Human Capital Deficits Research Articles

Early childhood growth trajectories and early adolescent cognitive achievement: the role of catch-up

Human capital deficits in early childhood in terms of health and cognitive developmental issues are conceptualized as a lurking threat to China’s future economic growth by a growing body of scholarly literature; however, it is unknown whether these deficits persist into adolescence. This study draws upon longitudinal, nationally-representative data from the China Family Panel Studies 2010–2020 to investigate the possibility of recovering from early growth retardation and the potential implications for recovery of related cognitive outcomes. In particular, the paper considers whether there is evidence of cognitive catch-up from early cognitive delays. Based on group-based trajectory models with inverse probability of treatment weighting, this study finds that mid-childhood catch-up growth may mitigate the negative effects of early childhood stunting on early adolescent academic performance. Moreover, children who recover from stunting demonstrate cognitive catch-up in Chinese but not in math. This evidence not only reaffirms the significance of early childhood development but also suggests an opportunity for interventions to avert undernutrition and cognitive deficits after early childhood.

IS THE HUMAN CAPITAL OF RURAL AREAS DIVERSIFIED? A TYPOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR THE COMMUNES OF THE ZACHODNIOPOMORSKIE VOIVODESHIP

The article is empirical in nature, it aims to analyze and evaluate the differences in the spatial distribution and internal structure of human capital in rural areas of the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship. The spatial analysis was carried out at the gminas level in Poland, total 2,172 objects, including 103 from the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship. The Central Statistical Office Local Data Bank, OKE, Foundation EFRWP were the main data source. The subject of the analysis was the index of the general level of human capital (WSKL) – a synthetic measure expressing the essence of human capital in five components of its structure, i.e. the labor market, education, health, innovation and social wealth. The study used a The taxonomic method of hierarchization (non-model) and classification of multi-feature objects were used in the study. The exploration of the structure of human capital resources in rural areas in the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship was carried out based on the author’s typology of rural areas for Poland. The research results allow to conclude that the level of human capital in rural areas of the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship is low, and the region as a whole is an area of human capital deficit. The structure of human capital is very unfavorable, which is a serious barrier to the development of both local communities and the region as a whole.

COVID-19 anxiety-coping strategies of frontline health workers in a low-income country Malawi: A qualitative inquiry

For this qualitative study, we adopted a two-wave data-collection approach involving 68 frontline healthcare workers at two geographically distinct central hospitals in a low-income country Malawi. We used in-depth telephone interviews and survey emails to explore the sources of COVID-19 anxiety and corresponding coping actions among frontline health care workers. The findings reveal four main sources of work-related anxiety among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 crisis: (1) on-the-job risks, (2) infrastructure and technological deficits, (3) human-capital deficits, and (4) public stigma. Furthermore, the findings reveal that these workers have been coping with sources of COVID-19 anxiety by using strategic coping actions related to the five themes of (1) health, (2) self-assertion, (3) perception, (4) identity, and (5) social support. Healthcare management can thus manage frontline healthcare workers’ COVID-19-related anxiety by mitigating the sources of such anxiety as well as incorporating insights from employees’ strategic coping actions into organizational stress management programs.

Rising importance of remote learning in India in the wake of COVID-19: issues, challenges and way forward

PurposeThe present paper highlights the increasing importance of remote learning amidst the closure of educational institutions in India in the wake of COVID-19. This paper not only discusses critical issues and challenges that remote learning system in the higher education sector in India has been encountering amidst this pandemic but also sheds light on ways to deal with them.Design/methodology/approachThe paper makes use of secondary sources of data along with descriptive and comparative approaches to examine the issues, challenges and way forward for a transition from face-to-face teaching to remote learning in the case of India.FindingsThe paper suggests that greater use of this alternative mode of learning can be made for checking “human capital deficit,” preventing loss of future earnings (because of loss of education) and also for preparing a future-ready digital workforce to surf the Industry 4.0 wave. Besides, this can help to achieve the goal of “Education for all” and Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4). Among others, concerted policies for bridging skill gaps, forging partnerships and following equity-oriented policies for ensuring learning outcomes seem to be the way forward for a resilient education system.Originality/valueAs per our knowledge, no such study on the use of remote learning covering the higher education sector in India amidst COVID-19 has been done so far.

The Quality of Public Finance in the Countries of South-East Europe

Abstract The subject of this research is to analyze a number of factors that impact the quality of public finances in the selected post-socialist South East countries (SEE). In the theoretical part of the paper we have selected and analyzed the factors (variables). The following key factors of influence (as independent variables) were included: socialist heritage, politicization as an abuse of macroeconomic policies, instability of institutional environment, human capital deficits in the area of public finances, and financial accountability deficits. In the quantitative part, the level of selected factors was assessed on the quality level of public finances in the observed countries. The hypothesis was that the factors selected had a very significant impact on the quality of public finances. Mathematical model based on multiple linear regression analysis was created in order to explain the functional relationship between the dependent variable: the quality level of public finances and the selected independent variables. The goal is to estimate the expected mean of the dependent variable (Y) based on individual estimates of the respondents. Regarding the respondent’s perception, the Likert scale (1.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5,0) was used, where 1.0 indicates the lowest impact and 5.0 indicates the highest impact. Based on their best knowledge, experience, and (or) intuition, the respondents were asked to assess the dependent variable in the model and independent variables. The empirical data obtained, qualitative and quantitative, have confirmed the hypothesis.

Location, location, location: Examining the rural-urban skills gap in Canada

Abstract The elevated demands of the new knowledge economy pose particular challenges to rural and northern regions in Canada, long acknowledged by policymakers to suffer from acute human capital deficits. Rural residents obtain lower levels of education than their urban counterparts and those that do obtain post-secondary training often migrate to urban regions offering abundant employment opportunities and higher wages. Despite an emerging consensus around over skill deficits across rural regions, Canadian researchers have yet to systematically explore contemporary rural-urban differences in human capital using refined measures of literacy and numeracy skills. We ameliorate this deficiency by mapping rural-urban disparities in skills across the working age population (16–65) using Statistics Canada's 2012 Longitudinal International Study of Adults (LISA). Our results indicate that residents from smaller population centers and rural areas within Canada show significantly lower skills proficiencies. These differences across location of residence shrink considerably when controlling for education level, underscoring the need to enhance post-secondary access in rural areas.

The link between mothers' vulnerability to intimate partner violence and Children's human capital

We propose a conceptual framework to examine the association between mothers' vulnerability to intimate partner violence (IPV) and children's human capital. An important contribution of our framework is that it uses multiple dimensions of human capital and identifies several pathways through which the negative associations of IPV translate to human capital deficits. The conceptual framework is empirically tested using a large-scale representative child-level dataset from India that includes two dimensions of children's human capital – traditional school-based measures of educational attainment, and standardized reading and arithmetic test scores reflecting cognitive ability. Additionally, our study is the first to use an indirect measure of IPV which aims to overcome underreporting bias associated with direct questioning based IPV measures. The results show significant negative correlation between mothers' vulnerability to IPV and children's human capital. The negative association is more pronounced and robust for cognitive outcomes as opposed to the commonly used school-based measures of human capital. As predicted by our conceptual framework, the negative associations are mediated by mothers' poor health and disruption of home environment. We find strong evidence of IPV-exposed children being more likely to experience corporal punishment at school reflecting signs of externalizing behavior. The indirect measure of IPV stands the test of multiple validity and robustness checks.

Muslim women in the Canadian labor market: Between ethnic exclusion and religious discrimination

This paper compares the labor market position of women from religious minority backgrounds with that of the majority group of Christian White Canadian women. In particular, it examines the relative disadvantage of Muslim women in relation to labor market participation, unemployment rate and the likelihood of obtaining managerial and professional occupations. The analysis was carried out using data obtained from the 2011 Canadian National Household Survey (NHS). The results suggested that, relative to White Christian women, most ethno-religious groups were significantly disadvantaged in the Canadian labor market, especially in relation to participation and unemployment. However, the pattern that was found in relation to occupational attainment was different and worth discussing. Not all Muslim women seemed to be disadvantaged in obtaining managerial and professional jobs. Black and Arab Muslim women, surprisingly enough, were as likely as the majority, Christian White women to be represented within the category of managers and professionals. This paper considers cultural explanations and the role of discrimination and a human capital deficit, as well as suggesting new directions by proposing the hypothesis of ‘discouraged women’, in explaining the low rate of participation, and a ‘surplus education’ hypothesis to explain occupational attainment. However, by and large, structural inequality, fostered by cultural racism and that based on color, remains the most plausible explanation.

Not Just Any Job Will Do: A Study on Employment Characteristics and Recidivism Risks After Release.

Ex-prisoners’ recidivism risks are high. Several theories state that employment can reduce these risks but emphasize that the protective role of employment is conditional on job qualities (work intensity, job duration, etc.). Longitudinal research on the role of employment in ex-prisoners’ recidivism patterns is scarce, and most existing work used a simplistic employment measure (i.e., employed vs. unemployed), leaving the topic of job quality underexplored. This study examines the association between employment characteristics and recidivism among Dutch ex-prisoners. Using longitudinal data of the Prison Project (n = 714), we found that not just any job, but particularly stable employment and jobs with a higher occupational level could help reduce crime rates among these high-risk offenders. Many ex-prisoners face a human capital deficit that complicates the guidance to high-quality jobs. It might, however, be possible to help place ex-prisoners in stable employment.

Outsourcing in the Persian Gulf petroleum supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify the challenges, the benefits, the risks and the motives of petroleum companies in the Persian Gulf toward outsourcing strategy. While the petroleum companies are faced with massive costs of operation that stem from the aging infrastructure, human capital deficit, inefficient fragmented business processes and lack of access to new technologies, outsourcing strategy toward cost savings and the overt and covert resistance of management and employees are significant barriers for creation of continuous process. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the review of existing literature, the industry ' s archives and in-depth personal interviews with senior executives of the national oil and gas companies in five Gulf countries and seven global outsourcing companies and 87 survey responses, this study develops a methodological framework which substantiates or refutes the hypotheses based on the objectives: industry challenges are the driving forces behind outsourcing strategy; the potential risks of cost savings of outsourcing outweigh the consequential loss in control over the product or service, companies ' safety and security of the region. Findings – The findings indicate that the oil and gas exporters have mixed but broad positive view of outsourcing strategy. While outsourcing could provide savings across the entire supply chain, it also generates a distracting resistance due to the fear of unknown in a complex range of culture, infrastructures and sequential processes that requires resiliency for continuity of operations. Originality/value – This study is the first of its kind in the Persian Gulf oil and gas industry investigating the implementation of outsourcing strategy. The result of this investigation reveals the compromise between the potential benefits in cost reduction and the security of petroleum supply. This study contributes to all who are in the industry or who are involved with it to share a clear assessment of the future.

Early childbearing, human capital attainment and mortality risk: Evidence from a longitudinal demographic surveillance area in rural-KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Using a rich longitudinal dataset, we examine the relationship between teen fertility and both subsequent educational outcomes and HIV related mortality risk in rural South Africa. Human capital deficits among teen mothers are large and significant, with earlier births associated with greater deficits. In contrast to many other studies from developed countries, we find no clear evidence of selectivity into teen childbearing in either schooling trajectories or pre-fertility household characteristics. Enrolment rates among teen mothers only begin to drop in the period immediately preceding the birth and future teen mothers are not behind in their schooling relative to other girls. Older teen mothers and those further ahead in school for their age pre-birth are more likely to continue schooling after the birth. In addition to adolescents' higher biological vulnerability to HIV infection, pregnancy also appears to increase the risk of contracting HIV. Following women over an extended period, we document a higher HIV related mortality risk for teen mothers that cannot be explained by household characteristics in early adulthood. Controlling for age at sexual debut, we find that teen mothers report lower condom use and older partners than other sexually active adolescents.

Human Capital and Workplace Integration: A Reflection of South African Migrants in Australia

The extent to which human migration has grown over the last two decades partially reflects the strategic approach that some countries have taken to address shortages in skills and expertise. Evidence suggests that migrants are however often underutilised or underachieve, leading to a sub-optimal outcome and often a result of the human capital recognition deficit, both by the migrant and the country of destination. The deficit is partly driven by the range of difficulties associated with workplace integration and acculturation, arguably part of the extensive range of losses experienced by migrants. This paper postulates the argument that a timely and appropriate intervention in the workplace integration process will alleviate the human capital recognition deficit and allow migrants to make a more significant contribution to the workplace in a shorter period of time. This paper reflects on experiences reported by South African migrants in Australia. It focusses on the narrative of workplace exposure and identifies three major groupings. First there is the overall experience of ‘not knowing’, followed by a willingness to tackle the ‘new and difficult environment’. Finally respondents report a capability to ‘respond’, and in a sense outperform their perceived diminished human capital value. Overall the paper confirms that the experiences of South African migrants in Australia mirror experiences reported in other migration studies. Personal observations and comments in the study do however confirm the benefits that an employer based support system holds in minimizing the human capital deficit. In recent times human migration has assumed significant proportions, to the extent that by 2008 approximately three (3) per cent of the world population were considered migrants (Enderwick et al., 2011). While many factors facilitate global migration those countries that recognised its potential as a source of economic growth and development have also fuelled it. Through a combination of pull factors, including prominent government migration policies, countries such as the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia have succeeded in attracting significant numbers of skilled migrants to their shores. It is now generally accepted that these countries have benefitted substantially from immigration.

What Behavioural Economics Has to Say about Financial Literacy

Gaps in financial literacy are arguably responsible for significant errors in decision-makingby consumers and investors alike. Unlike the conventional neoclassical economic wisdom,behavioral economics opens the analytical door to the significance of financial literacy fordecision-making. This paper presents evidence on the importance of financial literacy as wellpresenting the different analytical approaches to financial literacy that flow from neoclassicaleconomics and from the different methodological approaches to behavioral economics.Of particular importance is the errors and biases approach, which attributes much offinancial illiteracy to the cognitive shortcomings of the human brain. Whereas the boundedrationality approach focuses on informational gaps (complex and asymmetric information),framing effects, institutional design problems, and human capital deficits (inclusive ofexperiential learning), as key to understanding documented gaps in financial literacy.The behavioral approaches have significant implications for analyses and public policy.

The Wages of Sinistrality: Handedness, Brain Structure, and Human Capital Accumulation

Left- and right-handed individuals have different neurological wiring, particularly with regard to language processing. Multiple datasets from the United States and the United Kingdom show that lefties exhibit significant human capital deficits relative to righties. Lefties score 0.1 standard deviations lower on cognitive skill measures, have more behavioral problems, have more learning disabilities such as dyslexia, complete less schooling, and work in occupations requiring less cognitive skill. Most strikingly, lefties have 10–12 percent lower annual earnings than righties, much of which can be explained by observable differences in cognitive skills and behavioral problems. Lefties work in more manually intensive occupations than do righties, further suggesting their primary labor market disadvantage is cognitive rather then physical. I argue here that handedness can be used to explore the long-run impacts of differential brain structure generated in part by genetics and in part by poor infant health.

The Wages of Sinistrality: Handedness, Brain Structure and Human Capital Accumulation

Left- and right-handed individuals have different brain structures, particularly in relation to language processing. Using five data sets from the US and UK, I show that poor infant health increases the likelihood of a child being left-handed. I argue that handedness can thus be used to explore the long-run impacts of differential brain structure generated in part by poor infant health. Even conditional on infant health and family background, lefties exhibit economically and statistically significant human capital deficits relative to righties. Compared to righties, lefties score a tenth of a standard deviation lower on measures of cognitive skill and, contrary to popular wisdom, are not over-represented at the high end of the distribution. Lefties have more emotional and behavioral problems, have more learning disabilities such as dyslexia, complete less schooling, and work in less cognitively intensive occupations. Differences between left- and right-handed siblings are similar in magnitude. Most strikingly, lefties have six percent lower annual earnings than righties, a gap that can largely be explained by these differences in cognitive skill, disabilities, schooling and occupational choice. Lefties work in more manually intensive occupations than do righties, further suggesting that lefties’ primary labor market disadvantage is cognitive rather than physical. Those likely be left-handed due to genetics show smaller or no deficits relative to righties, suggesting the importance of environmental shocks as the source of disadvantage. Handedness provides parents and schools a costlessly observable characteristic with which to identify young children whose cognitive and behavioral development may warrant additional attention.

Risk Factors and the Duration of Homelessness among Drug-Using Arrestees: Evidence from 30 American Counties

We examined risk factors influencing length of homelessness among a sample of drug-using adults booked into jails in 30 American counties during the years 2002–2003. Interviews were conducted with 30,634 arrestees. Multinomial logistic regression (MLR) explored the impact of arrestees’ drug use histories, prior experiences with alcohol and drug treatment, prior mental health experiences, and previous criminal justice experiences on membership in one of three housing stability categories. MLR results showed that, in comparison to the sporadic homeless, the persistent homeless were a demographically distinct group with significant social and human capital deficits and distinct health risk profiles, including drug use behavior, mental health status, and criminal offending. We argue that jails are well positioned to serve as a focal point for the delivery of public health and psychiatric services to homeless persons.

Capital Conversion and Accumulation: A Social Portrait of Legacies at an Elite University

Legacies, or students with a family member who graduated from the same college or university, have been the source of much debate. We add to the existing literature by providing a detailed empirical portrait of legacies at a private, selective university across the college years. We examine how legacies are distinctive in their admissions profiles, within-college achievement and post-graduation plans, using data from a panel study of students attending Duke University. We find that legacies enter college with an abundance of economic, cultural and social capital, but also have lower levels of human capital compared to other students with college graduate parents. Due to this human capital deficit, legacies have lower grades in the first college year, but show little academic underperformance in subsequent semesters. Additionally, legacies are less likely to plan to be a medical doctor or engineer and have somewhat lower degree aspirations than other students.

Bringing Together Local Culture and Rural Development: Findings from Ireland, Pennsylvania and Alaska

The developmental trajectories of communities are routinely explained by reference to economic history, human capital deficits, or the structure of local labour markets. The role of local culture in understanding community development or in interpreting empirical research has received less attention. We believe culture plays an important independent role in shaping community debate and action. Framing community as an interactional field emphasises the opportunities created when people who share interests come together to address local problems. Interaction and local culture are essential parts of community and community development. Appreciating community uniqueness and local culture helps in the interpretation of study data and clarifies development trajectories. Research from Ireland, Pennsylvania and Alaska illustrates the linkages between local culture and community development.

Top 10 Risks for the Oil and Gas Industry

Guest editorial Risks are inherent in every forward-looking business decision. As a result, there has been a great deal of work done and resources invested in risk management in the oil and gas industry in recent years. Financial and regulatory risks have been the focus of much of this effort. But more recently, companies have started including operational risks, prioritizing them and thinking about how they can manage and monitor all risks in a coordinated way. In collaboration with Oxford Analytica, Ernst & Young examined the strategic risks facing oil and gas companies. This study was not a random selection exercise but rather a structured consultation with industry leaders and subject matter professionals from around the world (Fig. 1). What follows are the top 10 identified strategic risks for oil and gas companies. 1. Human Capital Deficit The growing human capital deficit in the sector has become a significant strategic threat to the industry. One study participant set out the issue: "The ability of the oil and gas services sector to expand sufficiently to meet future demand growth is questionable, not least in terms of staff. Project delays and abandonment are as much a result of capacity constraints as financial calculations, although the two are intimately linked." 2. Worsening Fiscal Terms Worsening fiscal terms are seen as a high risk. In some cases, this is due to energy nationalism, although in others it is purely the result of political opportunism and high prices. Tax regime changes can spur additional oil and gas industry restructuring in countries such as Canada, Venezuela, Russia, and Algeria. The impact of political opportunism and high prices is a device that has been seen in both the developing and nondeveloping world. 3. Cost Controls The third operational threat is the inability to control costs. This threat was considered great enough to have a strategic impact, and a failure to manage the threat could undermine the competitiveness of oil and gas companies. Participants agreed that the problem extends from exploration all the way through the value chain, impacting everything from refinery build costs to pipeline construction. The Upstream Capital Costs Index, which measures cost inflation in oil and gas projects, has gone up by 79% since 2000, with most of that increase coming since May 2005.

Risks and Resources: Social Capital among Social Assistance Recipients in Norway

Based on a nationally representative panel study covering the period 1985–2003, a Norwegian cohort is investigated with regard to the risks of receiving social assistance benefits. Traditionally, welfare dependency, poverty and receipt of social assistance have been explained by beneficiaries’ human capital deficits, the structural or institutional design of the welfare system, or the level of welfare benefits. This article investigates the potentially mediating effects of social capital on the risks of receiving social assistance in youth and young adulthood. In addition, the role of the institutional welfare design on the accumulation of social capital itself is examined. The resulting analyses suggest that even if individuals’ social capital is related to the risks of receiving social assistance, it is rather the respondents’ human capital and welfare recipiency in itself that are the driving force behind paths leading individuals into further social assistance recipiency. The article concludes with an analysis suggesting that the institutional design of the Norwegian social assistance benefits reduces social capital for the beneficiaries.