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Showing papers on "Human capital published in 2011"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a focused and operational definition of the concept of smart city and present consistent evidence on the geography of smart cities in the EU27, for the first time to our knowledge.
Abstract: Urban performance currently depends not only on a city's endowment of hard infrastructure (physical capital), but also, and increasingly so, on the availability and quality of knowledge communication and social infrastructure (human and social capital). The latter form of capital is decisive for urban competitiveness. Against this background, the concept of the “smart city” has recently been introduced as a strategic device to encompass modern urban production factors in a common framework and, in particular, to highlight the importance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the last 20 years for enhancing the competitive profile of a city. The present paper aims to shed light on the often elusive definition of the concept of the “smart city.” We provide a focused and operational definition of this construct and present consistent evidence on the geography of smart cities in the EU27. Our statistical and graphical analyses exploit in depth, for the first time to our knowledge, the most re...

2,312 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-analytically integrated results from three decades of human capital research in entrepreneurship were found to have a significant but small relationship between human capital and success.

1,439 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a multilevel model connecting micro, intermediate, and macro levels of scholarship is proposed for the conceptualization of the human capital resource, which is created from the emergence of individuals' knowledge, skills, abilities, or other characteristics.
Abstract: This article offers a new approach to the conceptualization of the human capital resource by developing a multilevel model connecting micro, intermediate, and macro levels of scholarship. We define human capital as a unit-level resource that is created from the emergence of individuals' knowledge, skills, abilities, or other characteristics. The model provides new insights into how strategically valuable human capital resources have their origins in the psychological attributes of individuals and are transformed through unit-level processes.

908 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that human capital relates strongly to performance, especially when the human capital in question is not readily tradable in labor markets and when researchers use operational performance measures that are not subject to profit appropriation.
Abstract: Theory at both the micro and macro level predicts that investments in superior human capital generate better firm-level performance. However, human capital takes time and money to develop or acquire, which potentially offsets its positive benefits. Indeed, extant tests appear equivocal regarding its impact. To clarify what is known, we meta-analyzed effects drawn from 66 studies of the human capital-firm performance relationship and investigated 3 moderators suggested by resource-based theory. We found that human capital relates strongly to performance, especially when the human capital in question is not readily tradable in labor markets and when researchers use operational performance measures that are not subject to profit appropriation. Our results suggest that managers should invest in programs that increase and retain firm-specific human capital.

904 citations


Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the determinants of regional development using a newly constructed database of 1569 sub-national regions from 110 countries covering 74 percent of the world's surface and 96 percent of its GDP.
Abstract: We investigate the determinants of regional development using a newly constructed database of 1569 sub-national regions from 110 countries covering 74 percent of the world's surface and 96 percent of its GDP We combine the cross-regional analysis of geographic, institutional, cultural, and human capital determinants of regional development with an examination of productivity in several thousand establishments located in these regions To organize the discussion, we present a new model of regional development that introduces into a standard migration framework elements of both the Lucas (1978) model of the allocation of talent between entrepreneurship and work, and the Lucas (1988) model of human capital externalities The evidence points to the paramount importance of human capital in accounting for regional differences in development, but also suggests from model estimation and calibration that entrepreneurial inputs and human capital externalities are essential for understanding the data

617 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the marginal impact of adding business training to a Peruvian group lending program for female microentrepreneurs was measured. And the treatment led to improved business knowledge, practices and revenues for the microfinance institution.
Abstract: Can one teach basic entrepreneurship skills, or are they fixed personal characteristics? Most academic and development policy discussions about microentrepreneurs focus on their access to credit, and assume their human capital to be fixed. The self-employed poor rarely have any formal training in business skills. However, a growing number of microfinance organizations are attempting to build the human capital of micro-entrepreneurs in order to improve the livelihood of their clients and help further their mission of poverty alleviation. Using a randomized control trial, we measure the marginal impact of adding business training to a Peruvian group lending program for female microentrepreneurs. Treatment groups received thirty to sixty minute entrepreneurship training sessions during their normal weekly or monthly banking meeting over a period of one to two years. Control groups remained as they were before, meeting at the same frequency but solely for making loan and savings payments. We find that the treatment led to improved business knowledge, practices and revenues. The program also improved repayment and client retention rates for the microfinance institution. Larger effects found for those that expressed less interest in training in a baseline survey. This has important implications for implementing similar market-based interventions with a goal of recovering costs.

501 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the impact of intellectual capital on firms' market value and financial performance and concluded that there is a statistically significant relationship between human capital efficiency and financial performances.
Abstract: Purpose – Intellectual capital (IC) shows a significant growing acceptance as a worthy topic of academic investigation and practical implication. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of IC on firms' market value and financial performance.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data were drawn from a panel consisting of 96 Greek companies listed in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), from four different economic sectors, observed over the three‐year period of 2006 to 2008. Various regression models were examined in order to test the hypotheses included in the proposed conceptual framework.Findings – Results failed to support most of the hypotheses; only concluding that there is a statistically significant relationship between human capital efficiency and financial performance. Despite the fact that IC is increasingly recognised as an important strategic asset for sustainable corporate competitive advantage, the results of the present study give rise to various arguments, criticism and furthe...

499 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors survey the male and female labor supply literatures, focusing on implications for effects of wages and taxes, and conclude that two factors drive many of the differences in results across studies.
Abstract: I survey the male and female labor supply literatures, focusing on implications for effects of wages and taxes. For males, I describe and contrast results from three basic types of model: static models (especially those that account for nonlinear taxes), life-cycle models with savings, and life-cycle models with both savings and human capital. For women, more important distinctions are whether models include fixed costs of work, and whether they treat demographics like fertility and marriage (and human capital) as exogenous or endogenous. The literature is characterized by considerable controversy over the responsiveness of labor supply to changes in wages and taxes. At least for males, it is fair to say that most economists believe labor supply elasticities are small. But a sizeable minority of studies that I examine obtain large values. Hence, there is no clear consensus on this point. In fact, a simple average of Hicks elasticities across all the studies I examine is 0.30. Several simulation studies have shown that such a value is large enough to generate large welfare costs of income taxation. For males, I conclude that two factors drive many of the differences in results across studies. One factor is use of direct vs. ratio wage measures, with studies that use the former tending to find larger elasticties. Another factor is the failure of most studies to account for human capital returns to work experience. I argue that this may lead to downward bias in elasticity estimates. In a model that includes human capital, I show how even modest elasticities - as conventionally measured - can be consistent with large welfare costs of taxation.

490 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of noncompetition agreements by analyzing time-series and cross-sectional variation in the enforceability of these contracts across US states were analyzed. And the authors found that tougher non-competition enforcement promotes executive stability.
Abstract: We study the effects of noncompetition agreements by analyzing time-series and cross-sectional variation in the enforceability of these contracts across US states. We find that tougher noncompetition enforcement promotes executive stability. Increased enforceability also results in reduced executive compensation and shifts its form toward greater use of salary. We further show that stricter enforcement reduces capital expenditures per employee. These results are consistent with a model in which enforceable noncompetition contracts encourage firms to invest in their managers' human capital. On the other hand, our findings suggest that these contracts also discourage managers from investing in their own human capital and that this second effect is empirically dominant. The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Yale University. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.

471 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, this paper found that differences in initial conditions account for more of the variation in lifetime earnings, lifetime wealth, and lifetime utility than do differences in shocks received over the working lifetime.
Abstract: Is lifetime inequality mainly due to differences across people established early in life or to differences in luck experienced over the working lifetime? We answer this question within a model that features idiosyncratic shocks to human capital , estimated directly from data, as well as heterogeneity in ability to learn, initial human capital, and initial wealth. We find that, as of age 23, differences in initial conditions account for more of the variation in lifetime earnings, lifetime wealth, and lifetime utility than do differences in shocks received over the working lifetime. ( JEL D31, D91, J24, J31) To what degree is lifetime inequality due to differences across people established early in life as opposed to differences in luck experienced over the working lifetime? Among the individual differences established early in life, which ones are the most important? A convincing answer to these questions is of fundamental importance. First, and most simply, an answer serves to contrast the potential importance of the myriad policies directed at modifying or at providing insurance for initial conditions (e.g., public education) against those directed at shocks over the working lifetime (e.g., unemployment insurance). Second, a discussion of lifetime inequality cannot go too far before discussing which specific type of initial condition is the most critical for determining how one fares in life. Third, a useful framework for answering these questions should also be central in the analysis of a wide range of policies considered in macroeconomics, public finance, and labor economics. We view lifetime inequality through the lens of a risky human capital model. Agents differ in terms of three initial conditions: initial human capital, learning ability, and financial wealth. Initial human capital can be viewed as controlling the intercept of an agent's mean earnings profile, whereas learning ability acts to rotate

470 citations


Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that more equality in the income distribution is associated with longer-lived growth spells and that broad redistributive policies are not necessarily pro-growth, as these can have strong disincentive effects.
Abstract: This note raises the IMF’s profile on a number of issues related to inequality, unemployment, governance, etc. It builds on earlier empirical work that examined correlations between growth downbreaks/duration of growth spells and a range of macro/policy/institutional factors. This paper is designed to be more accessible, more policy oriented, and focused squarely on the issue of inequality and the sustainability of growth. It will reference the literature that has gained prominence in the wake of the global crisis, and the possible links between the crisis and rising inequality in countries at the epicenter of the crisis. The analytical findings will also be connected to real world policy narratives in certain countries, to provide texture to the results and enhance policy relevance. The paper will argue that, based on the empirical findings, more equality in the income distribution is associated with longer-lived growth spells. Broad redistributive policies are not necessarily pro-growth, however, as these can have strong disincentive effects. The paper’s policy discussion is appropriately cautious, therefore, offering only tentative ideas, for example, active labor market policies and more attention to human capital investments designed to avoid conflicts between efficiency and equity perspectives.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how individual-level phenomena underpin isolating mechanisms that sustain human capital-based advantages but also create management dilemmas that must be resolved in order to create value.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical approach for understanding the quality of education in low-income countries from a social justice perspective is proposed, which is based on the ideas of social justice and capabilities.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review human capital definitions and measurement approaches within this literature and identify some of the issues emerging with human capital research, and propose some future directions for research on human capital in organisations.
Abstract: The field of strategic human resource management has seemingly rediscovered human capital with increasing research focused on human capital as a mediator in the relationship between HR practices and performance. In this paper we review human capital definitions and measurement approaches within this literature. We then identify some of the issues emerging with human capital research. Finally, we propose some future directions for research on human capital in organisations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that men who fare poorly in the labor market (in the sense of unemployment or low annual earnings) lack non-cognitive rather than cognitive ability, while cognitive ability is a stronger predictor of wages for skilled workers and of earnings above the median.
Abstract: sonal interview conducted by a psychologist. We find strong evidence that men who fare poorly in the labor market—in the sense of unemployment or low annual earnings—lack noncognitive rather than cognitive ability. However, cognitive ability is a stronger predictor of wages for skilled workers and of earnings above the median. (JEL J24, J31, J45)

ReportDOI
TL;DR: The authors surveys recent empirical studies on the economic impacts of immigration and examines the magnitude of immigration as an economic phenomenon in various host countries and the assimilation of immigrant workers into host-country labor markets and concomitant effects for natives.
Abstract: This paper surveys recent empirical studies on the economic impacts of immigration. The survey first examines the magnitude of immigration as an economic phenomenon in various host countries. The second part deals with the assimilation of immigrant workers into host-country labor markets and concomitant effects for natives. The paper then turns to immigration's impact for the public finances of host countries. The final section considers emerging topics in the study of immigration. The survey particularly emphasizes the recent experiences of Northern Europe and Scandinavia and relevant lessons from traditional destination countries like the US. (JEL: H53, J23, J31, J61, J68)

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extend the literature addressing the relationships surrounding the internationalization of SMEs in India as related to entrepreneurial behavior, firm resources, and commitment to internationalization.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an Intellectual Capital-Based View of the Firm Competition framework is proposed to highlight the strategic role of different intangible assets like talented and committed workers, cultural values, or long-term relationships among the firm and its stakeholders in gaining and sustaining competitive advantages.
Abstract: Economic and social activities are undergoing radical changes, which can be labelled as ‘knowledge economy and/or society’. In this sense, intellectual capital (IC), or knowledge assets, as the fourth factor of production, is replacing the other ones – job, land and capital. This article tries to offer the origins and nature of the firm’s IC that can be labelled as ‘An Intellectual Capital-Based View of the Firm Competition’. This framework tries to highlight the strategic role of different intangible assets like talented and committed workers, cultural values, or long-term relationships among the firm and its stakeholders – customers, allies, suppliers and society in general – in gaining and sustaining competitive advantages, being the management of IC a key issue in the management agenda.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a model that explains migrations as decisions that respond to where human capital can be acquired more efficiently, and where the return to human capital is highest.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper developed a human capital model with borrowing constraints explicitly derived from government student loan (GSL) programs and private lending under limited commitment, which helps explain the persistent strong positive correlation between ability and schooling in the U.S., as well as the rising importance of family income for college attendance.
Abstract: We develop a human capital model with borrowing constraints explicitly derived from government student loan (GSL) programs and private lending under limited commitment. The model helps explain the persistent strong positive correlation between ability and schooling in the U.S., as well as the rising importance of family income for college attendance. It also explains the increasing share of undergraduates borrowing the GSL maximum and the rise in student borrowing from private lenders. Our framework ofiers new insights regarding the interaction of government and private lending as well as the responsiveness of private credit to economic and policy changes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored the factors that determine whether new business opportunities are exploited by starting a new venture for an employer (nascent intrapreneurship) or independently, and found that Nascent entrepreneurs tend to leverage their general human capital and social ties to organize ventures which sell directly to customers.

Journal ArticleDOI
29 Jul 2011-Science
TL;DR: Existing methods of multi-state demography can quantitatively integrate education into standard demographic analysis, thus adding the “quality” dimension, which matters for human development, including health, economic growth, and democracy.
Abstract: Almost universally, women with higher levels of education have fewer children. Better education is associated with lower mortality, better health, and different migration patterns. Hence, the global population outlook depends greatly on further progress in education, particularly of young women. By 2050, the highest and lowest education scenarios—assuming identical education-specific fertility rates—result in world population sizes of 8.9 and 10.0 billion, respectively. Better education also matters for human development, including health, economic growth, and democracy. Existing methods of multi-state demography can quantitatively integrate education into standard demographic analysis, thus adding the “quality” dimension.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the direct relationship between social and human capital and innovative performance, the links between these two components of intellectual capital, as well as the possible mediating role of human capital, and the effect of particular human resource management (HRM) practices (selection procedures, development programmes, empowerment and use of incentives on compensation) on the influence of innovative performance on firm performance.
Abstract: Literature on Intellectual Capital provides interesting arguments about the key role of social and human capital, not only separately but also jointly, for innovation activities. Thus, given the acknowledged importance of these variables, this article studies (1) the direct relationship between social and human capital and innovative performance, (2) the links between these two components of intellectual capital, as well as the possible mediating role of human capital, (3) the effect of particular human resource management (HRM) practices (selection procedures, development programmes, empowerment and use of incentives on compensation) on social and human capital, and (4) the influence of innovative performance on firm performance. In our study, we define a population of firms in the most innovative Spanish sectors for an empirical test of this model, focusing on their R&D departments. Using data taken from 85 firms and applying Structural Equation Models, we have tested the hypotheses and obtained interes...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a sample of 208 new CEO appointment events in U.S. manufacturing firms between 1999 and 2003, it was found that the stock market reacted favorably to the appointments made by boards with higher levels of human and social capital.
Abstract: This study extends work on independent directors to examine the influence of their human capital and social capital on investor reactions to the board's CEO selection decision. We predict that human capital, as represented by the board's CEO experience and industry experience, and social capital, as represented by directors' co-working experience on the board and external directorship ties to other corporate boards, will influence the stock market reactions to new CEO appointments. In a sample of 208 new CEO appointment events in U.S. manufacturing firms between 1999 and 2003, we found that the stock market reacted favorably to the appointments made by boards with higher levels of human and social capital. We also found that the effect of internal social capital was stronger when the new CEO was an insider rather than an outsider. The implications of the results for director selection and CEO succession are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal ArticleDOI
24 Nov 2011-BMJ
TL;DR: Among sub-Saharan African countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, lost investment from the emigration of doctors is considerable and destination countries should consider investing in measurable training for source countries and strengthening of their health systems.
Abstract: Objective To estimate the lost investment of domestically educated doctors migrating from sub-Saharan African countries to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper used data from Demographic and Health Surveys for fifteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa to estimate the relationship between regional HIV prevalence and the change in individual human capital investment over time, finding that areas with higher levels of HIV experienced relatively larger declines in schooling.
Abstract: Over the past several decades, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has dramatically altered patterns of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, with potential consequences for human capital investment and economic growth. Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys for fifteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa, I estimate the relationship between regional HIV prevalence and the change in individual human capital investment over time. Consistent with a simple model of human capital investment incorporating mortality risk, I find that areas with higher levels of HIV experienced relatively larger declines in schooling.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors proposed a dynamic model in which changes in generic human capital resources can affect the performance of the human capital resource model, which is based on the resource-based view of human capital.
Abstract: Past research has not adequately considered the importance of interconnected human capital resources. Drawing on the resource-based view, we propose a dynamic model in which changes in generic huma...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as discussed by the authors analyzed return migrants' occupational choice upon their return to their home village, by using an original rural household survey conducted in Wuwei county (Anhui province, China) in 2008.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a relational and multilevel perspective is deployed to explore how skilled migrants from developing countries mobilize capital in their efforts to undertake an international career, using Bourdieu's theory of capital.
Abstract: A central issue for understanding skilled migration in the management literature is human capital. This emphasis ignores other important forms of capital mobilization that skilled migrants from developing countries deploy in dealing with the barriers to their international career mobility. There is therefore a need to develop a holistic understanding of capital mobilization of skilled migrants. In order to develop a more holistic picture, we deploy a relational and multilevel perspective to explore how skilled migrants from developing countries mobilize capital in their efforts to undertake an international career. Career is a central construct in this study. Drawing on a qualitative study of skilled Lebanese in Paris, the paper offers two main contributions to the research on human resource management, in particular to the literatures on skilled migration and self-initiated expatriation. First it extends our understanding of the strategies that skilled migrants use to relocate from a developing country to an industrialized country. Beyond the traditional human capital perspective, it offers insights about migrants' capital mobilization experiences of undertaking international mobility. Second, using Bourdieu's theory of capital, it offers a relational explanation of their capital mobilization in a way to encompass micro-individual, meso-organizational and macro-contextual influences that affect their career choices.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the social benefits of living in a walkable community and found that the generation and maintenance of social capital is another important component of quality of life that may be facilitated by living in walkable communities.
Abstract: Walkability has been linked to quality of life in many ways. Health related benefits of physical exercise, the accessibility and access benefits of being able to walk to obtain some of your daily needs, or the mental health and social benefits of reduced isolation are a few of the many positive impacts on quality of life that can result from a walkable neighborhood. In the age of increasing energy costs and climate considerations, the ability to walk to important locations is a key component of sustainable communities. While the health and environmental implications of walkable communities are being extensively studied, the social benefits have not been investigated as broadly. Social capital is a measure of an individual’s or group’s networks, personal connections, and involvement. Like economic and human capital, social capital is considered to have important values to both individuals and communities. Through a case study approach this article argues that the generation and maintenance of social capital is another important component of quality of life that may be facilitated by living in a walkable community. Residents living in neighborhoods of varying built form and thus varying levels of walkability in three communities in New Hampshire were surveyed about their levels of social capital and travel behaviors. Comparisons between the more walkable and less walkable neighborhoods show that levels of social capital are higher in more walkable neighborhoods.