The Relationship between Human-Capital Variables and Innovative Performance: Evidence from Colombia

The objective of the research is to analyze the variables of human capital and its relationship with innovation in manufacturing companies. The study is quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional data obtained from Colombia, an emerging country, collected from a national survey of innovation activities. The regression used is bivariate probit. The findings show that the variable “R&D workers” is related to product and process innovation and the variable “workers with higher education” is related to product innovation. The theoretical implication is that the “R&D workers” variable is an important predictor for product and process innovation because it represents skills, abilities, and worker’s experience, and enables finding new uses for knowledge or combining knowledge to achieve innovation. Furthermore, in these companies, the human capital acquired through education develops the skills and abilities that enable product innovation to be achieved, while low investment in training means that the skills achieved by this means are not significant for innovation. The study has practical implications for managers in emerging countries who want to increase the companies’ innovative potential by increasing investment in education and training of its workers.