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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Karlsson, Charlie (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The understanding of economic development in regions in developed countries has gone through a fundamental change during recent decades. Nowadays, regions are increasingly looked upon as independent, dynamic market places that are connected via flows of interregional and international trade. Regional development is driven by changes in the economic specialisation, which can be explained by two different, but complementary theoretical frameworks for analysing location and trade, one old and one new.The old theoretical framework assumes that changes in the economic specialisation of regions depend upon changes in the supply of durable and semi-durable regional characteristics. The new theoretical framework, known as the new economic geogra¬phy, assumes that changes in the economic specialisation of regions are driven by the dynamic interaction between regional market potentials and rational firms experienc¬ing increasing returns. In their pure form, these theoretical frameworks can explain changes in regional economic specialisation and consequently regional develop¬ment without any reference to knowledge creation and other changes in knowledge assets. This is certainly a bit odd for a period of history often referred to as the era of the knowledge economy. So, does knowledge have no role to play as a force driving re¬gional spe¬cialisation and regional development? Or, is it so that the traditional “knowledge free” explanations of changes in regional specialisation and regional de¬velopment are missing important points? In this paper, we claim that knowledge infrastructure, human capital, talent, creativ¬ity, knowledge generation, knowledge protection, knowl¬edge accumulation, knowl¬edge appropriation, knowl¬edge flows, etc. as well as the creative use of knowledge are basic drivers of the spe¬cialisation of regions and hence of regional development. The purpose is to discuss the role of knowledge and talent in regional de¬velopment seen in both a regional and a global context. |
| Keywords: | creativity; knowledge; innovation; regional development |
| JEL: | O10 R10 R11 |
| Date: | 2008–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0148&r=hrm |
| By: | Spyros Arvanitis (KOF, Swiss Economic Institute); Tobias Stucki (KOF, Swiss Economic Institute) |
| Abstract: | This study is based on data of a cohort of Swiss firms that were founded in 1996/97. In the year 2000 data were collected by means of a postal survey among those firms, which still existed by that time. In 2003 and 2006 two further surveys were conducted among the participants of the respective last study. In this study we analyzed, firstly, the determinants of the propensity to train apprentices of new firms and how they change with increasing firm age. Secondly, we investigated how a firm’s training propensity correlated with its labour productivity. To this end, we specified an equation for training propensity and an equation for labour productivity, which included as an additional production factor the endogenized propensity to train apprentices. |
| Keywords: | start-ups, training, innovation, firm age |
| JEL: | J24 O30 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0035&r=hrm |
| By: | Stephan Klasen (Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen / Germany); Francesca Lamanna |
| Abstract: | Using cross-country and panel regressions, we investigate to what extent gender gaps in education and employment (proxied using gender gaps in labor force participation) reduce economic growth. Using most recent data and investigating a long time period (1960-2000), we update the results of previous studies on education gaps on growth and extend the analysis to employment gaps using panel data. We find that gender gaps in education and employment significantly reduce economic growth. The combined ‘costs’ of education and employment gaps in Middle East and North Africa and South Asia amount respectively to 0.9-1.7 and 0.1- 1.6 percentage point differences in growth compared to East Asia. Gender gaps in employment appear to have an increasing effect on economic growth differences between regions, with the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia suffering from slower growth in female employment. |
| Keywords: | gender inequality, growth, education, employment, discrimination |
| JEL: | J7 J16 O4 |
| Date: | 2008–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:iaidps:175&r=hrm |
| By: | Hugo Ñopo Author-X-Name_First: Hugo Author-X-Name_Last: Ñopo; Alberto Gonzales Author-X-Name_First: Alberto Author-X-Name_Last: Gonzales |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes gender and ethnic wage gaps in Guatemala for the period 2000-2006, applying a matching comparisons technique, finding pronounced wage gaps along both gender and ethnic dimensions, the latter being greater. Wage gaps in Guatemala are partially explained by differences in human capital characteristics, especially education, between indigenous and non-indigenous and males and females, which calls for equalization of educational opportunities for the population. However, wage gaps are greater than differences in education would predict, which suggests the need for interventions: information campaigns to generate consciousness regarding the need to provide more equal opportunities in labor markets according to each individual’s productivity. |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4587&r=hrm |
| By: | Tharakan, J.; Tropeano, J.P. |
| Abstract: | We propose a model where imperfect matching between firms and workers on local labor markets leads to incentives for spatial agglomeration. We show that the occurence of spatial agglomeration depends on initial size differences in terms of both number of workers and firms. Allowing for dynamics of workers' and firms' location choices, we show that the spatial outcome depends crucially on different dimensions of agents' mobility. The effect of a higher level of human capital on regional disparities depends on whether it makes workers more mobile or more specialized on the labor market. |
| JEL: | J61 J42 R12 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gbl:wpaper:200802&r=hrm |
| By: | Florida, Richard (Martin Prosperity Institute); Mellander, Charlotta (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Qian, Haifeng (School of Public Policy, George Mason University) |
| Abstract: | The relationships between talent, technology and regional development have been widely examined in the advanced economies. While there is a general consensus as to the important role talent plays in regional development, debate has emerged on two key issues. The first involves the efficacy of educational (i.e. human capital) versus occupational (i.e. the creative class) measures of talent; the second involves the factors affecting the distribution of talent. In this study, we have used structural equation models and path analysis. We employed both educational and occupational measures of talent to examine the relationships between talent, technology and regional economic performance in China, and to isolate the effects of tolerance, differing levels of consumer service amenities, and the location of universities on the distribution of talent. Contrary to the findings of empirical studies on the developed economies, we found the relationships between the distribution of talent and technology and between the distribution of talent and regional economic performance in China to be weak. We found the presence of universities – a factor highly influenced by government policy – and the actual stock of talent to be strongly related. We also found that tolerance, as measured by the “Hukou index,” plays an important role in the distribution of talent and technology in China. |
| Keywords: | China; Talent; Human Capital; Creative Class; Tolerance; Technology; Regional Development |
| JEL: | O30 P30 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0145&r=hrm |
| By: | Gilles Duranton (University of Toronto); Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (London School of Economics); Richard Sandall (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the association between one of the most basic institutional forms, the family, and a series of demographic, educational, social, and economic indicators across regions in Europe. Using Emmanuel Todd’s classification of medieval European family systems, we identify potential links between family types and regional disparities in household size, educational attainment, social capital, labor participation, sectoral structure, wealth, and inequality. The results indicate that medieval family structures seem to have influenced European regional disparities in virtually every indicator considered. That these links remain, despite the influence of the modern state and population migration, suggests that either such structures are extremely resilient or else they have in the past been internalized within other social and economic institutions as they developed. |
| Keywords: | institutions; family types; education; social capital; labor force |
| JEL: | J12 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2008–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2008-07&r=hrm |
| By: | Osipian, Ararat |
| Abstract: | Doctorates have long attracted attention of those aspiring to scholarship and research, but also those seeking verbal distinctions and a documented knowledge. Doctoral degrees are considered as signs of a high level expertise and authority in a given filed. The growing number of dissertation defenses does not necessarily translate into a higher quality of dissertations or qualifications of newly produced doctorates. Such a trend may in part be a result of the growing corruption in higher education, including doctoral education. This paper addresses the issue of “dissertations for sale” in the Russian Federation. It describes corruption in conferring doctoral degrees in its most explicit forms and focuses on possible solutions for this problem. It searches to answer the questions: Why people buy doctorates? Whether this practice is harmful? Is corruption in doctoral education really a bad thing? Is it possible to stop such a practice and how? Answering these questions helps develop a conceptual approach to the problem of doctorates for sale, on the basis of which it will be possible to build future theoretical and empirical work. |
| Keywords: | corruption; dissertation; doctoral degrees; higher education; Russia |
| JEL: | P36 P37 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2008–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11138&r=hrm |
| By: | Bjuggren, Per-Olof (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Palmberg, Johanna (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the entrepreneurial spirit in Swedish listed family firms. We associate family firms with entrepreneurship in the sense that there is an identifiable person that takes the uninsurable risk in the sense of Knight. This paper analysis two questions: Do entrepreneurial family firms have a higher rate of growth and do they invest in a more profit maximizing fashion than other listed firms? The analysis shows that entrepreneurial family firms in general are smaller in terms of market value and investments than non-family firms. Moreover, the entrepreneurial family firms are the ones that makes the most efficient investments. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Family Firms; Investments; Firm Performance |
| JEL: | C23 G30 L25 L26 |
| Date: | 2008–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0147&r=hrm |
| By: | Harald U. Pfeifer (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Individual returns on continuing vocational training have been in the focus of many empirical and theoretical papers. Most of the works do not explicitly discuss returns to training that is financed fully or partly by the employee. This seems surprising since several publicly funded programs to increase training participation aim at a stronger employee involvement in the financing of continuing vocational training. This paper analyses the participation in and the determinants and effects of employee-financed training using German panel data. The question is addressed, which employees invest and which benefit from training. Results show that employee-investment in training yields only moderate wage returns and has no significant impact on the further career development, especially when compared to the effects of enterprise-financed training. On the other hand, employees financing their own training gain in terms of unemployment risk reduction and the improvement in the matching of individual skills and job requirements. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0037&r=hrm |
| By: | César Alonso-Borrego; Antonio Romero-Medina |
| Abstract: | We explore evidence on the perceived economic value of higher education to college students in terms of their reported expected and shadow wages. Our estimates provide predictions for expected wages that are similar across gender and become closer to actual wages as students approach graduation. This is consistent with an improvement in the quality of student information used to forecast wages. Shadow wages relative to expected wages increase during the academic year for men and are constant for women, which is consistent with the higher reluctance of women to drop out of university. Finally, students with lower socioeconomic background and poor performance exhibit a higher propensity to drop out. |
| Keywords: | university education, subjective valuation, wage expectations, shadow wages, ordered response |
| JEL: | I23 J24 J31 C24 C25 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:we084823&r=hrm |
| By: | Osipian, Ararat |
| Abstract: | The reform of higher education in Russia, based on standardized tests and educational vouchers, was intended to reduce inequalities in access to higher education. The initiative with the vouchers has failed and by now is already forgotten while the national test is planned to be introduced nationwide in 2009. The national test called to replace the present corrupt system of entry examinations has experienced numerous problems so far and will likely have even more problems in the future. This paper analyses the reform and suggests a methodology of measuring effects of the reform on access to higher education. |
| Keywords: | higher education; inequalities; reform; standardized test; voucher; Russia |
| JEL: | P21 I28 I22 |
| Date: | 2008–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11059&r=hrm |