Which does not apply to the characteristics of human capital. Formation and development of human capital

Human capital- a set of knowledge, skills and abilities used to meet the diverse needs of an individual and society as a whole. First time the term was used Theodore Schultz, and his follower - Gary Becker developed this idea, justifying the effectiveness of investments in human capital and formulating an economic approach to human behavior.

Initially, human capital was understood only as a set of investments in a person that increases his ability to work - education and professional skills. Subsequently, the concept of human capital expanded significantly. The latest calculations made by World Bank experts include consumer spending - family expenses on food, clothing, housing, education, health care, culture, as well as government spending for these purposes .

Human capital in a broad sense, it is intensive productive economic development factor, development of society and family, including the educated part of the workforce, knowledge, intellectual and managerial work, habitat and labor activity, ensuring the effective and rational functioning of the human capital as a productive factor of development.

Briefly: Human capital- This intelligence, health, knowledge, high quality and productive work And the quality of life .

Human capital is the main factor in formation and development innovation economy And knowledge economy, as the next highest stage of development.

One of the conditions for the development and improvement of the quality of human capital is high economic freedom index.

Use the classification of human capital :

    Individual human capital.

    Human capital of the company.

    National human capital.

In national wealth, human capital in developed countries ah is from 70 to 80%. In Russia it is about 50%.

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    1 Background

    2 Broad definition of human capital

    3 National human capital

    4 Estimates of the value of national human capital in countries around the world

    5 National human capital and historical development of countries and civilizations

    6 Structure, type and methods of assessing the value of human capital

    • 6.1 Structure

      6.2 Types of Human Capital

      6.3 Methods for assessing the value of human capital

    7 Human capital is the main factor in the formation of the “knowledge economy”

    8 Notes

    9 Literature

Background[edit | edit source text]

Elements of the theory of human capital (HC) have existed since ancient times, when the first knowledge and education system were formed.

In the scientific literature, the concept of human capital (Human Capital) appeared in publications of the second half of the 20th century in the works of American economists Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker (1992). For creating the foundations of the theory of human capital (HC), they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics - Theodore Schultz in 1979, Gary Becker in 1992. Simon (Semyon) Kuznets, a native of Russia, who received the Nobel Prize, also made a significant contribution to the creation of the theory of HC in economics for 1971

The theory of human capital is based on the achievements of institutional theory, neoclassical theory, neo-Keynesianism and other particular economic theories. Its appearance was a response from economics and related sciences to the demand of the real economy and life. The problem of in-depth understanding of the role of man and the accumulated results of his intellectual activity on the pace and quality of development of society and the economy has arisen. The impetus for the creation of the theory of human capital was the statistical data on the growth of the economies of developed countries, which exceeded calculations based on taking into account classical growth factors. Analysis of real processes of development and growth in modern conditions led to the approval of human capital as the main productive and social factor development of modern economy and society.

Contributions to the development of modern human capital theory were made by T. Schultz, G. Becker, E. Denison, R. Solow, J. Kendrick , S. Kuznets, S. Fabrikant, I. Fisher, R. Lucas and other economists, sociologists and historians.

The concept of human capital is a natural development and generalization of the concepts of human factor and human resource, but human capital is broader economic category .

The economic category “human capital” was formed gradually, and at the first stage it was limited to a person’s knowledge and ability to work. Moreover, for a long time, human capital was considered only a social factor of development, that is, a cost factor, from the point of view of economic theory. It was believed that investments in upbringing and education were unproductive and costly. In the second half of the 20th century, attitudes towards human capital and education gradually changed dramatically .

So, S. Fischer gave the following definition of the Cheka: “Human capital is a measure of the ability embodied in a person to generate income. HR includes innate abilities and talent, as well as education and acquired qualifications." At present, this definition can also be considered a definition of Cheka in the narrow sense.

Simon Kuznets, among the restrictions on the use of the experience of advanced countries by developing countries, put in first place the starting potential of physical capital and human capital. As we can see, Simon Kuznets put the sufficiency of the initial accumulated human capital in first place among the factors determining the successful application of the accumulated experience of advanced countries. And this is no coincidence. A high level and quality of accumulated human capital is necessary for the accelerated implementation of institutional reforms, transformation of the state, technological renewal of production, market transformations of the economy, etc. And, in the end, it is the sufficiently high level and quality of human capital of a country with a catching-up economy that ensures its access to a stable growth in per capita GDP and improvement in the level and quality of life of the population. Thus, human capital, according to Kuznets, is the main dominant factor in the possible stable growth of the economies of developing countries.

American economist Edward Denison(contributed to this issue Robert Solow , John Kendrick etc.) developed a classification of economic growth factors . Of the 23 factors he selected, 4 relate to labor, 4 to capital, 1 to land, and 14 characterize the contribution of scientific and technical progress. According to Denison , economic growth is determined not so much by the quantity of spent factors, but by their quality and the growth of this quality. First place Denison delivered quality work force. From an analysis of US economic growth for 1929-82.

Denison concluded that the determining factor in the growth of output per worker (labor productivity) is education, the most important component of the human capital.

T. Schulz made a huge contribution to the formation of the theory of human capital at the initial stage of its development, to its acceptance by the scientific community and its popularization. He was one of the first to introduce the concept of human capital as a productive factor. And he did a lot to understand the role of human capital as the main engine and foundation of industrial and post-industrial economies.

Schultz considered the main results of investments in people to be the accumulation of people’s ability to work, their effective creative activity in society, maintenance of health, etc. He believed that human capital has the necessary characteristics of a productive nature. CC is capable of accumulating and reproducing. According to Schultz, of the total product produced in society, not 1/4 of the total product produced in society is used for the accumulation of human capital, as followed from most theories of reproduction of the 20th century, but 3/4 of its total value.

G. Becker was perhaps the first to transfer the concept of Cheka to the micro level. He defined the human capital of an enterprise as a set of human skills, knowledge and abilities. As an investment in them, Becker took into account mainly the costs of education and training. Becker assessed the economic efficiency of education, first of all, for the employee himself. Additional income from higher education he defined it as follows. From the incomes of those who graduated from college, he subtracted the incomes of workers with average general education. The costs of education were considered both direct costs and opportunity costs - lost income during training. G. Becker estimated the return on investment in education as the ratio of income to costs, receiving approximately 12-14% of annual profit.

In 1992, University of Chicago economics and sociology professor G. S. Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for “Extending the scope of microeconomic analysis to a range of aspects of human behavior and interaction, including non-market behavior.” Becker's main books - "The Economics of Discrimination", "Human Capital" and "Treatise on the Family" are devoted to various aspects of the theory of human capital.

Becker made special contributions to the theories of competition, strategy and firm development. He introduced a distinction between special and general investments in people. And he emphasized the special importance of special training, special knowledge and skills. Special training of employees forms the competitive advantages of the company, the characteristic and significant features of its products and behavior in the markets, and ultimately, its know-how, image and brand. Firms and corporations themselves are primarily interested in special training, and they finance it. These works by Becker became the basis for the creation of the modern theory of the firm and competition.

Becker, within the framework of the theory of human capital, studied the structure of the distribution of personal income, its age dynamics, inequality in pay for male and female labor, etc. He proved to both politicians and entrepreneurs using extensive statistical material that education is the foundation for increasing incomes and employees, both employers and the state as a whole. As a result, politicians, financiers and entrepreneurs began to view investments in education as promising investments that generate income.

Becker in his works considered a worker as a combination of one unit of simple labor and a certain amount of human capital embodied in him. His wages (income) are a combination of the market price of his simple labor and income from investments made in a person. Moreover, the main part of the income goes to the worker , according to Becker’s estimates, as well as calculations of other researchers, it is human capital that brings .

The development of human capital is perhaps the most important task of the company. Moreover, this question has recently been raised on the scale of an entire country as an indispensable condition for its development and prosperity on the world economic arena.

You will learn:

  • What is the basis for the formation and development of human capital.
  • What kind of investments can be made in the development of human capital.
  • How human capital can influence the innovative development of an enterprise.
  • Why manage human capital development.
  • How to assess the level of human capital development in an organization.
  • What problems does the development of human capital have in Russia?

How companies can properly develop human capital

The more mental baggage a company has, the higher its competitive advantages, the better and more efficiently it can organize its manufacturing process, ensuring optimal transformation of intangible resources into tangible capital.

Highly qualified specialists can increase the attractiveness of a brand and influence the profitability of an organization. To a large extent, the value of an enterprise is determined by innovation; it can be easily increased by financially motivating employees.

Today, more and more companies are coming to the realization that not only financial capital determines the actual value of a business. Intellectual capital is the main strategic element of industry. In the figure you can see the relationship between intellectual capital and the actual value of the organization:

Financial capital of the organization- This is not only cash, but also shares and other securities.

Intellectual capital of the organization– this is the mental baggage of the staff. Knowledge is the basis of an enterprise’s wealth, intangible assets that improve the quality of production processes. They are the ones who create added value for the enterprise.

Improving business with the help of intellectual capital is not theoretical research, but actual practice. Through this asset, you can successfully manage profits, create new products and attract customers.

Intellectual capital should be understood as all those information resources that are at the disposal of the company. Intellectual capital is a combination of human, structural and relational capital. Intellectual capital also includes information capital, intellectual property, customer capital, brand awareness and learning capital.

The knowledge that forms intellectual capital can be explicit or implicit, but it always has a useful function.

Human capital of the organization arises due to the presence of personnel. It is formed through the knowledge, talents, abilities and competence of employees. This process is long-term and goes through several stages.

  • Initially, there is a search and selection of candidates who will later form human capital, then the relationship is formalized.
  • In the future, the employer interests and motivates employees to work more actively and productively.
  • In the process of cooperation, investments are made in human capital through the development and training of employees.
  • And finally, a merger and/or acquisition occurs.

In general, a company’s human capital consists of several elements that can be reflected in the form of formula (1):

The share of influence of human capital on business value ranges from 30 to 80%, depending on the sector of the economy. But one way or another, the contribution of people to the profitability of the organization is the determining factor. Human capital improves competitiveness. And capital is directly formed from the skills and abilities of employees, through whose efforts goods and services are produced.

Some people confuse the concepts of human capital and human potential. The main difference between these interchangeable terms is that capital creates the market value of a company through employee participation in building success. This is a very important factor in the development of an organization. It is the employees who create the added value of the enterprise.

What does the formation and development of human capital depend on?

Due to the fact that the development and economic prosperity of the country directly depends on the specialists who inhabit it, the priority concern of the state can be called ensuring the improvement of the capabilities of citizens (intellectual, physical and spiritual). This task is being solved within the framework of achieving the goal of human capital development, which will inevitably lead to an increase in the potential of the entire society, as well as an increase in the resource of the country as a whole. High opportunities for society depend on the dynamics of economic growth. So, the development of human capital is one of the key tasks of our time. What is needed to solve it?

  • First of all, to develop the abilities of each member of society and company employee, the most favorable environment should be created, which is practically unattainable without improving living conditions in general.
  • Secondly, it is necessary to increase the competitiveness of not only human capital itself, but also those sectors of the economy that provide it socially.

Specialists who work to solve the problem of improving human resources are sociologists, economists and psychologists. Their tasks include developing issues of human capital development at three levels:

  • development of the individual (micro level);
  • development of the state as a whole (macro level);
  • development of enterprises, commercial companies (meso level).

At the state level, human capital is collected through the efforts of all members of society and is a national wealth and asset. Within each region, its own similar resource is formed, and then it is combined throughout the country.

In order to ensure the development of human capital at the regional level, the economic activities of economic entities in a given area should be improved. Next, the human resource is summarized based on the results of each enterprise in the region. Accumulated human capital ultimately determines the level of socio-economic development of the territory.

To measure human capital, adding up the number of employees is not enough. It is necessary to calculate all their abilities, knowledge, and the amount of available information. After all, it is this potential that activates production at one level or another and determines the degree of performance of the company.

Each person has personal capital; within a social group, all individual achievements are collected into subsystems with a hierarchical structure. By connecting with each other, personal capital forms social capital. If human capital for one individual plays an important role in terms of opportunities to achieve a certain quality of life, then across the entire region or country as a whole, this resource can serve as a means of achieving more global goals.

A person exists in the labor market with his own abilities, skills, and abilities. He brings income to his family and the enterprise where he works. But within the whole region it also acts as a social link. It can be called the building block of the economy of the region and the country as a whole.

An individual worker gives his abilities to the commercial or state enterprise (municipal) where he works. And such an enterprise, together with many others, creates a social or economic basis for the life of society.

Those talents and abilities that a person has are partly innate and partly acquired by him throughout his life. The task of the enterprise is to create for its employees such socio-economic conditions in which it will be easiest to increase human capital. Ultimately, all acquired knowledge will be spent for the benefit of society and will be released into the environment where the most is achieved. high quality life and the most comfortable conditions for work, development and intellectual activity.

The development of human capital is a long-term process; it can take many different forms and types, passing through all stages of the life cycle and being influenced by various social circumstances. All these factors can be divided into groups: economic, production, demographic, as well as socio-demographic, socio-economic, environmental and many others.

Human capital is formed and improved in the process of social production. The optimal environment for its development is comfortable living conditions. If a person experiences an increase in income, he has affordable and high-quality medical and educational services at his disposal, excellent cultural environment and comfortable living conditions, then the development of human capital will occur in the best possible way. Such conditions can be achieved with the help of appropriate state policies in the field of education, culture, healthcare, improvement, infrastructure, etc.

The numerical expression of the common resource can be viewed in the indicators of the human capital development index. These values ​​are directly related to the level of education, access to quality food, and healthcare. They reflect:

  • percentage of the population deprived of adequate food;
  • percentage of child mortality (under 5 years of age);
  • percentage of children completing secondary education;
  • percentage of literacy among adult citizens.

To ensure the formation and development of human capital, the state must take measures to:

  • increasing the affordability of housing, creating favorable conditions for mortgage lending, and using such financial instruments that will contribute to the development of the housing market;
  • increasing the accessibility of the consumer lending sector, increasing information openness;
  • increasing opportunities for citizens to use educational loans;
  • ensuring a high level of well-being of citizens, personal security, development of life and property insurance programs;
  • improving the conditions of additional pension insurance.

A person achieves his highest potential by overcoming a long continuous process of formation and development of human capital, which involves factors such as education, employment, and the presence of favorable conditions for improving skills and becoming an individual.

On average, the period of human capital development takes from 15 to 25 years. We take the zero level as the initial level. Each member of society begins to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities from scratch.

The process of human capital development begins in childhood, at the age of three or four. The child is provided with information with which he gets the opportunity to develop his talents, improve and increase his knowledge and skills. How successfully he studies will determine his future self-determination and the opportunity to realize himself and find application for his abilities in the employment market. But the potential given to a person from birth still plays a huge role.

The most significant period in the process of human capital development is the teenage period (13–23 years). It is impossible to form and develop human capital without regularly replenishing the arsenal of skills and abilities. If a person is not engaged in vocational training, if he has not devoted time and effort to his education, there is no need to talk about the development of human capital. The higher the level of knowledge a person has, the more he can improve the life of society. It turns out to be a continuous process. Highly qualified professionals create comfortable living conditions for humanity, contribute to the growth of production and economic advancement, enrich the national culture, thereby creating the prerequisites for the formation of even more highly developed individuals.

The development of human capital is a task that directly contributes to the growth of investments, the introduction of new technologies and increases the rate of return of employees from such investments.

  • Investments in business: step-by-step instructions for finding and attracting investors

The practitioner tells

Creating conditions for staff self-development is a strong foundation for the formation of the organization’s human capital

Marat Nagumanov,

Director of the research and production company "Packer", Oktyabrsky (Bashkortostan)

We have set ourselves the goal of achieving a leading position in the sector of self-learning companies. My firm position is that without developing a production culture and creating comfortable conditions for people to work, it is impossible to demand self-improvement from them. And comfort at work means not only the presence of comfortable furniture, a modern computer, the creation of a sufficient level of lighting, and the provision of clean and comfortable uniforms. For favorable working conditions, it is important to achieve a number of other factors.

We need a leader whose example will captivate employees. In order for the employee to receive more, the return on capital must be increased. It's not just about salary. Total income also includes social payments. In our case, these are paid sessions in the pool, fitness classes, trips to a sanatorium, lunches at the expense of the company, and high-quality medical services on the job. The more comfortable the employer creates conditions in the workplace, the more willingly people give their strength, capabilities, and abilities for the benefit of the enterprise. Moreover, they strive to improve their level in order to become more indispensable and in demand at their job. But here the figure of the leader is also of great importance. The most visible and respectable employee in the team is an example and incentive for colleagues. I won’t lie, I try to be that kind of leader myself. Employees see my determination: I often attend various lectures and conferences, thematic events, trying to improve my own competence. Following me, many employees express a desire to participate in seminars and study modern equipment in different cities and countries.

The motivation system should be aimed at improving qualifications. It is very important to create a holistic remuneration mechanism that will be transparent to the entire team. If employees understand how they can increase their salaries, they are more likely to work in this direction. At the moment, our company is planning to introduce job descriptions, which will include information about the scope of issues for which the employee is responsible, about the skills that he should have and that he should develop, and about the projects in which the employee should take part , and about the indicators that should be achieved as a result labor activity. Each instruction will be valid for a year. The increase in the employee’s salary will directly depend on compliance with its points. For example, according to an employment contract, a person has a salary of 10 thousand rubles. To increase it, you will have to acquire new skills, which will be listed in detail in the instructions. At the end of the year, management will check the level of achievement of new knowledge and skills. If the outcome is positive, the employee’s salary will be increased.

But managers should remember that any innovation brings results after a certain period of time. We are currently building new system, but we expect results no earlier than a year after its implementation. We can feel the initial dynamics already at the start. Thus, we see that an employee’s efficiency directly depends on his level of satisfaction with working conditions.

Investments in human capital development

The development of human capital, like any other asset, requires investment. Investments made for the development of human capital are certain actions carried out with one goal - to increase labor productivity. We can include the following events:

  • organizing ways to maintain health;
  • incurring expenses associated with obtaining education;
  • organization vocational training in production;
  • costs of finding a job, collecting information on prices and wages;
  • expenses associated with migration, as well as with the birth and upbringing of children.

All investments in the development of human capital are usually divided by specialists into:

  • investments in education (special or vocational training, on-the-job retraining, self-education);
  • investments in health care measures, including disease prevention, special nutrition, improving living and working conditions, as well as improving the quality of medical care;
  • investments in the migration of workers to places with more favorable working conditions.

Investments in education can be divided into formal and informal. The first type implies different kinds educational services offered by the state or organizations with the issuance of final documents confirming completion of training. This includes secondary school education, special education, higher education, including a second higher education, postgraduate studies, doctoral studies, on-the-job training, as well as advanced training courses.

Informal learning is training that does not have supporting documents, but is also capable of enriching a person with knowledge and increasing human capital. This includes reading literature, independently mastering any sciences, playing sports and art.

Equally important to improving productivity are health-related costs. By reducing the number of diseases and mortality, we increase the length of the working period, the working life of a person. In this way we prolong the validity of human capital.

Each of us understands that it is possible to improve health to a certain extent, but its quality largely depends on hereditary characteristics. It is very important for an individual, as well as for society as a whole, to invest in acquiring health throughout life. Human health is an asset that is subject to wear and tear. Investing in health can slow down the process of aging and decline.

Features of investments in human capital development are as follows:

  • Their effectiveness is directly related to the lifespan of the wearer. The more investments, the longer the working period of a person’s life. And the sooner investments begin, the sooner the return will be visible.
  • The ability to multiply and accumulate, despite the gradual tendency towards moral and physical wear and tear.
  • As human capital accumulates, it brings more and more profit, but the limit of profitability is still limited by the end of working age. As soon as a person retires or stops working for other reasons, the effectiveness of his human capital drops sharply.
  • Not all investments in increasing human well-being can be recognized as expenses for the development of human capital. For example, if costs are associated with criminal and illegal activities, it is difficult to attribute them to investments in the development of human capital due to their social harmfulness and even danger.
  • The nature of investments is determined by the characteristics of culture, nationality and historical development the society in which they take place.
  • If we compare investments in the development of human capital with other types of investments, it turns out that the former are more profitable both for the carriers of capital themselves and for society as a whole.

Sources that can carry out investment activities may be:

  • state;
  • foundations of state and non-state importance, public organizations;
  • regional associations;
  • organizations, legal entities;
  • individual entrepreneurs;
  • supranational organizations and foundations;
  • educational institutions, etc.

The state plays the most significant role among all types of sources.

But do not underestimate the importance of individual companies, organizations, and entrepreneurs. It is enterprises that are employers who have all the opportunities and conditions to engage in personnel training and development. Moreover, organizations have an information base that allows them to gain a clear understanding of the most promising areas for investment in education and training. An important factor in investing in enterprises is the net income that this type of investment brings. Once there is no profit, funding will also stop.

Ultimately, what is all this investment in personnel for? To strengthen the company's competitiveness. Consequently, the employer strives to use working time and human capital in general in the most rational way.

The practitioner tells

Self-training of personnel as a contribution to the development of human capital of the organization

Sergey Kapustin,

CEO and co-owner of the STA Logistic group of companies, Moscow

From my own experience, I know that allowing subordinates to independently control their work is simply unacceptable. Each of them, knowing that no one is checking their work, will try to rest more and work less. Many people have the same attitude towards learning: if management doesn’t force you to study, it’s better to save your energy.

As the philosopher from Ancient China Sun Tzu: “Hold with harm, move with gain.” In other words, I must interest the employee so that he actively engages in self-training.

Of course, employee education comes with additional costs. The company only spends the first two months of training on scholarships equal to the salary. Following the example of successful enterprises in other countries, we draw up employment contracts with a clause that allows us to demand reimbursement of training costs from an employee who fails the pre-employment test. This approach creates in people a sense of the value of education; we get employees who are interested in self-development. Already at the initial stage, it is easy for us to determine who is most responsible for learning.

Newly hired employees are required to undergo basic training. The learning process is not based on print lecture material. We decided that it would be much more interesting to organize the preparation in the form of watching video lectures. In total, we have about 20 courses posted on our portal. Training involves initiation into the company’s values, explanation of work technology, document flow rules, and familiarization with regulations. The courses are divided into basic, suitable for everyone, and special - for individual specialists (accountants, marketers, etc.). Each newcomer studies from 10 to 15 courses over a month and a half. Upon completion of training, the employee takes an exam in electronic form. This exam is similar to the one accepted by the traffic police.

Human Capital Development Management

We are observing a number of unfavorable factors that make us more sensitive to the issue of human capital development. These factors are:

  • reduction in the number of workers due to mortality in working age;
  • increase in the number of diseases due to healthy image life (drug addiction, smoking, alcoholism, gambling addiction);
  • progressive rates of disability;
  • loss of moral values ​​and ethical standards in labor relations;
  • the declining role of education or its obsolescence;
  • lack of opportunity to receive a modern education (lack of funds, time and effort, declining quality of education, etc.).

Human capital development is important for solving many organizational problems. Human capital needs to be managed, but it itself subsequently acts as a means of managing business profitability. It can be used to stimulate scientific and technical progress enterprises, application of new technologies, increasing efficiency. The main approaches to the use of human capital today are competent motivation systems, leadership, the right style of management, organization of activities and prioritization. When using such approaches, human capital turns into a real tool for influencing socio-economic processes.

The possibility of chaotic formation of human capital cannot be denied. But if we expect this phenomenon to develop all its positive characteristics, then the process of formation and development of human capital must be managed consciously. All over the world, there is a shift away from the personnel management paradigm; more and more enterprises are moving directly to the administration of human capital development.

Prioritization is a key point in human capital management (Schemes 1, 2). Despite the fact that the desire to maximize human life is bearing fruit, it has not yet become a priority in management. But the formation of human capital is based precisely on this desire. In order for the priority to be realized, knowledge of people's interests, the construction of a value system, the establishment of social responsibility and the availability of appropriate resources are needed. It is important to pay enough attention to working with personnel. Look at how job search advertisements are most often formulated today: “employees with experience are required” or “qualified specialists, responsible and communicative, are required.” The set of requirements is very limited. Of course, experience is important, but to reveal all the benefits of human capital, it is not enough to accumulate experience alone.

Scheme 1. The art of management.

Scheme 2. Typological characteristics of personality in integration intelligence.

Many HR specialists are currently in use psychological tests when applying for a job. They are also very helpful in personnel research. But tests do not always serve their purpose. They are not able to properly influence the formation and development of human capital.

For example, a large bank uses a 60-question test to find an employee. Vacant position – assistant. And the questions allow you to assess your general erudition and partially your knowledge of accounting. Such a test does not reveal the ability of an applicant for a position to summarize materials, nor does it even make it possible to determine the type of thinking and independence of decision-making in complex and contradictory situations. Consequently, tests are not capable of fulfilling the tasks of forming and developing human capital.

The creation of this asset occurs not only during the selection of personnel; even in the normal daily work of a manager, this process also takes place. The effectiveness of formation is determined the right choice means and methods used by the employer.

Scheme 3. Human capital management mechanism.

The most important means of forming and developing human capital:

  1. investment;
  2. stimulating the disclosure of human qualities that contribute to the increase in human capital; they are associated with obtaining an education, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and developing intellectual potential;
  3. creation of a motivating remuneration system, which involves setting wages in accordance with experience and length of service;
  4. establishing values ​​implemented in management processes;
  5. assignment of qualifications in accordance with the level of professionalism and ability to perform effectively;
  6. manifestation of human capital in the information environment; the competence factor directly depends on the provision of information, the functional content of the activity, as well as directly on the education of the employee;
  7. development of all levels of culture: general, organizational, corporate and others;
  8. proper organization of activities that contributes to the implementation of a creative approach, stimulation of educational activities, and encouragement of self-development.

What indicators exist for assessing the development of human capital in an organization?

The factors that we examined in this article affect the development of human capital as a whole. They are all interconnected and form a single system. The process of formation and development of human capital can be facilitated by organizing a monitoring system for this asset, which is created in accordance with management priorities used in the enterprise, as well as employee evaluation methods.

In most cases, enterprises use the method of calculating direct personnel costs. Direct costs include wages, taxes on employees, costs of labor protection and improvement of its conditions, as well as costs of advanced training and training of workers. It is easy to guess that the sum of all these costs is not an indicator of the accumulated amount of human capital, because, in addition to all the above activities, its carriers themselves can form capital through self-education and creativity.

Another method used is competitive assessment. The company creates optimal conditions for employees. People should strive to work for a company that offers more amenities and benefits to employees than all other competing organizations. With this technique, it is important to assess the costs and expected damage to the company when an employee leaves. It is undesirable for such investments to have turnover. It is especially important that people remain at the enterprise during a crisis, because a way out of a difficult situation is possible with the presence of human capital and even its increase, which does not at all mean recruiting new employees.

A number of enterprises use the method of prospective assessment of the value of human capital. Its essence is that the dynamics of value over a period of five, ten or even twenty years is taken into account. The method is quite effective, especially suitable for long-term major projects related to innovation. As development progresses, the value of individual employees changes. Sometimes people achieve particularly high results, and sometimes they quit, which results in major losses for the organization. These factors also need to be taken into account.

Strategic human resource management:

  • SWOT analysis;
  • action plan to realize opportunities and neutralize threats to business;
  • personnel policy;
  • personnel management models;
  • personnel indicators in the balanced scorecard.

SWOT analysis of human resources: an example

Strengths

Weak sides

  • Opportunities for career growth for employees due to company development.
  • Employees' desire for development.
  • Positive image of the company in the market.
  • High turnover of basic personnel.
  • Lack of uniform policies, procedures and rules in the field of personnel management.
  • Weak communications in the company between brands; brands and management companies.

Possibilities

Threats

  • Attracting highly qualified personnel.
  • Work with educational institutions (business schools, universities, colleges).
  • Formation of uniform policies, procedures and rules in the field of personnel management.
  • Reducing staff turnover through the introduction of adaptation systems, mentoring, apprenticeships, and prevention of layoffs.
  • Creation of a training center and the foundations of a self-learning organization.
  • An increase in the number of potential employers means an outflow of qualified personnel (including to competitors).
  • Increased demand and limited supply in the market for qualified personnel (demographic situation).
  • An increase in market wages means an increase in personnel costs.

How effectively an organization uses human resources can be judged by the following key indicators:

  1. the employee’s contribution to the organization’s performance (to making a profit per employee, to achieving a certain share of sales, the level of gross margin);
  2. employee expenses; for assessment, the ratio of human resource costs to total costs, as well as costs per employee, is calculated;
  3. the state of human resources (level of education, competence, as well as the level of staff turnover, etc.);
  4. staff involvement (it reflects the degree of employee satisfaction with the conditions provided).
  • How a leader can earn authority in a team: 9 qualities

Problems of human capital development in Russia

If we consider human capital in general, we can consider it the engine of the economy, a factor in the development of the institution of family and society as a whole. It consists of able-bodied people with education, as well as tools of intellectual and managerial work located in a certain habitat and performing a labor function. If there is human capital, a country can maintain a certain level in the global economy, ensuring competitiveness in the markets. This is of particular importance in the context of globalization, and is also an indicator of the activities of government authorities.

Human capital has value in itself, but its quality becomes increasingly important in a competitive environment. How to evaluate quality? To do this, it is necessary to determine the level of literacy and education, as well as life expectancy of the population, standard of living and the state of medical care. To this it is worth adding the GDP per capita indicator. All these elements are combined into a formula for calculating the Human Capital Development Index (HDI). About 25 years ago, out of 187 countries in the world, Russia ranked 23rd on the list, and according to the results of a 2013 study, our country was in 55th place. This is an inevitable regression, which can be explained by a decrease in investment in such areas as education, culture, science and human health.

It is important not only to develop the professional qualities of specialists. In the development of human capital, it is necessary to engage in the formation new culture behavior of citizens, and this process should begin from a very early age. The development of culture continues throughout life, no matter where a person works - in the civil service or in the private sector of the economy. These tasks were formulated for themselves by the participants of the Open Government session “Human capital is the main asset of the economy”, held as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Minister Russian Federation on Open Government issues, Mikhail Abyzov said that today in our country there is no system of personal development that meets modern requirements, and without it it is impossible to talk about more or less high positions in the list of economically successful states. The Soviet Union had such a system, but it no longer corresponds to reality. We need to look to the future and develop new mechanisms. Nowadays, everything is not as successful with school education as we would like; children do not develop the qualities of leaders. According to statistics, 70% of schools in the Russian Federation are rural, more than 40% of teachers work in them and at least 25% of them do not have higher education. But we simply don’t have the tools to develop leadership.

Chaotic development of human capital does not imply quality result. This system requires configuration and management so that the person's skills are adequate to the requirements modern world. In our country, the ability to organize the development of human capital has been lost. If we previously had a planned economy, it had its own principles of adjustment - they were based on a system of priorities for economic growth. Man was seen as a means for economic development. But in new reality the system does not exist at all.

Instead of developing human capital, there is an increase in ambition. What do we see these days? People with higher education work in unskilled positions (salespeople, secretaries). More and more young professionals are experiencing problems finding a job. Moving to other regions is also difficult.

It is planned to develop an electronic system that will allow an employer to select a graduate of an educational institution who meets the parameters necessary to occupy a specific position. You will not have to select based on your resume; you will only need to evaluate the student’s academic performance and his scientific and social activities.

In human capital development, basic education is important, but it is neither rare nor in short supply now. Nowadays, it is much more important that a person has leadership qualities. It is not ordinary performers, but leaders who help the company achieve success. That is why the main focus now is on developing leaders. In particular, the Open Government conducts training seminars for members of the Government of the Russian Federation at the Sberbank Corporate University.

The development of science and technology shows that the main engine of the economy is human capital. GDP growth should be invested precisely in human development, in improving the quality of his life, in caring for health, and then we can hope for a transition to an innovative economy and a knowledge economy.

Let us recall the words of Nobel Prize laureate in economics Simon Kuznets, written in 1934: “For a scientific and technological breakthrough in the country, the necessary starting human capital must be created (accumulated). Otherwise, a false start occurs.”

State funds should be directed not only to the fight against corruption, but also to finance science, healthcare, education, as well as the protection of motherhood and childhood.

Table 1. Age structure of the population and dependency load

Age groups of the population, thousand people.

2002 (census)

2007

2010

2020***

2030***

Younger than able-bodied

In able-bodied

Older than able-bodied

Whole population

Younger than able-bodied

In able-bodied

Older than able-bodied

Whole population

*Men aged 16–59 years + women aged 16–54 years

**For every 1000 people of working age there are disabled people (children + pensioners)

*** 2020 and 2030 – Rosstat forecast.

Information about the experts

Marat Nagumanov, director of the research and production company "Packer", Oktyabrsky (Bashkortostan). NPF Packer LLC. Scope of activity: design, production and maintenance of packer-anchor equipment and well assemblies for operation, intensification and overhaul of oil and gas wells. Territory: head office – in Oktyabrsky (Bashkortostan); service centers and representative offices - in Muravlenko (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), Nizhnevartovsk and Nyagan (KhMAO - Yugra), Ufa, Buzuluk (Orenburg Region), Almetyevsk and Leninogorsk (Tatarstan), Izhevsk. Number of staff: more than 700. Subscriber to the General Director magazine: since 2007.

Sergey Kapustin Graduated from the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute (now – Belarusian National Technical University). Since 1995 - co-owner and general director of the logistics company AsstrA. Since 2003 - in current position. GC "STA Logistics" Field of activity: transport logistics. Territory: Russian head office - in Moscow, branch - in St. Petersburg; representative offices in Minsk and Vilnius. Number of personnel: 165. Annual turnover: 32 million euros (in 2012).

At the present stage, the economy in developed countries has become technotronic, which is reflected in the unity “man – computer – automated means of production”. That is why socio-economic development in the second half of the last century and at the beginning of the current one is characterized by the growing role of the human factor. In such conditions, a person, who is the main productive force, must be armed with the means of production and knowledge, that is, be sufficiently educated. Information support is a known method of transmission and helps a person to implement appropriate labor actions, but does not execute them instead. Currently, intellectual work that generates knowledge is becoming increasingly valuable. That is why in modern economy human resources play a decisive role in achieving competitive advantages and ensuring quality parameters of economic growth.

Building your intellectual edge is the key to success. In the current economic conditions, the development of the intellectual factor is more effective than, for example, capital-intensive improvement of the organization of the use of various outdated technologies. According to Peter Drucker, “no matter what material resources a system has, they do not multiply on their own. Both the state and the company are developed by the energy and intelligence of the people who make them up.”

Nowadays, an enterprise's labor resources are increasingly viewed as human capital. It should be noted that the concepts of “labor resources” and “human capital” are not synonymous. Labor resources can be transformed into capital, but for this it is necessary to create conditions that provide the opportunity to realize human potential in the results of the organization's activities. That is, if a person is engaged in social production, and labor resources bring real income and create wealth, then they can be called capital.
The effectiveness of the development of an enterprise and the economy of states as a whole largely depends on how much money and at what point in time it is allocated to the development of human capital. This type of investment brings a significant economic and social effect in terms of volume, long-term and integral in nature, therefore it is the most profitable from the point of view of the individual, the enterprise and the entire society as a whole. Thus, in the USA, according to some estimates, part of the investment in human capital is more than 15% of GDP, which exceeds gross investment in houses, equipment and warehouses.

According to the website auditfin.com, in developed countries, 60% of the increase in national income is due to the increase in knowledge and education of society. American scientists have calculated the amount of GDP produced by workers with a duration of education of 10.5; 12.5 and more than 14 years: it turned out that it is the third group (with more than 14 years of education) that accounts for over half of GDP. Similar studies were carried out in Russia several years ago. According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the results were similar: people with higher education, making up a quarter of the workforce, produced 56% of the value of national income.

Currently, the problem of the formation, development and use of human capital is receiving considerable attention. Ukrainian scientists such as E.A. Grishnova, A.M. Kolot, V.N. Petyukh, V.M. Danyuk, V.I. Kutsenko, G.I. Evtushenko, T.I. Shparaga, Ya.M. Dutkevich, V.P. Antonyuk, I.N. Lashchenko, Yu.B. Skazhenik, A.V. Lokhmach and many others explore the essence of human capital and the specifics of its formation in Ukraine.

The emergence of the theory of human capital is associated with the scientific works of William Patty, Adam Smith, and Alfred Marshall. The final formation of the theory of human capital dates back to the 50-60s. XX century. The theoretical framework was formulated by American economist Theodore Schultz, and the basic theoretical model was developed by Gary Becker. Becker was the first to carry out a statistically objective calculation of the economic efficiency of the education process, defining the return on investment in education as the ratio of income to expenses. According to G. Becker's estimates, the efficiency is 12-14% of annual profit.

According to the author, to determine income from higher education, it is necessary to compare the income of individuals who graduated from college and those who graduated only from high school. At the same time, it is possible to include in the costs of study, along with direct expenses, the income lost by students during their years of study, which is measured by the value of the time they spent on studying. Despite the presence of a large number of opponents, the theory of human capital is one of the main ones in the field of research devoted to human resources.

One of the controversial issues remains the formation of human capital. The definition of which is an important aspect in considering the entire system of human capital restoration. The formation of human capital needs to be studied as a process of searching, renewing and improving high-quality productive characteristics of a person with which he acts in social production. The factors on which the formation of human capital depends can be combined into the following groups: socio-demographic, institutional, integration, socio-mental, environmental, economic, production, demographic, socio-economic (Fig. 1).

Fig.1: Groups of factors that form human capital

From this we can conclude that the category of human capital is a complex structurally systemic object of socio-economic research. O.A. Grishnova believes that human capital is an economic category that characterizes the totality of productive abilities, personal traits and motivations of individuals formed and developed as a result of investments, which are in their ownership and are used in economic activity, contribute to the growth of labor productivity and thereby influence the growth of income (earnings) of their owner and national income.

Thus, human capital should be considered at the national, regional, industry levels, as well as at the level of the enterprise and the individual. At the macroeconomic level, human capital includes the contribution of the region, country to the level of education, professional training and competence, health, and so on. This level consists of the aggregate human capital of the entire population of a region or country. At the enterprise level, human capital represents the combined skills and productive abilities of all its employees. At the individual level, human capital is the knowledge, skills, accumulated experience and other production characteristics acquired by a person in the process of study, professional training, and practical experience with the help of which he can earn income.
American scientist J. Kendrick distinguishes between tangible and intangible forms of human capital. To material capital embodied in people, he includes expenses necessary for the physical formation of a person, that is, expenses for raising children (excluding expenses for their education). J. Kendrick considers intangible human capital the accumulated expenses for general education and special training, part of the accumulated expenses for health care and the costs of moving labor. He believes that the concept of “human capital” reflects not only a quantitative assessment of qualifications and educational potential, but also expands the boundaries of the concept of “capital”, reflecting all workers in the role of entrepreneurs who have property that generates profit. In this interpretation, each employee who has a certain, growing level of education and practical experience becomes the owner of “individual capital,” investments in which increase his future income. With this approach, the fundamental line between social classes is erased, leaving only differences in the scale of entrepreneurial property, and not in the lack of it among workers. In this case, the role of entrepreneurship is constantly decreasing, and employees become the owners of an increasingly larger part of the capital.

MM. Kritsky believes that human capital is realized as an enrichment of human life and society, based on saving direct labor. The basic law of movement of human capital expresses the unity of saving labor and enriching this life activity. Human capital is the self-enrichment of people’s life activities, which is realized in the quality of their life.

Understanding human capital as a set of socially expedient production knowledge, skills, and abilities provides the basis for the following important generalizations:

  • human capital is a combination of natural abilities and human energy with acquired general educational and professional knowledge. Such unification occurs in the process of forming human capital through all types of acquisition of new knowledge based on certain investments;
  • human capital should be considered at three levels: macroeconomic, enterprise level and individual level;
  • human capital is divided into tangible and intangible forms. The tangible form of human capital is the costs of the physical formation of a person, and the intangible form includes expenses for education, health care and the movement of labor.

There is no unity in the views of researchers on the problem of the relationship between human and physical capital. One of the main problems of the present time is the distinction between the concepts of “human capital” and “labor force”. Some consider these two concepts to be synonymous, others give definitions that are similar in content. According to O.F. Liskov, in order to form a labor force - a product that is put up for sale, an individual must select the necessary elements of human capital included in the labor force, that is, the labor force consists of some necessary elements of human capital.

Most of these features of physical and human capital, formulated by S.A. Woodpecker, fair:

  • human capital takes the form of variable capital and interacts with physical capital as part of total productive capital;
  • both capitals must correspond to each other, that is, complex and expensive equipment must be managed by highly qualified specialists, who in turn are highly paid;
  • the formation of both requires significant expenses and diversion of funds from current consumption;
  • investments in both physical and human capital can lead to accumulation;
  • human and physical capital have a monetary value.

There are a number of other analogies between human and physical capital. For example, both bring income to the owner, both are integral components of economic growth. Investment decisions and their consequences are analyzed in the same way for both physical and human capital.

Russian economist A.F. Lyskov notes that the most important property human capital is its dynamic nature. Elements are constantly added to human capital under the influence of certain circumstances, and the value of existing ones decreases, increases or is completely removed. This is how the value of human capital itself changes. Often, only the positive dynamics of human capital are considered, but negative dynamics also have an impact on the production process and the success of the enterprise as a whole. Another feature of human capital is the nature of the risk that an entrepreneur assumes when purchasing labor.

Other Russian scientists believe that human capital has double character. In a broad sense, it should be considered as a socio-economic form of the existing quality of human potential on the scale of a particular society. In a narrow sense, this is that part of it that is productively used by entrepreneurs to make a profit and bears the signs of K. Marx’s variable capital. The theory of human capital divides it into two types: general and specific. The total capital consists of the general training of the employee, allowing him to work in different profiles at many enterprises, paid for by himself. Specific capital is training directly related to the activities of a particular enterprise and paid for by it.

When an employee is released, both parties suffer losses: the company has wasted money on training, and the employee will not be able to transfer the acquired knowledge to another organization. It is important for an employee to remain at the enterprise, since when changing jobs he will have to master specific training from scratch. The enterprise, in turn, clings to the employee, because there is no such specific resource on the labor market. A striking example specific human capital are workers in knowledge-intensive industries, such as nuclear and aircraft manufacturing. Therefore, the closure of such an industry leads to a depreciation of specific human capital.

Human capital is also classified according to its forms:

  • living capital contains knowledge and health embodied in a person;
  • inanimate capital, which is created in cases where knowledge is translated into physical and material forms;
  • institutional capital is the institutions that contribute to effective use all types of human capital.

Human capital, being part of total capital, represents the accumulated costs of general education, special training, healthcare, and movement of labor.

There is a classification by type of expenses and investments in human capital. I.V. Ilyinsky identifies a classification according to the types of expenses and investments in human capital, divided into the following components: education capital, health capital and cultural capital. Health capital is an investment in a person made with the aim of forming, supporting, improving and strengthening his health and performance. It is the basis for human capital in general. Educational capital consists of expenses for a person’s education, starting with general secondary education and continuing with studies during working life. Cultural capital includes expenses for constant increase cultural level person.

There are two types of capital based on the form of consumption:

  • consumer – created by the flow of services consumed directly (creative and educational activities);
  • productive, consumption that contributes to social utility (the creation of means of production, technologies, productive services and products).

It is also worth keeping in mind that in the theory of human capital, the concept of “capital” is interpreted differently than in the methodology of K. Marx, who wrote that “capital is not a thing, but a certain, social, belonging to a certain historical formation society is a production relation that is represented in a thing and gives this thing a specific social character.” In Marxist theory, this concept is considered based on social class positions, as relations of ownership and control over the means of production. In classical English political economy, the concept of capital combined two aspects: firstly, control over the factors of production and, secondly, the right to receive future income. Neoclassical theory connects the concept of capital with the ability to generate income.

The connection between human capital and capital can be traced through the concepts of labor and variable capital, which is directed by the entrepreneur to acquire labor. Labor force is that part of human capital that an individual is willing to sell to an entrepreneur in order to receive from the latter the means of subsistence for himself and his family in the form of wages. K. Marx believed that “becoming a commodity, labor power, like any other commodity, has two properties: value and use value.” The first is interesting for the worker, because this is the price of labor power, which is equal to the amount of his wages. The second is of interest to the employer, since it is through the productive consumption of labor that added value is created, which is appropriated by the entrepreneur.
Proponents of the theory of human capital use the example of obtaining an education to justify the growing cost of capital: if an increase in the educational level of an employee entails additional earnings that exceed the cost of training, then the cost of education is characterized as an investment in human capital. Critics of the theory of human capital believe that there is no self-growing value, that is, capital. This is justified by the fact that a necessary condition for increasing the cost of qualifications is the work of the employee himself; it does not increase on its own.

Currently, the role of science and education is growing, and the importance of intellectual activity in all spheres of production is increasing. Intellectual work, which is the activity of people in the production, assimilation and practical application of knowledge, has acquired a dominant position. This process manifests itself in two ways: the role of such industries is growing social sphere like education and science; The importance of intellectual activity within other sectors of the national economy is increasing. These trends contribute to the formation and improvement of the educational, professional, scientific, spiritual potential of society and are the most important factors of socio-economic progress. At the beginning of the 20th century, according to A. Marshall, the number of manual workers was five times greater than the number of intellectual workers. Now in developed countries more than 60% of the economically active population is engaged in mental work, and in the USA - 75%.
Very convincing factual data on the dramatic shifts in the proportions of capital investments that have occurred over the past centuries are cited in the article by V. Shchetinin “Human capital and the ambiguity of its interpretation.” If in the XVII–XVIII centuries. in the total mass of capital, the share of human capital did not exceed 10%, then by 1913 it rose to almost 33%. But these proportions changed dramatically in the second half of the 20th century. and especially over the last two decades due to the information revolution. In Western countries, the share of accumulated investments in human capital in the total fund of their capitalized development expenditures rose, according to minimal estimates, to 56-57% in 1973 and 67-69% (in the USA to 74-76%) in 1997–1998 gg. (Table 1) .

Table 1 - Change in the structure of total capital in Western countries%.

The undoubted merit of human capital theorists is the recognition of the primary role of man in social production. This is due to the strengthening role of education, which is becoming the main resource and source of the formation of a highly developed workforce. It should be noted that domestic enterprises currently have at their disposal a fairly high potential of human capital. In 2002, 25.5% of all Ukrainian workers graduated from universities of I-II accreditation levels, another 22.6% from universities of III-IV accreditation levels; in industry, the share of such workers was 25 and 15.1%, respectively.
The theory of human capital can be used as an analytical tool in identifying the economic efficiency of education. Proponents of this theory clearly defined its individual economic effect for an individual. The main result of the economic return of education is the increase in employee income due to an increase in his educational and professional level. Human capital theorists argue that differences in earnings reflect differences in labor productivity. Income from education is calculated as the difference in lifetime earnings of those with unequal education. Education expenses, in addition to direct expenses, also include lost income. This is the potential earnings that a person could get if he worked rather than studied.

The theory of human capital has gained significant public dissemination and recognition in world scientific thought. Constantly held Scientific research and many scientific publications are published on these issues. Unfortunately, today issues related to the study of the problems of forming, preserving and increasing the efficiency of use of human capital in Ukraine are among the most unexplored in the general structure of economic science.

Currently, there is a need for a comprehensive learning strategy throughout a person’s life, consisting of studying in early childhood, primary education, improved learning-to-work transitions with closer links between education and the labor market, and effective learning systems that provide lifelong learning opportunities. However, in order for this to become feasible, constant investments in human capital are required, both at the individual level and at the level of the enterprise and the state.

Dividing investments in human capital at the individual, enterprise and state levels is also advisable due to the fact that the degree of underinvestment at these levels is different. By nature, man is, on the one hand, a physical being, and on the other hand, a social being. Because of this, he acts as a bearer of both certain natural individual abilities and talents that he possesses from birth and which nature has endowed him with, as well as accumulated knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired in the process of social life and through the expenditure of certain physical, material and financial resources.

Natural human abilities and acquired social qualities are similar in their economic role to natural resources and physical capital. This is manifested in the fact that in its original state, a person, like natural resources, does not bring any economic effect. But after certain expenses and preparation are made, individual human capital and a set of individual competencies are formed, which can subsequently potentially generate income, like physical capital.
Individual human capital will generate income only if a person has the opportunity to employ himself in social production by organizing his own activities or selling his labor to an entrepreneur. This is what justifies the feasibility of using individual human capital. To transform individual human capital into productive capital, conditions must be determined that would ensure the realization of human potential in the results of its activities.
Getting an education and starting work is the initial stage in the formation of individual human capital. The next stage is longer. It is based on acquisition professional qualifications and life experience. Human capital represents intangible durable goods that are accumulated and realized as a result of people's production activities over time. The most important feature of capital is that it is itself a product of production. Human capital as a product of production represents knowledge, skills and abilities accumulated in the process of training and work. Human capital, like any other, can accumulate. The accumulation of human capital begins with preschool education and continues throughout all social activities.

The main tool for the formation of human capital, both at the individual level and at the enterprise and state levels, is investing in people. Investments in human capital are all types of investments in a person that can be valued in monetary or other form and are expedient in nature, that is, they contribute to increased labor productivity and increased income at all three levels. Current expenses are carried out with the expectation that they will be repeatedly compensated by higher levels of income in the future.

Of all types of investments in human capital, the most important are investments in health and education, as well as in ongoing vocational training. Health care spending, which includes health care, lifestyle improvements, and others, creates conditions for improving the quality and efficiency of human capital use. The peculiarity of such investments is that they contribute to a better perception of knowledge, skills and abilities and, accordingly, contribute to increasing human productivity. General and professional education, in turn, improves the quality and level of human knowledge, and, consequently, improves the quality of human capital as a whole.

In comparison with investments in other forms of capital, investments in human capital are the most profitable from the point of view of both the individual and the entire society as a whole, since they bring a fairly significant economic and social effect in terms of volume, long-term and integral in nature.

Investment is an important prerequisite for the formation of human capital, but is not yet development. The development of human capital occurs both in the process of initial investments and subsequent investments that occur in the process practical activities person. That is, the development of human capital is the process of creating a person’s productive abilities through investments in specific processes of his activity.

It should be especially noted that personal motivation is a very important and necessary condition for the process of human capital circulation (Fig. 2) to be completed. Thanks to this process, there is a qualitative renewal of human capital through the emergence of new needs of the market for the production of goods, which are constantly growing and require new competencies and in which an increase in the level of knowledge and practical skills of people is accompanied by the development of opportunities for their practical implementation. Due to this, individual incomes increase and the country's national income grows.

Effective career management involves having the necessary information about what happens to employees at different stages of their careers. To do this, the enterprise can conduct special research, the results of which are presented in the form of a career chart, which makes it possible to track the employee’s work history.

Each stage of an employee’s working career is connected not only to the level of the position, but also to a certain stage in life. Scientists distinguish the following stages of a working career: previous, formation, promotion, retention, completion and retirement.

The previous stage (up to 25 years) is associated with obtaining secondary or higher education or a profession. During this period, a person can change several types of activities in search of the most suitable one that would satisfy all his needs. If such an activity is defined, the process of self-affirmation of the employee as an individual begins.

Formation (25-30 years) is the period of mastering the acquired profession, acquiring experience and skills. At this stage, qualifications are formed, the need for independence arises, a family is created, which stimulates the employee to increase income.

Promotion stage (30-45 years). During this period, the process of growth and promotion occurs, the process of self-expression begins, the need for self-affirmation, achievement of higher status and level of remuneration grows.

The conservation stage (45-60 years) is characterized by actions to consolidate the achieved results; highest level improvement of qualifications, knowledge, skills, experience, craftsmanship, the beginning of respect, the need for self-expression is growing. A person reaches the heights of independence and self-affirmation.

The final stage (60-65 years) is the search for a replacement, transfer of knowledge and skills to young people, preparation for retirement. Self-expression stabilizes, respect grows, and interest in other sources of income intensifies.

Pension stage (after 65 years) - retirement, preparation and conduct of a new type of activity, self-expression in a new field of activity, stabilization of respect, health care, pension amount.

Let's analyze the stages of the working career of an employee of our enterprise, table. 2.

Table 2 – Career of the head of the financial and economic department of our enterprise

date of receipt

Working hours

Job title

Age, years

Company name

2 months, 1 day

Car mechanic

Donetsk section of transport mechanization "Donbassantekhmontazh"

4 years, 11 months

Donetsk Polytechnic Institute

1 month 8 days

Miner's Apprentice

Mine management named after newspapers "Socialist Donbass"

Miner's Apprentice

Mine named after A.B. Batova

Passenger 5th category

Mine named after A.B. Batova

5 months, 13 days

Loan officer

Donetsk branch of Joint Stock Bank "INKO"

And about. Head of Economic Analysis Department

Donetsk branch of Joint Stock Bank "INKO"

8 months, 20 days

Head of Consolidated Economic Reporting Department

Donetsk branch of Joint Stock Bank "INKO"

5 months, 11 days

Economist-Head of Credit Department

CB "Privatbank"

Lead Economist

CB "Privatbank"

1 year, 9 months, 18 days.

Head of Correspondent Relations Department

CB "Privatbank"

1 year, 3 months, 17 days.

Legal Advisor

JSC "Valentin"

2 years, 7 months, 5 days.

Head of Natural Gas Supply Department

JSC "Valentin"

4 months, 18 days

And about. Director of Economics

State enterprise "Luganskugol"

1 month, 28 days

Director of Economics and Marketing

Association "Ukrogneupor"

1 year, 5 months, 10 days.

Deputy Director for Economics

State Enterprise "Donteplomash"

2 years, 9 months, 17 days.

Head of Financial Department

Our enterprise

1 year, 9 months

Head of Financial and Economic Department

Our enterprise

A career chart is a career management tool that is a graphical description of what should happen or is happening to people at different stages of their career.

Based work book employee of our enterprise, it was established that his work career is a “springboard” model within a certain enterprise. Figure 3 allows us to conclude that the main reason for demotion at certain stages of employment is the transfer to other enterprises.

The period of a working career is the first before the start of university studies and the employment of low-paid professions is determined by the young age of the worker, industrial adaptation, secondary education and insufficient knowledge and skills at work. Work in such positions as a miner's apprentice, a 5th grade tunneler is due to training at the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute and practical training for workers. The position of acting head of the economic analysis department, which the employee held from the age of 23, characterizes the beginning of self-affirmation and the process of completing production adaptation. Since the employee holds the position of head of the financial and economic department at the age of 38, one can judge that this is not yet the maximum possible level of his professional development. Until the age of 45, he has the opportunity to rise to the position of director through the ranks.

As Fig. 4, the employee whose career we are analyzing, before taking the position of head of the financial and economic department of our enterprise, changed several positions and enterprises. Ukrainian scientists propose an indicator to reflect promotions received by an employee within a particular enterprise. Due to the fact that the number of promotions in itself does not indicate anything, it is worth correlating it with the time during which the person works. We get the following expression for this indicator:

where P is an indicator of the rate of promotions that the employee received;
m – the number of promotions that the employee received at the enterprise;
t – time during which the employee is engaged in labor activity for this enterprise, years.

Consequently, the employee whose career is being analyzed changed eleven companies during his career. At some he did not receive a single promotion, therefore the indicator for other enterprises should be calculated using the above formula (Table 3).

Table 3 - Calculation of the rate of increases that the employee received

Thus, calculations indicate that the most effective career in terms of the speed of advancement of a given employee is observed at the enterprise Donetsk branch of the INKO Joint Stock Bank, where the calculated rate of increase is the highest in comparison with others and is equal to 1.28. However, the figure indicates that from the point of view of the achieved social status of the Director of Economics and Marketing, and, consequently, the level of wages, a career at the Ukrogneupor Association is more effective. Therefore, when calculating the effectiveness of a career, it is necessary to take into account various factors, such as the level of wages, the social status of the employee, one’s own life value orientations employee, his worldview. This is due to the fact that the employee compares his career not only with career advancement, but also with life goals for the future.

Professional training of employees is a multifunctional process that affects all components of the enterprise. The following directly depend on the scale, progress and results of training:

  • current and future performance of the enterprise;
  • current and future expenses associated with the activities of the enterprise;
  • the level of risk of incompetent actions of personnel during the operation of the enterprise.

The result of the vocational training system is not unambiguous, therefore it is necessary to assess the economic efficiency of vocational training of workers. Possible goals for calculating the economic efficiency of the vocational training process are:

  • determining the optimal amount of training costs as part of total production costs;
  • making decisions regarding forms and methods of training;
  • comparison different options technologies and tools for training;
  • comparison of the economic efficiency of training with the economic efficiency of other possible investments of the enterprise’s funds, which provide a commensurate increase in the efficiency of the main production.

The economic efficiency of any vocational training activities can be determined by the ratio between indicators that describe the results of the enterprise's activities after the start of the activities, and indicators characterizing the total costs associated with the activities of the enterprise for the same period.

In practice, cost indicators when assessing economic efficiency are selected so that they can be summed up, that is, reduced to one point in time and adjusted for the share of the analyzed event in total costs. In this case, the indicator of the economic efficiency of an event is the difference between the amount of its contribution to the increase in the result of the enterprise’s activities and the amount of expenses. The economic efficiency of vocational training is determined by the ratio between the total costs of organizing and conducting educational process and financial results of training, expressed by an increase in the results of the enterprise’s activities, an increase in its potential, a reduction in the costs of ensuring the functioning of the enterprise, and a reduction in the level of risk of its functioning.

The connection between the training process and changes in enterprise performance indicators is expressed by a number of factors that reflect changes in motivation, functional behavior and social relationships of employees who have undergone training. The results of implementing a personnel training system may include:

  • increase in the volume of services provided as a result of meeting the additional need for workers in the professional and qualification areas;
  • reducing the cost of work performed;
  • improving the quality of services provided;
  • reducing the level of staff turnover as a result of professional training of personnel;
  • the effect of the introduction of inventions and rationalization proposals of employees who have been trained according to the training program;
  • increasing the speed of work of trained employees;
  • reducing the duration of analysis and assessment of the situation;
  • broadening one's horizons, increasing the number of options considered when making decisions by managers and specialists, which affects the optimality of decisions made;
  • reduction of losses from inaccurate assessment of the situation and incorrect actions of employees, which is associated with the consolidation in the learning process of skills for more competent management of technical systems;
  • preventing losses from the unforeseen occurrence of undesirable events and situations, limiting the spread of so-called “chains of undesirable developments of events”;
  • reducing the likelihood of accidents and equipment breakdowns, threats to human life and health;
  • strengthening the corporate consciousness of employees, bringing together the personal interests of employees with the interests of the enterprise;
  • exchange of information between employees of different enterprises who undergo training together, dissemination best practices and other innovations;
  • increasing the likelihood of coordinated awareness joint activities and decision making.

Improving the quality of work can be assessed:

  • a decrease in the number of erroneous actions of one employee throughout the year associated with training results;
  • expenses to eliminate the consequences of the employee’s erroneous actions.

An increase in the number of action options is assessed by a change in the number of action options per employee, which is associated with the completion of training and the average contribution from the implementation of each option to the result (income) of the training system.

The overall effect of all groups of factors is measured by the increase in the result of the enterprise’s activities (income).

Thus, the economic efficiency of professional training for our company’s personnel was assessed using the net present value method.
The discounting method is used to reduce income and expenses to one moment of labor. Calculation of income from investments in human capital involves their progressive discounting and comparison with current expenses. Because income received in the future always has less value for people compared to those received today.

Net present value is considered a criterion for the feasibility of an investment project in human capital and is calculated using the formula:

where NPV is the net present value of human capital, UAH;
Bt – income from investments in human capital in period t, thousand UAH;
Сt – amount of expenses in period t, thousand UAH;
n – number of periods;
i – interest rate index, or discount rate.

An investment in human capital is profitable if the net present value of capital is greater than or equal to zero. If NPV=0, the investor only recovers his expenses. The higher the net present value of human capital relative to zero, the more efficient the investment.

Let's consider investments in human capital that were made by our enterprise in 2007 and 2008 and planned for 2009 (Table 4).

Table 4 – Indicators of economic efficiency of professional training of personnel of our enterprise for 2007-2009.

Index

Study expenses, thousand UAH.

Duration of influence of study on the economic results of the enterprise, years

Income from investments in studies in the first year, thousand UAH.

Income from investments in studies in the second year, thousand UAH.

Income from investments in studies in the third year, thousand UAH.

Discount rate %

Discount on cost, thousand UAH.

The difficulty of applying this method in practice is the choice of interest level - the discount factor. In a market economy, this value is determined based on the deposit interest on deposits. In practice, it is accepted above this value due to inflation and the risk associated with investments.

In our case, the discount rate was 10%, which is considered fair for equity. Consequently, we will trace the dependence of the value of the net present value on the size of the established interest rate. To do this, we will calculate the net present value for different values ​​of the discount rate, table. 5 .

Table 5 - The cost of human capital and the interest rate of our enterprise in 2007 and 2008.

Based on the calculations given in Table 5, a graph of the dependence of net present value on the discount rate was constructed, Fig. 5.

Therefore, as the graph shows, investment projects in the human capital of our enterprise, which were implemented in 2007 and 2008 and planned for 2009, are minimally profitable at a discount rate of 90%, that is, at such a rate percent, the efficiency of projects reaches a limit and the company only recovers its costs from personnel training. Under conditions, if the discount rate exceeds 90%, it would be advisable to abandon investment projects in vocational training.

By summarizing the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:

  1. Human capital is a combination of natural abilities, acquired knowledge, skills, abilities in the process of production activities, as well as mobility, motivation and physical condition of a person. In other words, human capital is a set of competencies that is expediently used by a person in one or another sphere of social reproduction and contributes to the growth of labor productivity and production efficiency.
  2. The development of human capital occurs throughout the entire social activity of a person through constant investment both at the individual level and at the level of the enterprise and the state.
  3. Investments in human capital are the most profitable compared to other forms of capital, since they bring a fairly significant and long-lasting economic and social effect.

Literature

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  • Personnel policy, Corporate culture

10.1 The emergence and development of the theory of human capital

10.2 Concept of human capital

10.3 Human capital assessment

10.4 Motivation and its impact on the formation of human capital

10.1 The emergence and development of the theory of human capital

Elements of the theory of human capital have existed since ancient times, when the first knowledge and education system were formed. The first attempt to evaluate human capital was made by one of the founders of Western political economy, U. Petit, in his work “Political Arithmetic” (1690). He noted that the wealth of society depends on the nature of people's activities, distinguishing between useless activities and activities that improve people's skills and dispose them to one or another type of activity, which in itself is of great importance. V. Petty also saw great benefits in public education. His point of view was that “schools and universities should be so organized as to prevent the ambitions of privileged parents from swamping these institutions with dullards, and so that the truly able may be selected as pupils.

A. Smith, in his “Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” (1776), considered the productive qualities of a worker as the main engine of economic progress. A. Smith wrote that increasing the productivity of useful labor depends entirely on increasing the dexterity and skill of the worker, and then on improving the machines and tools with which he worked. A. Smith believed that fixed capital consists of machines and other instruments of labor, buildings, land, and the acquired and useful abilities of all residents and members of society. He drew attention to the fact that the acquisition of such abilities, including also the maintenance of their owner during his upbringing, training or apprenticeship, always requires real costs, which represent fixed capital, as if realized in his personality. The main idea of ​​his research, which is one of the key ones in the theory of human capital, is that costs associated with productive investments in people contribute to increased productivity and are recovered along with profits.

At the end of the XIX – XX centuries. such economists as J. McCulloch, J.B. Say, J. Mill, N. Senior, believed that the ability to work acquired by a person should be considered as capital in its “human” form. Thus, back in 1870, J.R. McCulloch clearly defined man as capital. In his opinion, instead of capital being understood as a part of the production of industry, unnatural to man, which could be made useful to support it and contribute to production, there does not seem to be any justifiable reason why man himself should not be considered as such, and there are many reasons why it can be considered as a formable part of the national wealth.

An important contribution to understanding this problem was made by Zh.B. Say. He argued that professional skills and abilities acquired through expenditure lead to increased productivity and can therefore be considered capital. Assuming that human abilities can accumulate, Zh.B. Say called them capital.

John Stuart Mill wrote: “Man himself... I do not regard as wealth. But his acquired abilities, which exist only as a means and are generated by labor, with good reason, I believe, fall into this category. And further: “The skill, energy and perseverance of the workers of a country are considered as much its wealth as their tools and machines.”

The founder of the neoclassical direction in economic theory, A. Marshall (1842-1924), in his scientific work “Principles of Economic Science” (1890), drew attention to the fact that “the motives that encourage a person to accumulate personal capital in the form of investments in education are similar to those that encourage the accumulation of material capital.”

At the end of the 30s. XX century Nassau Senior assumed that a person could be successfully treated as capital. In most of his discussions on this topic, he took skill and acquired abilities in this capacity, but not the person himself. Nevertheless, he treated the person himself as capital with maintenance costs invested in the person with the expectation of receiving benefits in the future. Apart from the terminology used by the author, his reasoning very closely echoes the theory of the reproduction of labor force by K. Marx. The key component of the definition of the concept of “labor power” for Marx and the theorists of human capital is the same component - human abilities. K. Marx repeatedly spoke about their development and overall effectiveness, emphasizing the need for the development of the “individual”.

Scientific research by the classics of world economic thought and the development of the practice of market economy allowed the theory of human capital to form into an independent section of economic analysis at the turn of the 50-60s of the 20th century.

Prerequisites for the emergence of the theory of human capital (Human Capital)

The growing importance of the human factor in production, modern conditions of globalization of the world economy, informatization of production processes in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution contributed to the emergence and expansion at the turn of the 60s of the twentieth century. theories of human capital. The theory of human capital is a theory that unites different views, ideas, provisions on the process of formation, use of knowledge, skills, and abilities of a person as a source of future income and appropriation of economic benefits. The theory of human capital is based on the achievements of institutional theory, neoclassical theory, neo-Keynesianism and other particular economic theories.

The emergence of this theory in the late 1950s - early 1960s. was associated with the need to provide an adequate understanding of the nature of the unusually high growth of the economies of the developed countries of the world, which is not explained by the quantitative increase in the factors of production used - labor and capital, as well as with the inability to offer universal interpretation the phenomenon of income inequality, based on the use of existing conceptual apparatus. Analysis of the real processes of development and growth in modern conditions led to the approval of human capital as the main productive and social factor in the development of the modern economy and society.

The very birth of the theory occurred in October 1962, when the Journal of Political Economy published an additional issue entitled “Investing in People.”

Founders of the theory of human capital

The theory of human capital was developed by American economists Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker, supporters of free competition and pricing in Western political economy. For creating the foundations of the theory of human capital, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics - Theodore Schultz in 1979, Gary Becker in 1992. Among the researchers who made the greatest contribution to the development of the theory of human capital are also M. Blaug, M. Grossman, J. Mintzer, M. Pearlman, L. Thurow, F. Welch, B. Chiswick, J. Kendrick, R. Solow, R. Lucas, C. Griliches, S. Fabricant, I. Fisher, E. Denison, etc. economists, sociologists and historians. A native of Russia, Simon (Semyon) Kuznets, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics for 1971, also made a significant contribution to the creation of the theory. Among modern domestic researchers of human capital problems, one can note S.A. Dyatlova, R.I. Kapelyushnikov, M.M. Kritsky, S.A. Kurgansky and others.

The concept of “human capital” is based on two independent theories:

1) The theory of “investment in people” was the first of Western economists' ideas about the reproduction of human productive abilities. Its authors are F. Machlup (Princeton University), B. Weisbrod (University of Wisconsin), R. Wikstra (University of Colorado), S. Bowles (Harvard University), M. Blaug (University of London), B. Fleischer (Ohio State University ), R. Campbell and B. Siegel (University of Oregon), etc. Economists of this movement proceed from the Keynesian postulate of the omnipotence of investment. The subject of research of the concept under consideration is both the internal structure of “human capital” itself and the specific processes of its formation and development.

M. Blaug believed that human capital is the present value of past investments in people's skills, and not the value of people themselves. From W. Bowen's point of view, human capital consists of the acquired knowledge, skills, motivations and energy that human beings are endowed with and which can be used over a certain period of time to produce goods and services. F. Makhlup wrote that unimproved labor can differ from improved labor, which has become more productive due to investments that increase a person’s physical and mental ability. Such improvements constitute human capital.

2) By the authorstheory of “human capital production” are Theodore Schultz and Yorem Ben-Poret (University of Chicago), Gary Becker and Jacob Mintzer (Columbia University), L. Turow (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Richard Palmman (University of Wisconsin), Zvi Griliches (Harvard University), and others. This theory considered fundamental to Western economic thought.

Theodore William Schultz (1902-1998) - American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (1979). Born near Arlington (South Dakota, USA). He studied at college and graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where in 1930 he received a doctorate in agricultural economics. He began his teaching career at Iowa State College. Four years later he headed the department of economic sociology. Since 1943 and for almost forty years, he has been a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. The teacher's activities were combined with active research work. In 1945, he prepared a collection of materials from the “Food for the World” conference, in which special attention is paid to food supply factors, issues of the structure and migration of agricultural labor, professional qualifications of farmers, agricultural production technology and the direction of investment in farming. In Agriculture in an Unstable Economy (1945), he argued against poor land use because it led to soil erosion and other negative consequences for the agricultural economy.

In 1949-1967 T.-V. 

Schultz is a member of the board of directors of the US National Bureau of Economic Research, then an economic consultant to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and several government departments and organizations.Among his most famous works are " Production and well-being of agriculture", "Transformation of traditional agriculture" (1964), "Investing in people: the economics of population quality" (1981)

and etc.

The American Economic Association awarded T.-V. 

Schultz medal named after F. Volcker. He is professor emeritus of the University of Chicago; he has been awarded honorary degrees by the Universities of Illinois, Wisconsin, Dijon, Michigan, North Carolina and the Universidad Católica de Chile.According to the theory of human capital, two factors interact in production - physical capital (means of production) and human capital (acquired knowledge, skills, energy that can be used in the production of goods and services). People spend money not only on fleeting pleasures, but also on monetary and non-monetary income in the future. Investments are made in human capital. These are the costs of maintaining health, getting an education, costs associated with finding a job, obtaining the necessary information, migration, and professional training in production. The value of human capital is assessed by the potential income that it can provide. T.-V. 

According to the scientist, human resources are similar, on the one hand, to natural resources, and on the other, to material capital. Immediately after birth, a person, like natural resources, does not produce any effect. Only after appropriate “processing” does a person acquire the qualities of capital. That is, with increasing costs for improving the quality of the labor force, labor as a primary factor is gradually transformed into human capital. T.-V. 

Schultz is convinced that, given the contribution of labor to output, human productive capabilities are greater than all other forms of wealth combined. The peculiarity of this capital, according to the scientist, is that regardless of the sources of formation (own, state or private), its use is controlled by the owners themselves.

The microeconomic foundation of the theory of human capital was laid by G.-S.  Becker. Becker Harry-Stanley (born 1930) is an American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (1992). Born in Pottsville (Pennsylvania, USA). In 1948 he studied at

High school J. Madison in New York. In 1951 he graduated from Princeton University. His scientific career is connected with Columbia (1957-1969) and the University of Chicago. In 1957 he defended his doctoral dissertation and became a professor. Since 1970 G.-S. 

Becker worked as head of the department

social sciences

Opponents G.-S.  Becker argues that by focusing on economic calculations, he downplays the importance of moral factors. However, the scientist has an answer to this: moral values different people

different, and it will take a long time before they become the same, if such a thing is ever possible. A person with any morality and intellectual level strives to obtain personal economic benefit.

In 1987 G.-S. 

Becker was elected president of the American Economic Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Education, national and international societies, an editor of economic journals, and honorary doctorates from Stanford, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, and the Hebrew University.

The starting point for G.-S. Lack of education is the most serious factor that holds back economic growth.

The scientist insists on the difference between special and general investments in humans (and more broadly, between general and specific resources in general). Special training gives the employee knowledge and skills that increase the future productivity of its recipient only in the company that trains him (various forms of rotation programs, familiarization of newcomers with the structure and internal routine of the enterprise). In the process of general training, the employee acquires knowledge and skills that increase the recipient's productivity, regardless of the company for which he works (personal computer training).

According to G.-S. 

Becker, investments in the education of citizens, in medical care, in particular in children’s care, in social programs aimed at retaining, supporting, and replenishing personnel, are equivalent to investing in the creation or acquisition of new equipment or technologies, which in the future is returned with the same profits. This means, according to his theory, entrepreneurs’ support for schools and universities is not charity, but concern for the future of the state

According to G.-S. 

Having studied the problems of human capital, G.-S. 

Becker became one of the founders of new sections of economic theory - the economics of discrimination, the economics of external management, the economics of crime, etc. He built a “bridge” from economics to sociology, demography, criminology; was the first to introduce the principle of rational and optimal behavior in those industries where, as researchers previously believed, habits and irrationality dominated.

Criticism of human capital theory

Ukrainian scientist S. Mocherny considers the main shortcomings of the theory of human capital to be an amorphous interpretation of the essence of capital, which includes not only everything that surrounds a person, but also individual features of the person himself; ignoring the fact that the costs of developing education and acquiring qualifications form only the ability to work, a labor force of appropriate quality, and not the capital itself; the fallacy of the opinion that such capital is inseparable from the person himself; a number of provisions of the theory on the structure of human capital have not been weighed, in particular, it is not correct to classify the search for necessary information on the value of prices and income as elements of this category, since such a search is not always successful, as evidenced by significant unemployment in most countries; the position that in order to transform the acquired knowledge, experience, creative abilities and other elements of a human worker into future income and the appropriation of economic benefits, an employee must constantly work, which means that the source of such income is not the level of education and qualifications itself, but the labor of a person. The biggest drawback of the theory of human capital, according to opponents, is its ideological orientation.

Another issue concerns the empirical relevance of human capital theory. Some studies have shown that human capital investments such as education account for only a small portion of the variation in people's earnings. Failure to consider factors such as background and motivation may result in an overestimation of future payback when investing in human capital.

The pressing question is whether forms of investment such as education and training in particular can actually increase productivity. In this regard, it is interesting to note Michael Spence's remark that training does not improve a person's productivity, it only reveals his innate abilities and indicates his potential productivity to a potential employer

The importance of human capital theory

Despite the fact that for a long time many scientists and even supporters of the theory of human capital considered it as unsuitable for practical use, in recent years scientists and managers in many countries have been making attempts to implement its provisions. Several aspects contribute to this:

1.G.-S. 

Becker obtained quantitative estimates of the profitability of investments in people and compared them with the actual profitability of most US firms, which helped to clarify and expand the understanding of the economic efficiency of investments in human capital. The emergence of a large number of private educational institutions, the intensification of the activities of consulting firms conducting short-term seminars and specialized courses, indicate that the profitability in the private sector of educational activities is not lower than in other areas of business. For example, in the USA in the 60s of the twentieth century. the profitability of educational activities was 10-15 % higher than the profitability of other types of commercial activities.

The concept of national wealth acquires a broader interpretation. Today it covers, together with the material elements of capital (value assessments of land, buildings, structures, equipment, inventory items), financial assets and materialized knowledge and people’s abilities for productive work. Accumulated scientific knowledge, in particular, materialized in new technologies, investments in human health began to be taken into account in macroeconomic statistics as elements of national wealth that have an intangible form.

A new interpretation of “human” investments in ensuring socio-economic development and social progress has been recognized by international organizations. The situation in the fields of education, health care and other factors characterizing the level of development of human resources and the quality of life of the population have become the main objects of attention of international statistics. As integral indicators social development societies and the state of human resources use, in particular, the human development index (social development index); index of intellectual potential of society; an indicator of the amount of human capital per capita; population vitality coefficient, etc.

Since 1995, human development reports have been prepared in Ukraine. Thus, reports for 1995-1999, published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), became the basis for justifying human development as a means and goal of national development. Based on these reports, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine reviewed and adopted the UNDP Human Development Index. Today, this index has become an important indicator of human development, monitored by the State Statistics Committee on a regular basis.

3.Theory G.-S. 

4. The theory of human capital proposed a unified analytical framework for explaining such seemingly different phenomena as the contribution of education to economic growth, the demand for educational and medical services, age-related dynamics of earnings, differences in pay for male and female labor, and the transmission of economic inequality from generation to generation. generation and much more.

5. The ideas embedded in the theory of human capital have had a serious impact on the economic policy of the state. Thanks to her, society’s attitude towards investing in people has changed. They have learned to see investments that provide a production effect that is long-term in nature. This provided the theoretical basis for the accelerated development of the education and training system in many countries around the world.

6. Under the influence of the theory of human capital, in which education is assigned the role of the “great equalizer,” a certain reorientation of social policy has occurred. In particular, training programs came to be seen as an effective tool in the fight against poverty, perhaps preferable to direct income redistribution.

7. Human capital theory created a unified analytical framework for studying investments in education and training, and also explained the differences between countries in the structure of those employed in the economy. After all, differences in the supply of human capital in different countries are more significant than differences in the supply of real capital. Among the problems in solving which the theory of human capital may be appropriate, T.-V. 

Schultz called the phenomenon when countries rich in capital, in particular created material assets, export predominantly labor-intensive rather than capital-intensive products.

The main social conclusion of the theory of human capital is that in modern conditions, improving the quality of the labor force is more important than increasing the supply of labor resources. Control over production passes from the hands of owners of monopolies on material capital to the hands of those who own knowledge. This theory opens up the possibility of assessing the contribution to economic growth of an educational fund (by analogy with assessing the contribution of fixed property funds), as well as the possibility of managing investment processes based on a comparison of the return on investments in property funds and an educational fund.

Figure - the influence of human capital on economic development Emergence was due to the need for a deeper understanding of the action of factors of production, in particular the nature of the unusually high share of changes in total output, not explained by the quantitative increase in the factors of production used - labor and capital, as well as the need to offer a universal interpretation of the phenomenon of income inequality.

The economic approach to human behavior became widespread thanks to two Nobel laureates - T. Schultz and G. Becker. The concept was introduced into scientific circulation "human capital" as a set of qualities, skills, abilities and knowledge of a person used by him for production (to generate income) or consumer purposes. This capital is called human, because it is embodied in the person’s personality; it is capital because it serves as a source of either future income or future consumption, or both.

Human capital, like physical capital, is a durable good, but it can become obsolete, physically wear out, and it can become obsolete even before its physical wear occurs; its value can rise and fall depending on changes in a sentence of complementary (mutually complementary) production factors and in the demand for their joint products.

The difference between human capital and physical capital is its inseparability from the carrier. The carrier of human capital itself cannot be the subject of purchase and sale, at least in modern society. It can only be rented, i.e. engage in work under an employment contract.

The following are distinguished: types of human capital.

Total human capital– this is knowledge and skills, regardless of where they were acquired, they can be used in other workplaces.

Specific human capital – it is knowledge and skills that have value where they are acquired.

The production of general human capital is ensured by a system of formal education, including general and special education, which improves the quality, level and stock of human knowledge. Specific human capital is formed by spending on training to train workers directly on the job.

Human capital can be positive or negative.

Positive human capital defined as the accumulated human capital that provides a useful return on investment.

Negative human capital- part of the accumulated human capital that does not provide any useful return on investment.

The accumulation of human capital depends on the human potential available in a given society. To evaluate it, the currently widely used human development index(HDI), which characterizes different aspects of the development of society. The HDI of a country or region reflects the three leading factors of life: income, longevity, and education.

Human capital theory

The theory of human capital is based on the achievements of institutional theory, neoclassical theory, neo-Keynesianism and other economic theories that recognize the fact that people represent the same capital for society as machines. Human capital theory states that where the quality and quantity of human capital is higher, financial and physical capital are concentrated accordingly. And where low-quality human capital has been formed over centuries, even a large amount of it will not help.

A special role in the development of the theory of human capital belongs to the American scientist, Nobel Prize winner G. Becker, whose contribution is to strengthen its theoretical justification from the standpoint of microeconomic analysis and significantly expand the possibilities of its practical application.

Historical reference

Gary Becker born in 1930 in Pottstown (Pennsylvania). After graduating from Princeton University in 1951, he worked at Princeton and Columbia universities. He received his doctorate in Chicago in 1955. After 1969, he was a professor at the University of Chicago and a fellow at the Hoover Institution for Revolution, War and Peace at Stanford University. As a professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago in 1992. Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for "extending the scope of microeconomic analysis to a range of aspects of human behavior and interaction, including non-market behavior."

G. Becker became the founder of a whole family of new sections of economic theory - the economics of discrimination, the theory of human capital, the economics of crime, economics household and others. Becker’s research in the field of economic analysis of the family is called the “new theory of consumption” ( new theory of consumption).

G. Becker developed the microeconomic foundations of the theory of human capital in his fundamental work in 1962. "Human Capital". The model formulated in it became the basis for all subsequent research in this area. Any worker in Becker’s view can be considered as a combination of one unit of simple labor and a certain amount of “human capital” embodied in it, respectively wage(income) - as a combination of the market price of one hundred simple labor and income from investments made in a person.

The totality of direct monetary costs for education and income lost during the time spent on education is investments in human capital. Becker justified the possibility of calculating the profitability of such investments both from the standpoint of an individual and society as a whole, considering this process by analogy with rates of return on capital.

To assess the economic efficiency of education for the worker himself, additional income from higher education is determined as follows: the income of workers with secondary general education was subtracted from the income of those who graduated from college. Education is profitable for a worker if the difference between additional income and the real cost of expenses is positive.

Thus, return rates act as a regulator of the distribution of investments between different types and levels of education. High rates of return indicate underinvestment, low rates indicate overinvestment.

American scientist, Nobel Prize laureate T. Schultz1, studying the problems of economic recovery after the war, came to the conclusion that the speed of recovery in different countries was related to the health and education of the population. Schultz proved that human capital has the necessary characteristics of a productive nature and is able to accumulate and reproduce. Education makes people more productive, and good healthcare keeps investment in education and the ability to produce.

T. Schultz and G. Becker are credited with popularizing the idea of ​​human capital; their efforts gave impetus to numerous studies and initiated active efforts to motivate investment in vocational and technical education by international financial institutions.

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