High Levels Of Human Capital Research Articles

Fertility changes and replacement migration

We study OECD countries that differ in immigration policies but share a high level of human capital. We find significant negative statistical relationship between 16 years lagged fertility and the rate of immigration in a panel of 23 countries, which indicates that immigration compensates for low fertility in the labor market.

The Lack of Convergence of Latin-America Compared with CESEE

In the last few decades there has been little convergence of income levels in Latin America with those in the United States, in sharp contrast with both emerging Asia and emerging Europe. This paper argues that lack of convergence was not the result of low investment. Latin America is poorer because of lower human capital levels and lower TFP—not because of a lower capital-output ratio. Cross-country differences of TFP in turn are associated with differences in human capital, governance and business climate indicators. We demonstrate that once levels of human capital and governance are taken into account, there is strong conditional cross-country convergence. Poor countries with high levels of human capital, governance or business climate indicators converge rapidly. Poor countries without those attributes do not. We show that low investment is the result of low TFP and thus GDP growth—not the cause.

Трудова міграція в Закарпатті (на основі опитування студентів)

The article is devoted to the research and analysis of the migratory moods of students of higher education institutions during studies as an important factor of their life prospects. In recent years, Central and Eastern Europe has been experiencing particularly acute problem of labor migration processes that are going in one direction. Young working population is leaving the country and is not coming back. It should be noted that such a vector of economic migration is always directed from the periphery towards the center, and from developing to more economically developed countries. At present, there is an intensification of migration processes in the world, and these processes increasingly involve the population with high level of human capital (people with university and post-university education). In the scientific literature, this process is referred to as "elite migration" and implies mass migration of highly skilled professionals, which is associated with an increase in the role of multinational corporations and, consequently, a decrease in the role of the national economy in the global economy.Countries that are interested in "brain gain" and know their economic cost are pursuing an active and purposeful migration policy to attract highly qualified specialists from developing countries. The purpose of the article is to carry of the migratory moods of higher education institutions in Central and Eastern Europe as an important factor of their life prospects. Because of the special political, social and economic situation in Ukraine caused by the conflicts in the Eastern regions of the country and the economic crisis the study puts more emphasis on Ukraine. According to expert estimates, migration of individuals with high level of social capital is determined not only by social and economic problems that are characteristic of countries in a transitional economy, but also by political and sometimes cultural factors. Often, the migration of the social elite is a response to the systemic crisis that these countries are experiencing in the process of democratic formation. Facade democratic regime, the general inefficiency of the economy, the decline in the level of culture and education in society, as well as the lack of clear prospects, all become push-factors that determine the departure of such individuals. We characterized the migratory moods in the context of possible emigration, identified and compared the prerequisites and motives of the students‟ paid and volunteer work, as well as found the connection between the students' field of study and their type of work. Based on the results of the research, we can state that the respondents' professional plans are directed towards external labor migration, which will negatively affect the economic development of the regions due to the loss of promising workforce.

The Missing Link: Are Individuals with More Social Capital in Better Health? Evidence from India

This paper extends a two-period overlapping generations model of endogenous growth in which associations between human capital, social capital, and health outcomes are critically examined for a low income country, India. If individuals with higher levels of human capital can build strong social ties and have more robust social networks, they are then less likely to have health problems and are therefore physically healthier. In an attempt to test the so-called relationship between the variables in question, a unique dataset, where micro-level data from the world values survey and regional-level macro data from the central statistics office of India were both utilised, was accessed. A three-equation model has been then estimated using the conditional mixed-process method in order to address endogeneity issues explicitly. Our estimation results provide important insights into the theoretical thesis in several ways. Firstly, human capital has a favourable impact on social capital, which in turn enhances self-reported health. Secondly, we provide a comparison of three main experiments: an increase in the share of public spending by region on education, social capital-enhancing activities, and health. The results confirm the positive effect of an increase in each form of government spending on outcome variables. Thirdly, the correlation coefficient between disturbances of these three equations turns out to be statistically significant, suggesting that there are unobserved factors, which can affect self-reported health, social capital and human capital variables.

Dynamic analysis of demographic change and human capital accumulation in an R&D-based growth model

Employing an overlapping-generations model of R&D-based growth with endogenous fertility, mortality, and education choice, we examine how demographic changes and human capital accumulation influence R&D activity. We show that multiple steady states can exist in this economy. One steady state has a high level of human capital and the other has a low level. In the steady state with high (low) level of human capital, there is a high (low) level of R&D activity, a low (high) fertility rate, and a high (low) old-age survival rate. In addition, we show that the government can steer an economy away from a poverty trap trajectory by investing in public health. We also show that an improvement in the government’s public health policy has an inverted U-shaped effect on the growth rate at the steady state.

Тенденції зайнятості в умовах цифрової економіки

The article examines the impact of digitalization on the labor market. The transition to the digital economy is a natural process and requires modernization of employment. Therefore, digital employment is formed, which is implemented through online platforms. The new forms of employment are evolving, due to innovative processes and transformation of the economy as a whole. The non-standard employment gains wide spread in such forms as: freelancing; tv work; borrowed employment (personnel leasing, outsourcing, outstaffing). The positive and negative consequences of such a transition for the labor market are reflected in the presented publication. The experience of mass implementation of the remote format of work during the isolation regime caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is also considered. The economy’s focus on digital development leads to the reduction and further disappearance of some specialties, accompanied by the emergence of new ones. Already, internet banking, e-government, automatic accounting programs, etc. are becoming widespread. Rapid response to technological challenges can eliminate some of the negative consequences of these changes through training and retraining of employees. Automation and robotics of production processes will undoubtedly lead to an increase in unemployment, so now it is important to develop an effective employment policy. However, professions such as engineers, actors, teachers, managers, social workers are still impossible to replace with robots. Therefore, such activities require a high level of human capital, which becomes the most important resource of economic growth. Countries should be prepared to solve problems inherent in the digital economy. Stimulating investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) and additional innovations will contribute to the growth of productivity and employment.

Measuring by time: a new paradigm of socio-demographic policy

The purpose of this article is to describe the idea of forming a new paradigm of socio-demographic policy based on the core «family-work balance». Today, it is no longer enough to talk about the family-work balance policy as an integral part of the State socio-demographic policy. A new social contract between the State and the population on the disposal of time as the main resource for each person is necessary. We need a new social contract on the time use by various social groups, primarily by employees with family responsibilities. Basing on statistical and GIS methods, the author used the data from Rosstat, Moscow Department of Labor and Social Protection, survey data. Changing the approaches to assessment of the social policy results is a prerequisite for its integrated formation and implementation. The article provides eight arguments for the timeliness of changing the paradigm of the socio-demographic policy in Russia. Four ways of socio-demographic policy measuring by time units are given: calculating the equivalent of cash payments and social support services by time units; assessment of walking or transport accessibility to social institutions and the workplace by time units; duration of service receipt; estimation of working hours of parents in the sphere of professional employment. This approach will open new opportunities for cooperation with the population in the issue of demographic development and labor market regulation; it will mitigate the challenges related to the population aging and expansion of the care economy, improve the quality of life of the entire population, including people with family responsibilities. It will stimulate formation of a social system comfortable for people with a high level of human capital, aimed at combining professional and family responsibilities. The author discusses the sources of information that can be used in the new methodology for measuring policy outcomes. The article provides examples of calculations in measuring socio-demographic policy by time.

The Lack of Convergence of Latin-America Compared with Cesee: Is Low Investment to Blame?

In the last few decades there has been little convergence of income levels in Latin America with those in the United States, in sharp contrast with both emerging Asia and emerging Europe. This paper argues that lack of convergence was not the result of low investment. Latin America is poorer because of lower human capital levels and lower TFP—not because of a lower capitaloutput ratio. Cross-country differences of TFP in turn are associated with differences in human capital, governance and business climate indicators. We demonstrate that once levels of human capital and governance are taken into account, there is strong conditional cross-country convergence. Poor countries with high levels of human capital, governance or business climate indicators converge rapidly. Poor countries without those attributes do not. We show that low investment is the result of low TFP and thus GDP growth—not the cause.

Livelihood capital improvements in the rubber growing community of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka

Rubber cultivation in Sri Lanka has recently been expanded to the Eastern Province. With an initial observation on the positive effects of this process on the rural community in this region, the present study was conducted to either characterize or quantify the impacts of rubber cultivation on the rural community assessing the livelihood capital assets, i.e. Human, Physical, Natural, Financial and Social aspects. Padiyathalawa Divisional Secretaries area of the Eastern Province with a reasonable number of rubber lands under harvesting was selected for the study. All farmers having mature rubber fields (33) were assessed together with similar number of non-rubber farmers of the same village for comparison. Both types of farmers were in the range of 40-60 years of age and educated up to secondary level in the local school. All had no other occupation than farming and having an average of four members in a family and all had sufficient family labour for on-farm activities. With the additional income generated from rubber, a higher level of Financial capital was observed among rubber farmers. As a result, expenditure of rubber farmers was 40% higher than the rest and its pattern showed that rubber farmers spend more on children’s education, family health and charity gaining a higher level of Human capital. Rubber cultivation has not so far influenced the Natural capital since all farmers had equal opportunities in accessing water sources and lands with fertile soils. Further, rubber associated development in Physical capital has made farmers to have basic infrastructure facilities for their houses, some luxury appliances for convenience, facilities to strengthen social connectivity and improvement in farming. With more social interactions, Social capital was found to be higher among rubber farmers. All these findings confirmed the suitability of rubber cultivation as a livelihood improvement strategy in rural development programmes in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka.

Local Differentiation in Diversification Challenges in Eleven Coastal Villages in Iloilo Province, Philippines

Diversification in rural coastal areas has been promoted for two major reasons: reducing overfishing and increasing living standards. This article investigates diversification efforts in light of coastal squeezes in central Philippines. It presents evidence from 11 coastal villages in Iloilo Province, all of these communities are confronted with overfishing, poverty and environmental change. The empirical focus is on the impact of external support as well as remittances from overseas relatives. Three results emerge. First, the impact depends on initial intra-village conditions; presuming that fishing associations are the natural go-to stakeholders can be counterproductive. Second, more attention should be paid to transforming short-term, exogenous interventions into longer-term, endogenous capabilities. Third, unlike for households with higher levels of human capital, remittances do not constitute a major diversification strategy for fisher folk. Avenues for further research are the relationships between social capital and intra-village inequality and the interrelated nature of livelihood capitals.

Life below excellence: exploring the links between top-ranked universities and regional competitiveness

ABSTRACT This paper examines interactions between the presence of top-ranked universities and other conditions that encourage regional competitiveness. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was conducted to assess the combined effect of the conditions. The analysis yields several noteworthy conclusions. First, no single condition is necessary for a region to be competitive. Second, R&D expenditure is important for regional competitiveness. Third, different configurations of conditions are sufficient for high competitiveness in different regional clusters. Furthermore, some of these configurations do not include the presence of top-ranked universities. A ‘magic recipe’ consists of the combination of a private research system, an inter-firm collaboration network and high levels of human capital. The analysis shows that university excellence is valuable. However, in terms of its contribution to regional development, it is not crucial and must always be contextualised. This conclusion is important for smart strategic planning of local knowledge systems.

The Interconnections between Renewable Energy, Economic Development and Environmental Pollution: A Simultaneous Equation System Approach

Although the relationship between renewable energy and economic performance has attracted the interest of researchers in recent years, most of the analysis has focused on economic growth, which does not reflect the quality of standards of living. We employ a different approach measuring the impact of renewable energy consumption on the Human Development Index, which also considers qualitative characteristics. Using a simultaneous equation system approach that describes the interrelations between economic variables, renewable energy and pollution emissions with feedback effects, we provide robust evidence for a set of 28 OECD countries over the period 2004-2015, that renewable energy, human and physical capital are important factors for explaining the degree of sustainable development. Renewable energy consumption is mostly determined by higher levels of human capital, R&D, and the countries’ development stage. Furthermore, the development level, total energy consumption, and the education level are important for explaining environmental pollution.

Framework Conditions, Innovation and Productivity in European Regions

This paper uses regional structural indicators and firm-level data of the EIB Investment Survey to show that framework conditions and firm innovation inputs affect innovation performance and regional productivity growth. We argue that, in addition to more R&D investments and access to higher levels of human capital, improvements in the regional business environment—including the quality of institutions and infrastructure—can help firms close the gap with the technological frontier and support the economic development of European regions.

Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Abilities of Immigrants: New Perspectives on Migrant Quality from a Selective Immigration Country

Many countries adopt selective immigration policies to boost migrant quality. Recent theoretical work suggests that migrant selection based on observable characteristics (education, language proficiency) is likely to affect migrants’ unobservable characteristics. We contribute to this literature by quantifying traditionally unobservable components of migrant quality in Australia, a high-income, high-migrant share OECD country with a selective immigration policy. Using nationally representative survey data, we proxy migrant quality with standard measures of the Big-Five personality traits and cognitive ability. We find that although first-generation immigrants score significantly lower on English language ability, they outperform non-immigrant Australians in extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to new experiences, traits which are associated with better sociability, norm adherence, and creativity. The migrant premium in non-cognitive ability has been particularly high since Australia introduced selective immigration policies, which admitted migrants regardless of nationality but based on personal attributes. The migrant premium in personality is passed on to the second generation. Whilst the off-spring no longer experiences language penalties, it scores significantly higher on conscientiousness, agreeableness, a trait associated with altruism, and executive function. Despite higher levels of human capital, neither first nor second-generation immigrants outperform non-immigrant Australians in labor-market returns and occupational prestige.

The Effect of Economic Institutions on Foreign Direct Investment:

This study focuses on examining the effect of Economic Institutions on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in 24 developing Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. This study used panel data over the period 1995 to 2015 , for its emerical investigation, by using a fixed-effects model as suggested by Hausman after controlling for heteroscedasticity. The empirical finding suggests that the counties can attract more FDI if they enhance their economic institutions despite deficiencies in market size, trade openness and high level of human capital. However the development level seems to have an equal importance as that of economic institutions and is significant at all levels in LAC. The study also shows significant relation with controlling variables namely GDP per Capita and human capital.

Romer meets Kongsamut–Rebelo–Xie in a nonbalanced growth model

To explain the newly found empirical relationship between human capital accumulation and structural change, the paper introduces Romer (1990)’s endogenous technological change into the multi-sector growth model pioneered by KRX (1997, 2001), and shows that an increase in the level of human capital accelerates the structural transformation of the economy, while the incremental effect of human capital on structural change is smaller at higher levels of human capital. The theoretical results of the combined model matches the empirical findings very well.

University graduate migration in Finland

A high level of human capital is considered as an essential precondition for economic performance and regional competitiveness. However, university regions do not always manage to take advantage of the full potential of local higher education, as they are not always able to retain university students after graduation. Previous studies have presented remarkable regional differences concerning the share of graduates who remain in their university region after graduation. Hence, this paper has focused on geographical distribution and inter-regional mobility of university graduates in Finland. Long-term migration behaviour of all university graduates who completed their master’s or equivalent degree in 2000–2015 was analysed using geographic information systems (GIS). The main finding of the paper is that university graduates in Finland are rather immobile, as the most active mobility takes places when transitioning from university to their first job. After that, the geographical distribution of the graduates is rather stable, which contradicts the general assumption of high mobility of university-educated people. Further, the migration flows are directed mainly towards the four largest city regions of the country, especially to the capital city region. Cross-migration between city regions with similar population sizes and population growth rate is marginal, and it seems that the difference in the population size and growth between the graduation region and the destination region has to be large enough to exceed the threshold for migration. Retaining university graduates seems to be especially challenging for the smallest and declining university regions.

How Do Financial Expertise and Networks Affect Investing? Evidence from the Governance of University Endowments

We examine the links between human capital and endowment investing. Harnessing detailed information on university endowments, we find that higher asset allocations to alternative assets accompany higher levels of human capital in the endowment’s investment process. Moreover, high levels of human capital are linked to larger returns, even on a risk-adjusted basis. The improved investment outcomes arise because endowments capture higher returns that can accompany alternative assets, select or have access to high performing managers, and minimize fees by accessing funds directly rather than through funds of funds. Our measures of human capital include expertise in alternatives on governing bodies, the presence of a chief investment officer and the size of the investment staff. We also find that a university board’s professional networks are linked to higher allocations to private equity. Finally, we conduct a novel survey of endowments and confirm that human capital is central in facilitating alternative investments.

THE IMPACT OF INCREASING RETIREMENT AGE ON HEALTH SERVICES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN BRAZIL

This paper uses the Zon and Muysken (2001) model to investigate the effect of increasing the retirement age on health care production, human capital accumulation, and economic growth. All three sectors are interrelated, since the overall level of health affects both workers and the accumulation of human capital, while a higher level of human capital is related to better quality of health. And, finally, health and human capital affect the output of the economy. From the economic growth point of view the results seem to be positive. Increasing labor availability raises productivity in the health sector, which ultimately improves labor productivity, resulting in increased capital accumulation and economic growth. On the other hand, it is estimated a reduction in the propensity to consume and a smaller portion of the labor force allocated in the health sector.

Confidence in knowledge or confidence in the ability to learn: An experiment on the causal effects of beliefs on motivation

Previous research has shown that feedback about past performance has ambiguous effects on subsequent performance. We argue that feedback affects beliefs in different dimensions – namely beliefs about the level of human capital and beliefs about the ability to learn – and this may explain some of the ambiguous effects. We experimentally study the causal effects of an exogenously administered change in beliefs in both of these dimensions on the motivation to learn. We find that confidence in the ability to learn raises incentives, while confidence in the level of human capital lowers incentives for individuals with high levels of human capital.