This book provides an in-depth investigation of the link between human capital and economic growth. The authors take an innovative approach, examining the determinants of economic growth through a historical overview of the concept of human capital. The text fosters a deep understanding of the connection between human capital and economic growth through the exploration of different theoretical approaches, a review of the literature, and the application of nonlinear estimation techniques to a comprehensive data set. The authors discuss nonparametric econometric techniques and their application to estimating nonlinearities—which has emerged as one of the most salient features of empirical work in modeling the human capital-growth relationship, and the process of economic growth in general. By delving into the topic from theoretical and empirical standpoints, this book offers an insightful new view that will be extremely useful for scholars, students, and policy makers.

This edited collection explores the links between human capital (both in the form of health and in the form of education), demographic change, and economic growth. Using empirical as well as theoretical perspectives, the authors investigate several important issues in the context of human capital, namely population ageing, inequality, public policy, and long-term economic development. Ultimately, they demonstrate that the accumulation of human capital is of crucial importance to long-run economic growth.

The empirical literature on the contributions of human capital investments to economic growth shows mixed results. While evidence from OECD countries demonstrates that human capital accumulation is associated with growth accelerations, the substantial efforts of developing countries to improve access to and quality of education, as a means for skill accumulation, did not translate into higher income per capita. In this Element, we propose a framework, building on the principles of 'growth diagnostics', to enable practitioners to determine whether human capital investments are a priority for a country's growth strategy. We then discuss and exemplify different tests to diagnose human capital in a place, drawing on the Harvard Growth Lab's experience in different development context, and discuss various policy options to address skill shortages.

This book is a reflection of the current research that explores the mechanism, dynamics and evidence of the impact of human capital on economic development and social well-being in modern China. Composed of keynote speeches and selected papers from The 2005 International Conference of the Chinese Economists Society (www.china-ces.org), it tracks the latest understanding and empirical evidence of the relationships amongst health, education and economic development in China. The book presents a broad spectrum of study topics covering human capital and economic growth; demand, attainment and disparity in both education and health; and investing in human capital and the economic and social returns in China. Distinguished contributors include Robert Fogel, Michael Grossman, Daniel Hamermesh, Gregory Chow and Dean Jamison.

A crucial issue in the era of globalisation and internationalization, is whether the relationship between investment and finance is beneficial to growth and development. Received wisdom is that Research and Development is essential not only for maintaining productivity, but also for competing in the marketplace. Similar questions have been raised about education and its rate of 'social return; is education necessary for improving the skill of the workforce, or does it serve primarily to facilitate the adoption of these new technologies? This book brings together a case of leading international scholars to analyze the importance of education, research and human capital and the impact of financial systems on growth and development.

During recent decades, Korea has been one of only a handful of countries that have made the successful transformation to become a developed nation by simultaneously achieving persistent economic growth combined with a democratic political system. Experts and political leaders worldwide have attributed this achievement to investments in people or, in other words, the power of education. Whilst numerous books have highlighted the role of industrial policies, technological growth, and international trade in Korea’s development process, this is one of the first to focus on the role of human capital. It shows how the accumulation of human capital aided transformation and helps explain the policies, strategies and challenges that Korea faces now and in the future.

Ch. 1. Why China is likely to achieve its growth objectives / Robert W. Fogel -- ch. 2. The contribution of health and education to economic growth in China / Dean T. Jamison, Lawrence J. Lau and Jia Wang -- ch. 3. Education, innovation and economic growth / Xiaoguang Chen -- ch. 4. Endogenous health care and life expectancy in a neoclassical growth model / Michael C. M. Leung and Yong Wang -- ch. 5. Demand for education in China / Gregory C. Chow and Yan Shen -- ch. 6. Human capital and educational demand in China : 2000-2030 / Xiaoying Zheng ... [et al.] -- ch. 7. Changes in the pattern of China's school enrollment rates between 1990 and 2000 / Rachel Connelly and Zhenzhen Zheng -- ch. 8. School attainment and cost of education in rural China / Linxiu Zhang ... [et al.] -- ch. 9. The educational consequences of migration for children in China / Zai Liang and Yiu Por Chen -- ch. 10. An economic analysis of health care in China / Gregory C. Chow -- ch. 11. A theoretical analysis for Chinese new rural cooperative medical system / H. Holly Wang -- ch. 12. Wealth, education and demand for medical care : evidence from rural China / Jin Feng, Bei Qin and Yangyang Yu -- ch. 13. Famine and overweight in China / Zhehui Luo, Ren Mu and Xiaobo Zhang -- ch. 14. Immunization uptake in China / Åke Blomqvist and Haoming Liu -- ch. 15. Changing health inequality in China : the role of relative income / Zhuo Chen, Steven T. Yen and David B. Eastwood -- ch. 16. The relationship between health and schooling / Michael Grossman -- ch. 17. Income productivity in China : on the role of health / Gordon G. Liu ... [et al.] -- ch. 18. Ill health and its potential influence on household consumptions in rural China / Hong Wang, Licheng Zhang and William Hsiao -- ch. 19. Wages and returns to education in Chinese cities / Dennis Tao Yang -- ch. 20. The external returns to education : evidence from Chinese cities / Zhiqiang Liu -- ch. 21. Discrimination and development : the case of beauty in China / Daniel S. Hamermesh, Xin Meng and Junsen Zhang.

This paper analyzes the impact of human capital on growth, on the basis of refined calculations of human capital, and with a focus on West Africa. Using a growth-accounting methodology, it distinguishes the sources of growth between the accumulation of factors of production and changes in production intensity or efficiency. Private capital is found to be particularly important to growth, but human capital appears not to be significant. The paper also identifies the terms of trade, trade openness, the government deficit, and the share of government investment in total investment as key policy variables affecting growth.

This study provides empirical evidence that trade increases on-the-job human capital accumulation by estimating the effect of home country openness on estimated returns to home country experience of U.S. immigrants. The positive effect of trade on on-the-job human capital accumulation remains significant when controlling for GDP, educational attainment, and institutional quality. It is not the result of self-selection, heterogeneity in returns to experience, English-speaking origin, or cultural background. The effect persists when restricting the sample to non-OECD countries, thereby resolving the theoretical ambiguity of whether trade increases or decreases learning-by-doing. The role of trade in generating economic growth is therefore likely to be more important than generally considered.