strategies per se, the results suggest variation in livelihood potential among migrants and non-migrants in rural Madagascar, with migrants tending to have greater capital assets. In addition, access to natural resources is a central livelihood strategy.

The Influence of Host-Country’s Enviroments on the FDI Entry Mode Choice of Chinese Companies

Based on a sample of 280 China’s listed companies with foreign direct investment (FDI) during 2005-2009, this paper examines how the country-specific factors influence these firms’ FDI entry mode choice between mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and greenfield investment. Our results show that in the presence of higher country risk or more rapid economic growth, the Chinese enterprises prefer the greenfield investment. When the host country has stronger national innovation ability or a higher level of human capital, the enterprises tend to choose the entry mode of cross-border M&As. An increase in the cultural distance, excluding the effect of other variables, appears to induce the enterprises to select M&A entry mode. However, when factor endowments and other institutional environments are taken into consideration, the cultural distance produces no significant effect on FDI entry mode choice of these Chinese firms.