IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jecsur/v17y2003i3p271-307.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cost‐ and Income‐based Measures of Human Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Trinh Le
  • John Gibson
  • Les Oxley

Abstract

Human capital is increasingly believed to play an important role in the growth process, however, adequately measuring its stock remains controversial. In this paper three general approaches to measurement are identified; cost‐based, income‐based and educational stock‐based. This survey focuses on the first two approaches and provides a critical review of the theories and their applications to data from a range of countries. Particular emphasis is placed upon the work of Jorgenson and Fraumeni (1989, 1992) and some new results for New Zealand based upon their approach are also presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Trinh Le & John Gibson & Les Oxley, 2003. "Cost‐ and Income‐based Measures of Human Capital," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 271-307, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:17:y:2003:i:3:p:271-307
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-6419.00196
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6419.00196
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-6419.00196?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Nancy D. Ruggles & Richard Ruggles, 1970. "The Design of Economic Accounts," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number rugg70-1, May.
    3. Mireille Laroche & Marcel Mérette & G. C. Ruggeri, 1999. "On the Concept and Dimension of Human Capital in a Knowledge-Based," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 25(1), pages 87-100, March.
    4. Mikael Lindahl & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Education for Growth: Why and for Whom?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1101-1136, December.
    5. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong-Wha, 1993. "International comparisons of educational attainment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 363-394, December.
    6. Dale W. Jorgenson & Barbara M. Fraumeni, 1992. "The Output of the Education Sector," NBER Chapters, in: Output Measurement in the Service Sectors, pages 303-341, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Daniel Cohen & Marcelo Soto, 2007. "Growth and human capital: good data, good results," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 51-76, March.
    8. Jeong, Byeongju, 2002. "Measurement of human capital input across countries: a method based on the laborer's income," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 333-349, April.
    9. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    10. Rebelo, Sergio, 1991. "Long-Run Policy Analysis and Long-Run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 500-521, June.
    11. Eisner, Robert, 1988. "Extended Accounts for National Income and Product," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 1611-1684, December.
    12. Mireille Laroche & Marcel Mérette, "undated". "Measuring Human Capital in Canada," Working Papers-Department of Finance Canada 2000-05, Department of Finance Canada.
    13. Koman, Reinhard & Marin, Dalia, 1997. "Human Capital and Macroeconomic Growth: Austria and Germany 1960-1992," CEPR Discussion Papers 1551, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Graham, John W & Webb, Roy H, 1979. "Stocks and Depreciation of Human Capital: New Evidence from a Present-Value Perspective," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 25(2), pages 209-224, June.
    15. Nancy D. Ruggles & Richard Ruggles, 1970. "Introduction to "The Design of Economic Accounts"," NBER Chapters, in: The Design of Economic Accounts, pages 1-7, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. The Treasury, 2001. "Human Capital and the Inclusive Economy," Treasury Working Paper Series 01/16, New Zealand Treasury.
    17. Mulligan, C. B. & Sala-i-Martin, X., 1997. "A labor income-based measure of the value of human capital: An application to the states of the United States," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 159-191, May.
    18. Jorgenson, Dale W & Fraumeni, Barbara M, 1992. " Investment in Education and U.S. Economic Growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(0), pages 51-70, Supplemen.
    19. Melissa Osborne & Herbert Gintis & Samuel Bowles, 2001. "The Determinants of Earnings: A Behavioral Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1137-1176, December.
    20. Dagum, Camilo & Slottje, Daniel J., 2000. "A new method to estimate the level and distribution of household human capital with application," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 67-94, July.
    21. Wachtel, Paul, 1997. "A labor-income based measure of the value of human capital: An application to the states of the US: Comments," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 193-196, May.
    22. Sofia Ahlroth & Anders Björklund & Anders Forslund, 1997. "The Output Of The Swedish Education Sector," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 43(1), pages 89-104, March.
    23. John W. Kendrick, 1976. "The Formation and Stocks of Total Capital," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kend76-1, May.
    24. Jacob Mincer, 1958. "Investment in Human Capital and Personal Income Distribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(4), pages 281-281.
    25. Sholeh Maani, 1999. "Private and Public Returns to Investments in Secondary and Higher Education in New Zealand Over Time: 1981-1996," Treasury Working Paper Series 99/02, New Zealand Treasury.
    26. Tao, Hung-Lin & Stinson, Thomas F., 1997. "An Alternative Measure of Human Capital Stock," Bulletins 7466, University of Minnesota, Economic Development Center.
    27. John W. Graham & Roy H. Webb, 1979. "Stocks And Depreciation Of Human Capital: New Evidence From A Present‐Value Perspective," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 25(2), pages 209-224, June.
    28. B. F. Kiker, 1966. "The Historical Roots of the Concept of Human Capital," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(5), pages 481-481.
    29. Larry E. Jones & Rodolfo Manuelli, 1990. "A Convex Model of Equilibrium Growth," NBER Working Papers 3241, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Romer, Paul M., 1990. "Human capital and growth: Theory and evidence," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 251-286, January.
    31. Jones, Larry E & Manuelli, Rodolfo E, 1990. "A Convex Model of Equilibrium Growth: Theory and Policy Implications," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1008-1038, October.
    32. Burton A. Weisbrod, 1961. "The Valuation of Human Capital," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(5), pages 425-425.
    33. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong Wha, 1996. "International Measures of Schooling Years and Schooling Quality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 218-223, May.
    34. R. Tiff Macklem, 1997. "Aggregate Wealth in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 152-168, February.
    35. Wolff, Edward N., 2000. "Human capital investment and economic growth: exploring the cross-country evidence," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 433-472, December.
    36. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Les OXxley & Ttrinh Le & John Gibson, 2008. "Measuring Human Capital: Alternative Methods and International Evidence," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 24, pages 283-344.
    2. Trinh Le & John Gibson & Les Oxley, 2005. "Measures of human capital: A review of the literature," Treasury Working Paper Series 05/10, New Zealand Treasury.
    3. Giuseppe Folloni & Giorgio Vittadini, 2010. "Human Capital Measurement: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 248-279, April.
    4. Van Trinh, Le Thi & Gibson, John & Oxley, Les, 2005. "Measuring the stock of human capital in New Zealand," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 484-497.
    5. repec:cmj:networ:y:2013:i:1:p:12-25 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    7. Bálint BALOGH, 2013. "How To Measure Human Capital: A Short Review," Network Intelligence Studies, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 1, pages 21-36, July.
    8. Maria Rosa Trovato, 2020. "Human Capital Approach in the Economic Assessment of Interventions for the Reduction of Seismic Vulnerability in Historic Centres," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-33, September.
    9. Abdeljalil Mazzaourou & Kamal Chakir, 2023. "Governance of territorial human capital: An attempt to develop a composite index in the SEMCs and the EACs," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 42(1), pages 247-263, April.
    10. Muhammad Ali & Uwe Cantner & Ipsita Roy, 2017. "Knowledge Spillovers Through FDI and Trade: The Moderating Role of Quality-Adjusted Human Capital," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 357-391, Springer.
    11. Gregorio Giménez Esteban & Carmen López Pueyo & Jaime Sanaú Villarroya, 2011. "La medición del capital humano de los países de la OCDE," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 6, in: Antonio Caparrós Ruiz (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 6, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 57, pages 933-952, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    12. ?gel de la Fuente, "undated". "Convergence Across Countries And Regions: Theory And Empirics," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 447.00, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    13. Zhang, Xiaobei & Wang, Xiaojun, 2021. "Measures of human capital and the mechanics of economic growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. Christian Dreger & Georg Erber & Daniela Glocker, 2008. "Regional Measures of Human Capital in the European Union," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 137, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    15. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    16. Rosa Capolupo, 2005. "THE NEW GROWTH THEORIES AND THEIR EMPIRICS, Discussion Paper in Economics, University of Glasgow, N. 2005-04 (http://www.gla.ac.uk/Acad/Economics," GE, Growth, Math methods 0506003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Trofimov, Ivan D. & Baawi, Nurulhana A., 2020. "Human Capital: State of the Field and Ways to Extend the Concept," MPRA Paper 107039, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Serge Coulombe & Jean-Francois Tremblay, 2009. "Education, Productivity and Economic Growth: A Selective Review of the Evidence," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 18, pages 3-24, Spring.
    19. João Paulo Pereira, 2005. "Measuring Human Capital in Portugal," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 21, pages 16-34, June.
    20. Mine Yilmazer & Serkan inar, 2015. "Human Capabilities and Economic Growth: A Comparative Human Capability Index," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(4), pages 843-853.
    21. Milenko Popovic, 2006. "Capital Augmenting And Labor Augmenting Approach In Measuring Contribution Of Human Capital And Education To Economic Growth," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 2(4), pages 71-108.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:17:y:2003:i:3:p:271-307. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0950-0804 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.