THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA (ECONOMICS PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The concept of human capital is a relatively recent idea in the realm of economic theory. While economists have long paid close attention to the concept of investments in physical capital in recent years they have placed emphasis on the concept of human capital investments. Largely, this shift occurred as a result of the failure of classical economist’s theory to explain the dominance of developed countries over undeveloped ones in the international market. Human capital covers a broad range of concepts but the most essential feature is increased productivity through investing in employees, it can mean education acquired from elementary school level, training of basic reading and writing skills, to job training, both of general and specific skills.
The use of the term human capital in the modern neoclassical economic literature dates back to Jacob Mincer pioneering article “Investment in Human Capital and Personal income distribution” in the Journal of Political Economy in 1958. And the best known application of the idea of ‘Human Capital’ in economics revolves around the work of Mincer, Schultz and Gary Becker of the Chicago school. Becker’s book entitled Human Capital published in 1964 became a standard reference for many years.
According to Gary Becker; Human Capital is similar to “physical means of production”( example factories and machineries) one can invest in human capital (via education, training and medical treatment) and one’s income depends partly on the rate of return on the human capital one owns, which allows one to receive a flow of income which is like interest earned. Human capital is substitutable though it will not replace land, labor or capital it can be substituted for them to various degrees and be included as a separate variable in a production function.
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The concept of human capital is a relatively recent idea in the realm of economic theory. While economists have long paid close attention to the concept of investments in physical capital in recent years they have placed emphasis on the concept of human capital investments. Largely, this shift occurred as a result of the failure of classical economist’s theory to explain the dominance of developed countries over undeveloped ones in the international market. Human capital covers a broad range of concepts but the most essential feature is increased productivity through investing in employees, it can mean education acquired from elementary school level, training of basic reading and writing skills, to job training, both of general and specific skills.
The use of the term human capital in the modern neoclassical economic literature dates back to Jacob Mincer pioneering article “Investment in Human Capital and Personal income distribution” in the Journal of Political Economy in 1958. And the best known application of the idea of ‘Human Capital’ in economics revolves around the work of Mincer, Schultz and Gary Becker of the Chicago school. Becker’s book entitled Human Capital published in 1964 became a standard reference for many years.
According to Gary Becker; Human Capital is similar to “physical means of production”( example factories and machineries) one can invest in human capital (via education, training and medical treatment) and one’s income depends partly on the rate of return on the human capital one owns, which allows one to receive a flow of income which is like interest earned. Human capital is substitutable though it will not replace land, labor or capital it can be substituted for them to various degrees and be included as a separate variable in a production function.
