Who is the founder of the concept of human capital. Economic theory of human capital

Developed a theory human capital supporters of free competition and pricing in Western political economy American economists Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker. For creating the foundations of the theory of human capital, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics - Theodor Schultz in 1979, Gary Becker in 1992. Among the researchers who contributed largest contribution in the development of the theory of human capital, also include M. Blaug, M. Grossman, J. Mintzer, M. Perlman, L. Thurow, F. Welch, B. Chiswick, J. Kendrick, R. Solow, R. Lucas, Ts. Griliches, S. Fabrikant, I. Fisher, E. Denison and other economists, sociologists and historians. invested significant contribution Simon (Semyon) Kuznets, a native of Russia, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics for 1971. Among modern Russian researchers of human capital problems, one can note S.A. .A.Kurgansky and others.

The concept of "human capital" is based on two independent theories:

1) The theory of "investment in people" was the first of the ideas of Western economists about the reproduction of human productive abilities. Its authors are F. Machlup (Princeton University), B. Weisbrod (University of Wisconsin), R. Wikstra (University of Colorado), S. Bowles (Harvard University), M. Blaug (University of London), B. Fleischer (Ohio State University ), R. Campbell and B. Siegel (University of Oregon) and others. Economists of this movement proceed from the Keynesian postulate of the omnipotence of investments. The subject of the study of the concept under consideration is both the internal structure of the “human capital” itself and the specific processes of its formation and development.

M. Blaug believed that human capital is the present value of past investments in people's skills, and not the value of people in themselves.
From the point of view of W. Bowen, human capital consists of the acquired knowledge, skills, motivations and energy that human beings are endowed with and which can be used during certain period time to produce goods and services. F. Machlup wrote that unimproved labor may differ from improved, which has become more productive, thanks to investments that increase the physical and mental abilities of a person. Such improvements constitute human capital.

2) The authors of the theory of "production of human capital" are Theodor Schultz and Jorem Ben-Poret (University of Chicago), Gary Becker and Jacob Mintzer (Columbia University), L. Thurow (MIT), Richard Pelman (University of Wisconsin), Zvi Griliches (Harvard University) and others. This theory considered fundamental to Western economic thought.

Schultz (Schultz) Theodore-William (1902-1998) - American economist, laureate Nobel Prize(1979). Born near Arlington (South Dakota, USA). He studied at the college, graduate school of the University of Wisconsin, where in 1930. received a doctorate in economics Agriculture". He began teaching at Iowa State College. Four years later he headed the Department of Economic Sociology. Since 1943 and for nearly forty years he has been a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. He connected the activities of the teacher with active research work. In 1945, he prepared a collection of materials from the conference "Food for the World", which paid special attention to the factors of food supply, the structure and migration of agricultural labor, the professional qualifications of farmers, agricultural production technology and the direction of investment in farming. In "Agriculture in an Unstable Economy" (1945), he spoke out against the illiteracy of land, as it leads to soil erosion and other negative consequences for the agricultural economy.

In 1949-1967. T.-V. Schultz - Member of the Board of Directors of the National Bureau economic research USA, then - economic consultant International Bank reconstruction and development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), several government departments and organizations.

Among his best known works are " Agricultural Production and Welfare, Transforming Traditional Agriculture (1964), Investing in People: The Economics of Population Quality (1981) and etc.

The American Economic Association awarded T.-V. Schultz medal named after F. Volker. He is an honorary professor at the University of Chicago; he has received honorary degrees from the Universities of Illinois, Wisconsin, Dijon, Michigan, North Carolina and the Catholic University of Chile.

According to the theory of human capital, two factors interact in production - physical capital (means of production) and human capital (acquired knowledge, skills, energy that can be used in the production of goods and services). People spend money not only on fleeting pleasures, but also on monetary and non-monetary income in the future. Investments are made in human capital. These are the costs of maintaining health, getting an education, the costs associated with finding a job, obtaining the necessary information, migration, and vocational training at work. The value of human capital is estimated by the potential income that it is able to provide.

T.-V. Schulz claimed that human capital It is a form of capital because it is a source of future earnings or future satisfactions, or both. And he becomes human because he is an integral part of man.

According to the scientist, human resources are similar, on the one hand, to natural resources, and on the other hand, to material capital. Immediately after birth, a person, like Natural resources, has no effect. Only after appropriate "processing" does a person acquire the qualities of capital. That is, with the growth of costs for improving the quality of the labor force, labor as a primary factor is gradually transformed into human capital. T.-V. Schultz is convinced that, given the contribution of labor to output, human productive capacity is superior to all other forms of wealth combined. The peculiarity of this capital, according to the scientist, is that, regardless of the sources of formation (own, public or private), its use is controlled by the owners themselves.

The microeconomic foundation of the theory of human capital was laid by G.-S. Becker.

Becker (Becker) Harry-Stanley (born 1930) - American economist, Nobel Prize winner (1992). Born in Potsville (Pennsylvania, USA). In 1948 he studied at the J. Madison High School in New York. In 1951 he graduated from Princeton University. His scientific career is associated with Columbia (1957-1969) and Chicago Universities. In 1957 he defended his doctoral dissertation and became a professor.

Since 1970 G.-S. Becker served as chair of the social sciences and sociology department at the University of Chicago. He taught at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Collaborated with the weekly "Business Week".

He is an active supporter market economy. There are many works in his legacy: Economic theory Discrimination" (1957), "Treatise on the Family" (1985), "The Theory of Rational Expectations" (1988), "Human Capital" (1990), " Rational Expectations and consumption price effect” (1991), “Fertility and economics” (1992), “Training, labor, labor force quality and economics” (1992), etc.

The cross-cutting idea of the scientist’s works is that, making decisions in his own Everyday life, a person is guided by economic reasoning, although he is not always aware of it. He argues that the market of ideas and motives operates according to the same patterns as the market for goods: supply and demand, competition. This also applies to issues such as marriage, family, education, choice of profession. In his opinion, many psychological phenomena are also amenable to economic evaluation and measurement, such as, for example, satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the financial situation, the manifestation of envy, altruism, egoism, etc.

Opponents G.-S. Becker argue that by focusing on economic calculations, he downplays the importance of moral factors. However, the scientist has an answer to this: moral values are different for different people, and it will take a long time until they become the same, if this is ever possible. A person with any morality and intellectual level seeks to receive personal economic benefits.

In 1987 G.-S. Becker was elected president of the American Economic Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Sciences and Arts, the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Education, national and international societies, editor economic journals, as well as an honorary doctorate from Stanford, Chicago, Illinois, Hebrew Universities.

The starting point for G.-S. Becker had the idea that when investing in training and education, students and their parents act rationally, taking into account all the benefits and costs. Like "normal" entrepreneurs, they compare the expected marginal rate of return on such investments with the rate of return on alternative investments (percentages on bank deposits, dividends from valuable papers). Depending on what is more economically feasible, they decide whether to continue education or stop it. Rates of return regulate the distribution of investment between different types and levels of education, as well as between the education system and the rest of the economy. High rates of return indicate underinvestment, low rates indicate overinvestment.

G.-S. Becker carried out a practical calculation of the economic efficiency of education. For example, income from higher education is defined as the difference in lifetime earnings between those who graduated from college and those who did not go beyond high school. Among the costs of education, the main element was recognized as "lost earnings", that is, earnings that students did not receive during the years of study. (Essentially, lost earnings measure the value of students' time spent building their human capital.) Comparing the benefits and costs of education made it possible to determine the return on investment in a person.

G.-S. Becker believed that a low-skilled worker does not become a capitalist due to the diffusion (dispersal) of ownership of corporate shares (although this point of view is popular). This happens through the acquisition of knowledge and skills that have economic value. The scientist was convinced that lack of education is the most serious factor holding back economic growth.

The scientist insists on the difference between special and general investments in a person (and, more broadly, between general and specific resources in general). Special training gives the employee knowledge and skills that increase the future productivity of its recipient only in the firm that trains him (various forms of rotation programs, familiarizing newcomers with the structure and internal routine of the enterprise). In the process general training the employee acquires knowledge and skills that increase the productivity of its recipient, regardless of the firm in which he works (learning to work on a personal computer).

According to G.-S. Becker, investments in the education of citizens, in medical care, in particular in children's, in social programs, aimed at maintaining, supporting, replenishing personnel, are equivalent to investing in the creation or acquisition of new equipment or technologies, which in the future will be returned with the same profits. So, according to his theory, the support of schools and universities by entrepreneurs is not charity, but concern for the future of the state.

According to G.-S. Becker, general training is paid in a certain way by the workers themselves. In an effort to improve their qualifications, they accept lower wages during the training period, and later have income from general training. After all, if firms financed training, then every time such workers were fired, they would get rid of their investments in them. And vice versa, special training paid by firms, and they also receive income from it. In case of dismissal at the initiative of the company, the costs would be borne by employees. As a result, the general human capital, as a rule, is developed by special “firms” (schools, colleges), and the special one is formed directly at the workplace.

The term “special human capital” has helped explain why long-serving workers change jobs less often, and why firms tend to fill vacancies through internal job travel rather than through external recruitment.

Having studied the problems of human capital, G.-S. Becker became one of the founders of new sections of economic theory - the economics of discrimination, the economics of foreign economics, the economics of crime, etc. He threw a "bridge" from economics to sociology, demography, criminalistics; he was the first to introduce the principle of rational and optimal behavior in those industries where, as researchers previously believed, habits and irrationality dominated.

Labor power is the main driving factor in the production process, and social reproduction in a broad, national economic aspect is the resumption of the production of goods and the reproduction of labor power itself. These points have invariably attracted the attention of theoretical economists.

The pioneers of human capital as a holistic concept, T. Schultz and G. Becker, focused on investments in human capital and evaluation of their effectiveness. This is understandable, since the investments of funds turn a resource into capital, make a simple good a capital good. Investments in improving human abilities lead to an increase in labor productivity, to an increase in income, incl. to an increase in the wages of the worker. This means that there is a reproduction and cumulative accumulation of income with the help of human abilities, which turns them into special form capital.

L. Thurow, who summarized the first studies of human capital as a starting concept, gives the following definition: "The human capital of people is their ability to produce goods and services." This definition preserves the classical tradition of recognizing the importance of the role of the ability to work. But among the abilities, L. Thurow singles out the genetically basic economic ability. “Economic capacity,” he writes, is not just another productive investment that an individual has. Economic ability affects the productivity of all other investments.” From this follows an important provision about the need for the unity of life as a source of formation and accumulation of human capital: “In essence, - notes L. Turow, - consumption, production and investment are joint products of human activity to support life.”

A. Smith wrote that "an increase in the productivity of useful labor depends, first of all, on increasing the dexterity and skill of the worker, and then on improving the machines and tools with which he worked."

He believed that the fixed capital consists of machines and other tools of labor, of buildings, of land, and "of the acquired and useful abilities of all inhabitants and members of society." He noted that “the acquisition of such abilities, considering also the maintenance of their owner during his upbringing, training or apprenticeship, always requires real costs, which are fixed capital, as if realized in his personality. These abilities, being part of the fortune of a certain person, at the same time become part of the wealth of the society to which this person belongs. Great dexterity or skill of the worker can be considered from the same point of view as machines and instruments of production, which reduce or lighten labor and which, although they require certain expenses, return these expenses along with profit.

Analogies with the capitalization of tangible assets made it possible to overcome distrust in the unusual concept of "human capital". I. Ben-Poret wrote that human capital can be considered as a special "fund whose functions are the production of labor services in generally accepted units of measurement and which in this capacity is similar to any machine as a representative of material capital."

However, human capabilities as a capital good are fundamentally different from the physical properties of machines. “The analogies between human capital and physical capital are interesting and exciting,” notes L. Turow. “However, human capital cannot be analyzed in the same way as physical capital.” F. Machlup proposes to distinguish between primary and advanced abilities. “... Unimproved labor,” he writes, “must be distinguished from improved labor, which has become more productive thanks to investments that increase the physical and mental capacity of a person. Such improvements constitute human capital.” In the future, Western scientists discussed the composition and structure of human abilities that are profitable to capitalize, determined the sequence and return on investment in human capital.

K. Marx considered human production - consumer production - as the second type of social production.

In this process of consumer production, the labor force is not only reproduced, but also improved and developed. There is a kind of “accumulation” of the productive power of labor, the creative abilities of a person, and to a greater extent just mental abilities.

The result of the production of physical and mental abilities for work is a developed labor force capable of skilled labor. The complexity and quality of labor are characteristics of the labor force itself.

K. Marx wrote: “Labor, which has the meaning of higher, more complex labor compared to average social labor, is a manifestation of such a labor force, the formation of which requires higher costs, the production of which requires more working time and which, therefore, has a higher cost than simple labor. If the value of this force is higher, then it manifests itself in higher labor and is embodied, therefore, at equal intervals of time in comparatively higher values.

It is quite clear that the physical and intellectual development of people, their state of health, professional training depend on the volume and structure of nutrition, the rationality of clothing, on the volume and structure of consumption of household services, health services, education, culture, professional education.

The processes of development of a person's personality and his ability to work are studied by representatives of various sciences - doctors, psychologists, sociologists, economists, but so far these studies have not been sufficiently comprehensive, systematic. Until recently, a significant part of economists underestimated the impact of the consumption of material goods and services by the population on the development of a person's ability to work.

Under the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution, there was a shortage of highly qualified personnel, and in the 1950s the center of gravity of research shifted from the processes of using the existing labor force to the processes of creating a qualitatively new labor force. Structural changes in the total labor force, interest in factors of economic growth and economic dynamics were the reasons for the emergence and development of the theory of human capital. Its origins can be seen in the works of W. Petty, A. Smith, D.S. Milla, J.B. Say, N. Senior, F. List, I.G. von Thünen, U. Bagehot, E. Engel, G. Sidgwick, L. Walras, I. Fischer and other economists of past centuries. In the 50-90s of the XX century. this theory was formed and developed in the works of T. Schulz, G. Becker, B. Weisbrod, J. Mintzer, L. Hansen, M. Blaug, S. Bowles, J. Ben-Porat, R. Layard, J. Psacharopoulos, F Welch, B. Chiswick and others.

This theory is developed within the framework of the neoclassical direction of Western political economy and is used in the study of such areas as education, health care, family and other areas of non-market activity.

"Human capital" - as most Western economists define it - consists of the acquired knowledge, skills, motivations and energies that human beings are endowed with and that can be used over a period of time to produce goods and services.

It is a form of capital because it is the source of future earnings, or future satisfactions, or both. It is human, because it is an integral part of a person.

Proponents of human capital theory have developed quantitative methods for analyzing the effectiveness of investments in education, health care, training, migration, childbirth and childcare and their monetary return to society and the family. The main focus of this analysis is on human productive abilities and income differentiation caused by different levels investment in their production.

Opponents of this direction are conservative psychologists and economists, who attribute the leading role in the differentiation of abilities to a hereditary, biological factor. They believe that explaining the entire difference in income among people with different levels of training and education leads to an overestimation of the effect of education.

Both of these explanations of the reasons for the differentiation of the ability to work and, accordingly, the incomes of the population have been criticized by radical economists. In their opinion, education acts as a mediator that transforms inequality in social origin into income inequality.

The transmission from generation to generation of economic inequality in a capitalist society, in their opinion, occurs both through the transfer of ties in the business world, and through the assimilation of value attitudes, motivations and stereotypes of behavior.

Therefore, if workers with different behavioral characteristics are required at different levels of the production hierarchy, and if the development of these characteristics is carried out mainly in the family, then social origin may be the most important reason for the reproduction of economic inequality.

Thus, Western economists, despite the considerable effort expended on the development of labor theory and sophisticated techniques statistical analysis differentiation of incomes and the factors that cause them, could not complete the creation of a coherent and factual theory.

The theoretical positions of Russian scientists are distinguished by a clearer distinction between the essence, content, forms or types, conditions for the formation, reproduction and accumulation of human capital. MM. Kritsky, one of the first to carry out a positive study of the category of "human capital", defined it "as a universally specific form of human life, assimilating the previous forms of consumption and production, adequate to the eras of the appropriating and producing economy, and carried out as the result of the historical movement of human society towards its current state". Recognition of the universality, historicity and specificity of human capital makes it possible to limit the time frame and socio-economic conditions for the existence of such a phenomenon as human capital.

In further studies, M.M. Kritsky concretizes the socio-economic content of the category "human capital". First, the decisive role of science and education in modern production turns material capital into one of the forms of manifestation of intellectual capital. Secondly, the only legal and socially recognized monopoly is the monopoly on intellectual property, on exclusive copyright. Thirdly, there was a rejection of the interpretation of property only as a property relationship and the expansion of intellectual property rights to intangible assets.

The views of M. Kritsky are developed in the works of L.G. Simkina. It considers historically consistent forms of enrichment of life activity both in consumption and in production. The source and form of enrichment in human life is intellectual activity. “Human capital,” writes L.G. Simkin - defined by us as time-based enrichment of life is the main attitude of the modern innovative economic system. Since intellectual activity is a source of increased consumption, since its expanded reproduction is the reproduction of the main economic relations- human capital, as self-enrichment of life”. The disclosure of the absolute and relative forms of enrichment of life through the elevation of needs and abilities, allows L.G. Simkina to determine the historically specific form of human capital “The productive form of human capital,” she writes, “acts as an organic unity of two components - direct labor and intellectual activity. These parts can act either as functions of the same subject, or as organizational and economic forms of different subjects entering into an exchange of activity with each other.

A group of scientists led by Abalkin L.I., who study the problem of the strategic development of Russia in the new century, consider human capital as the sum of innate abilities, general and special education, acquired professional experience, creativity, moral, psychological and physical health, motives of activity that provide the opportunity bring income. Proceeding from this, socio-economic progress is determined, first of all, by new knowledge obtained by research workers and mastered in the future in the process of education and professional training and retraining of workers. The main areas of activity that form human capital are the scientific and educational complex, the health care system, areas that directly form the conditions of life and life.

Kostyuk V.N., exploring socio-economic processes and developing his concept of the theory of evolution, defines human capital as an individual ability of a person that allows him to successfully operate in conditions of uncertainty. It includes rational and intuitive components in the composition of human capital. Their interaction can allow the owner of human capital to succeed where high qualifications and professionalism alone are not enough. Additionally, talent is needed, which requires a separate reward. For this reason, in a competitive market, the success of the owner of human capital in a certain type of activity can be rewarded with an amount significantly higher than wages in the relevant industry.

Klimov S.M., analyzing the intellectual resources of an organization, defines human capital as a set of human abilities that enable their carrier to receive income. This quality makes human capital related to other forms of capital functioning in social production. This capital is formed on the basis of the innate qualities of a person through purposeful investments in its development.

Korogodin I.T. investigating the mechanisms of functioning of the social and labor sphere defines human capital as a set of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other abilities of a person, formed, accumulated and improved as a result of investment in the process of his life, necessary for a specific expedient activity and contributing to the growth of the productive power of labor. He believes that the most important criterion expressing the essence of capital is its accumulation. In all cases, capital is the accumulated funds (monetary, material, informational, etc.), from which people expect to derive income. The concept of human capital is not part of this definition either. Numerous statements of the founders of the theory of human capital boil down to the fact that people increase their abilities as producers and consumers by investing in themselves, and significant growth capital investments per person changes the structure of his income. Therefore, human capital is not innate, but accumulated properties of a person. A person cannot be born with a ready-made capital. It must be created in the process of life of each individual. And innate properties can only act as a factor contributing to the fruitful formation of human capital.

The socio-economic form of human capital and its qualitative certainty are characterized by A.N. Dobrynin with S.A. Dyatlov. “Human capital,” they write, “is a form of manifestation of human productive forces in a market economy ... an adequate form of organization of human productive forces included in the system of a socially oriented market economy as a leading, creative factor in social reproduction.”

The term "human capital" first appeared in the 1980s. in the works of Nobel laureates T. Schultz and G. Becker. They defined "human capital" as economic evaluation abilities of a person, including his talent, education, acquired qualifications, innate abilities, to bring him income.

T. Schultz noted that all human abilities are either innate or acquired. Each person is born with a certain set of genes that determines his character, behavior, predisposition to certain types of activities, in other words, his innate abilities. In the process of its growth and development, a person acquires new knowledge, learns to adapt to his environment. Acquired by man valuable qualities, which can be strengthened by appropriate investments, T. Schultz called human capital. People increase their stock of human capital by investing in themselves, which subsequently changes the income structure, so human capital is not limited to innate abilities, but also includes accumulated knowledge and skills, which, lying on the basis of innate abilities, lead to development and the formation of a new level of human capital.

As already mentioned, the formation of the concept of human capital was associated with the so-called broad interpretation of national and capital, which goes back to the ideas of the American economist of the early 20th century. I. Fisher.

He proposed to consider as capital everything that meets the following criterion: generating a stream of income for a certain time, and any income is always the product of some kind of capital. In this case, capital is any stock of goods that can be accumulated, used for a sufficiently long period of time and generate income.

The broad concept of national wealth refers to investment in human capital, including the cost of a person to maintain health. The modern worker leases his labor to the entrepreneur, which acts as a commodity bought by the entrepreneur along with other acquired assets necessary for running the business.

Continuing the concept of I. Fisher, human abilities, knowledge, skills should be considered special on the basis that they:

They are integral to the personality of its carrier - the individual;
- have the ability to reproduce, which provides their carrier with a higher income in the future, which for an individual can be both in monetary terms (more high income), and represent a psychological gain, and for society as a whole it consists in an additional increase in production, an increase in production rates, the appearance of better products on the market, etc.
- require from the individual and from the whole society as a whole investments for their formation;
- able to accumulate and form a certain reserve.

AT economic literature There are many different definitions of the term "human capital". Below are some of them.

Human capital "consists of the acquired knowledge, skills, motivations and energy that human beings are endowed with and that can be used over a certain period of time for purposes, the production of goods and services," W. Born wrote.

John Stuart Mill, speaking of a person, noted the following: “I do not consider a person himself as wealth. But his acquired abilities, which exist only as a means and are generated by labor, with good reason, I believe, fall into this category", "... the skill, energy and perseverance of the workers of the country are considered as much its wealth as their tools and cars."

Edwin J. Dolan defines human capital as "capital in the form of mental abilities obtained through format training or education, or through practical experience."

O. Toffler considers the most significant step in our era to be the emergence of a new system of obtaining wealth, using not the physical strength of a person, but his mental abilities. The scientist introduces the concept of "symbolic capital" - knowledge - which, unlike traditional forms of capital, is inexhaustible and simultaneously available to an infinite number of users without restrictions.

Domestic economist M.M. Kritsky defined human capital as follows: "Human capital initially acts as a universal concrete form of life activity, assimilating previous forms, ... and being realized as a result of the historical movement to its current state."

MM. Kritsky, considered human capital as the main production relation of modern society in its formal modifications, he singled out the following converted forms: production, consumer and intellectual.

J. Ben-Poret wrote that human capital can be considered as a special “fund whose functions are the production of labor services in generally accepted units of measurement and which in this capacity is similar to an evil machine as a representative of material capital”, he classified human capital depending on the initial signs.

Considered it to be:

The qualities and abilities of people involved in the production of human capital itself;
- that part of the capital, "whose services are offered on the market ... and which are an investment in the production of other goods and services."

G. Becker divided human capital into general and special. The concept of “special human capital” means capital embodied in knowledge that is associated with a particular firm and is of interest only to the firm where it was obtained, and does not have value for working in another company (knowledge of the internal structure of the company, document flow, etc.). .e). Unlike specific human capital, “general human capital” includes knowledge and skills that can be used in any job (knowledge of the basic accounting, Russian legislation etc).

I. Ilyinsky classified the types of human capital according to the types of costs for its development and thus singled out the following components: education capital, health capital and culture capital.

As noted by the American and English economist of Dutch origin, the famous historian of economic thought Mark Blaug, “The concept of human capital, or the “hard core” of the human capital research program, is the idea that people spend resources on themselves in various ways - not only to meet current needs, but also for the sake of future monetary and non-monetary income. They can invest in their health; can voluntarily acquire additional education; may spend time looking for a job with the highest possible pay instead of accepting the first offer that comes across; can buy information about vacancies; may migrate to take advantage of better employment opportunities; finally, they may choose low-paying jobs with better learning opportunities instead of high-paying jobs with no development prospects.”

In general, in the economic literature, human capital is usually understood as the stock of health, knowledge, skills, experience that a person has, which are used in production in order to obtain high level earnings.

Thus, human capital:

First, it represents the accumulated stock of skills, knowledge, abilities;
secondly, such a stock of skills, knowledge, abilities, which is expediently used by a person in a particular area of social reproduction, contributes to growth and production, the introduction of economically sound innovations;
thirdly, the use of this reserve leads to an increase in the earnings (income) of the employee, which, in turn, motivates a person to make further investments in his health, education, etc., to increase his stock of skills, knowledge and motivation in order to be able to apply it effectively.

It should be noted the importance of such an element of human capital as motivation, which is the source of everything we do. Motivation can explain the situation when a person makes a choice in favor of a less well-paid job, which, nevertheless, can give him more opportunities for development and gaining valuable experience. Being motivated for the future, a person decides to continue his education instead of going to work and start earning on his own. It is motivation that allows us to overcome time constraints in order to receive benefits in the future.

From the point of view of the functional-target approach to analysis economic phenomena human capital is a certain stock of health, knowledge, skills, abilities, motivations formed as a result of investments and accumulated by a person, which are expediently used in one or another area of social reproduction, contribute to the growth of labor productivity and thereby affect the growth of earnings (income) this person.

The concept of "human capital" was continued in the studies of J. Akerlof, who in 1970 wrote the article "The Lemon Market". In this paper, J. Akerlof proposed the theory of deteriorating market selection resulting from the asymmetric distribution of information between economic entities. J. Akerlof considered the asymmetry of information on the example of the car market, where old used cars were called "lemons". They were worn out (“squeezed out”), as a result of which they were sold cheaper than new ones, however, according to their appearance it was difficult to determine the degree of deterioration. Thus, a situation arose when the seller was much better aware of the quality of the goods than the buyer. If the buyer has insufficient information about the characteristics of the car, and the seller, having the intention to get rid of worst case, will lead the buyer to purchase the product he needs, then in conditions of incomplete information, consumers are likely to make a choice that is not the best for them. Thus, if negative screening (worsening selection) operates on the market, then, in the end, the market will be destroyed and only bad cars will remain on it. With regard to the theory of "human capital", it was demonstrated that the value of "human capital" is additional tool, eliminating the asymmetry in the distribution of information between and employees and allowing the employer to avoid the so-called "pig in a poke" problem when hiring.

Today in Russia there are two most effective and valuable resources on which the economy rests - these are natural resources and human capital. The 21st century is designated as the century of knowledge, science, high technology and tough international. In many industries, the most significant resource for the development of a company is its ability to innovate, and we are talking not only about science-intensive industries. At present, competitive advantages are not always associated with production technology, very often they move to the stage of marketing, R&D, management and financial innovation. Benefits in physical conditions production is not as important as it was a few decades ago. AT modern world intangible assets come first: skills, experience, staff qualifications, innovative opportunities firms, know-how. Many successful companies they rely on education, training, staff motivation systems, career advancement, in other words, on intellectual capital. Intellectual capital is becoming the most significant factor of competitiveness; in the structure of production costs, intangible components occupy an increasing share, similarly as in the structure of total capital commercial organization Intellectual Capital In recent years, intellectual capital has come to dominate.

A knowledge-based economy, in other words, an innovative economy, is a natural result of the development of productive forces in the course of scientific and technological progress, which leads to an increase in the role of knowledge, when the intellectual and creative abilities of a person become the main wealth of society, a source of innovation. The spread of scientific and technological achievements, development provide productivity growth, and the source of these innovations is always a person.

The main factor in the formation and development of the knowledge economy is creative, innovative human capital, and the process of developing the knowledge economy is to improve the quality of human capital, the development of high technologies, the introduction of innovations and the establishment of high requirements for the quality of services and goods.

The education of people contributes to the rallying of the nation, the strengthening of social unity.

Investments in higher education lead to the formation of highly qualified specialists, whose work has greatest influence on economic growth and innovation. Education is necessary for the formation, dissemination and application of knowledge, the creation of scientific and technical potential, it is no coincidence that investments in science, the development of new technologies have become the most efficient way to use resources.

Education is a fundamental factor in the development of an innovative economy. Well-educated and qualified people are the source of knowledge creation, dissemination and effective use, therefore it is very important that the education system be universal on the one hand, and flexible and market-oriented on the other hand.

In connection with the changes taking place in the economy, values also change, so standardization gives way to the diversity and variability underlying innovative development, in the work of an individual, not only his ability to perform current tasks well, but also his ability to think creatively, generate new ideas, do not stop there. An important aspect the organization's activity is the formation of a special culture that contributes to the formation of new knowledge.

In the period of increased competition, most countries of the world are making every effort to strengthen the scientific and technological potential, accelerate the pace of scientific and technological development. The role of the company in the activity of modern technologies, non-price factors of competitiveness come to the fore, of which the quality of the product, its novelty and science intensity are important. The main competitive advantage of the company follows from the development of skills, gaining experience, innovative solutions various issues, in other words, from the quality of the workforce, the human capital of the company.

Thus, at the present stage of scientific, technical and social economic development it is necessary to rethink the role and place of a person, create conditions for the effective use of new incentives and mechanisms for innovative development, one of which is human capital. Particularly noticeable and important has become the role of man in modern society when the production, sales, development of new technologies is increasingly dependent on the creative potential of a person, so the new economy requires new ideas, thoughts, approaches, which are carried by a person, so the main task today is to preserve the accumulated human capital and create favorable conditions for the further development of human abilities.

Human capital is a special economic category, the main research problem of which is the specific nature of human capital, due to the totality of a person’s physical and mental abilities that determine his ability to work.

The most common definition of human capital is:

Human capital is a set of knowledge, skills and abilities used to meet the diverse needs of a person and society as a whole.

This approach reflects the main components of human capital, which are intelligence, health, knowledge, quality and productive work and quality of life.

It can be interpreted as a special capital in the form of intellectual abilities and practical skills acquired in the process of education and practical activities of a person. This interpretation points to the fact that the presence of human capital means the ability of people to participate in production.

Specific features of the concept of human capital are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - The concept of human capital

The ability of people to participate in production determines the interest in the concept of human capital on the part of enterprises, since effective use human capital ensures economic growth, i.e. an increase in the volume of created utilities, therefore, the level of economic activity enterprises.

The concept of human capital is defined within several concepts, including economic theory, personnel management, which in turn delineates management by human resourses and human capital management. Thus, human capital manifests itself directly as capital and as a special resource. From the point of view of the essential content of the nature of human capital, this concept affects a wide range of categories of people management science.

The difference in terminology is due to the inclusion in the concepts of "people management" and "personnel management" of two interrelated concepts of human capital and human resources. The philosophy and applied aspects of personnel management are decisive for both human capital and human resources, while managerial influence in the theory of people management is aimed at building human resource and human capital management systems.

The relationship between these aspects is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - Relationship between aspects of people management

The theory of human capital was developed by economists, among whom the greatest contribution to the development was made by T. Schultz and his follower G. Becker. They were laid methodological foundations and the main elements of the theory of human capital.

The table shows several definitions of the concept of human capital by foreign authors.

The concept of human capital

		Definition of "human capital"
		All human resources and abilities are either innate or acquired. Each person is born with an individual complex of genes that determines his innate human potential. The valuable qualities acquired by a person, which can be enhanced by appropriate investments, we call human capital. Consider all human faculties either innate or acquired. Properties that are valuable and can be developed with appropriate investment will be human capital.
		Human capital is the human factor in an organization, it is the combined intelligence, skills and expertise that give an organization its distinctive character.
	Scarborough and Elias	The concept of human capital is most often viewed as a bridging concept, i.e. the relationship between human resource practices and the quality of a company's performance in terms of assets rather than business processes. Human capital is a non-standardized, implicit, dynamic, context-dependent and unique resource embodied in people.
	Davenport	Human capital is the knowledge, skills and abilities of people who create value. People have innate abilities, behavior and personal energy, and these elements form human capital. The owners of human capital are employees, not their employers.
		Human capital creates the added value that people make for an organization. Therefore, human capital is a condition of competitive advantage.

Schultz argued that "the well-being of people does not depend on land, technology or their efforts, but rather on knowledge." It was this qualitative aspect of the economy that he defined as "human capital". Its foreign apologists followed a similar approach, gradually expanding the interpretation of human capital.

In general, human capital is the main factor in the formation and development of the innovation economy and the knowledge economy, as the next stage of socio-economic development.

Human capital is the result of various types of human activity: education, upbringing, labor skills. The costs of acquiring knowledge are regarded as investments that form capital, which will subsequently bring its owner regular profit in the form of higher earnings, prestigious and interesting work, an increase in social status, etc.

The role of human capital is manifested through social institutions, which makes it possible to analyze not only social parameters, but also to study the influence of social factors on the market economy.

Theory of human capital

Human capital theory focuses on the added value that people can create for an organization. It views people as a valuable asset and emphasizes that an organization's investment in people generates returns that are worth the investment. Sustained competitive advantage can only be achieved when a firm has a pool of human resources that its competitors cannot imitate or replicate by hiring workers with competitively valuable knowledge and skills, many of which are difficult to articulate.

For an employer, investing in staff training and development is a means of attracting and retaining human capital, as well as a way to get higher returns on these investments. These revenues are expected to come from improved performance, flexibility and the ability to innovate as a result of improved knowledge and competence. Thus, the theory of human capital allows us to objectively state the following:

Knowledge, skills and abilities are key factors that determine the success of an individual company and the country's economy as a whole.

At the same time, there is a point of view that rejects the approach to human capital as an asset, by analogy with financial and fixed capital. Michael Armstrong in his book "Policy of Human Resource Management" pointed out the following aspect. "Employees, especially qualified employees, consider themselves independent agents who themselves have the right to choose how to manage their talents, time and energy. In this regard, companies cannot manage and, moreover, own human capital. Nevertheless, companies have certain opportunities to effectively use human capital through organizational and economic methods.

The essence of the theory of human capital is that the main form of wealth is the knowledge materialized in a person and his ability to work effectively.

Theory of human capital includes the following in this concept:

a set of skills and abilities acquired by a person and his possession of certain knowledge in various fields;
income growth leads to a person's interest in further investment in human capital;
the feasibility of using human knowledge in various activities in order to increase labor productivity and production efficiency;
the use of human capital leads to an increase in a person's income at the expense of his labor earnings in the future by giving up some current needs;
all abilities, knowledge, skills and abilities are an inseparable part of the person himself;
a necessary condition for the formation, accumulation and use of human capital is human motivation.

The main position of the theory of human capital is the assertion that the ability of an employee or a group of employees to achieve a better result leads to an increase in their wages. For the accumulation and use of human capital, it is necessary to spend on health care, education, vocational, technical training and other activities that increase productivity and quality of work.

G. Becker introduced the term "special human capital". Special capital refers to only certain skills that a person can use in any particular type of activity. In particular, all professional skills of a person belong to special capital. Thus, "special or specific human capital is knowledge, skills that can be used only in a particular workplace, only in a particular company." This implies the need for special professional training, i.e. obtaining knowledge, acquiring skills and abilities that increase special human capital.

According to the theory of human capital, the process of its reproduction has three stages:

Stages of reproduction of human capital

		Description
	Formation	In the first stage, a person is educated. This is the basic stage for human capital, during which knowledge, skills and abilities are acquired. The further type of activity, place in society and the level of income of a person will depend on this. Education is the main investment in human capital, as there is a high correlation between the value of the education received and the value of human capital.
	Accumulation	Further accumulation of human capital occurs in the process of labor activity, enriching a person with professional skills that will help increase the efficiency of his labor activity and increase income. At this stage, special human capital grows.
	Usage	The use of human capital is expressed through the participation of a person in production, for which he receives a reward in the form of wages. At the same time, the size of human capital directly affects the level of income.

The theory of human capital indicates that this process is continuous and for the remuneration received, a person can make additional investments in his capital, through further vocational training, improving one's qualifications, etc. This will increase the level of income, which is the main incentive for the constant increase in human capital.

The structure of human capital depends on the nature of a person's activity, his specialization, including industry, the dynamics of labor income, etc. It should be noted that the structure of the human capital of a particular person may change over time. This happens depending on the actions taken by a person, the expansion of his knowledge and skills, or vice versa, specialization in one direction.

The value of human capital is defined as the present value of all future labor income of a person, including income that will be paid pension funds. "The value of human capital is influenced by the age (work horizon) of a person, his income, possible income variability, taxes, the rate of wage indexation for inflation, the size of upcoming pension payments, as well as the discount rate of income, which is partly determined by the type of human capital (more precisely, the risks associated with it)" .

Thus, in the theory of human capital, this concept acts as a product of production, represents the knowledge, skills, skills that a person acquires in the process of learning and work, and like any other type of capital, has the ability to accumulate.

As a rule, the process of accumulation of human capital is longer than the process of accumulation of physical capital. These are processes: training at school, university, in production, advanced training, self-education, that is, continuous processes. If the accumulation of physical capital lasts, as a rule, 1–5 years, then the process of accumulation in human capital takes 12–20 years.

The accumulation of scientific and educational potential, which underlies human capital, has significant differences from the accumulation of material resources. At the initial stage, human capital, due to the gradual accumulation of production experience, has a low value, which does not decrease, but accumulates (unlike physical capital). The process of increasing the value of intellectual capital is the opposite of the process of depreciation of physical capital.

Human capital concept

Given the nature economic activity modern companies, it can be noted that for them human capital is of particular importance, since it is through its use that companies can carry out innovative activities in any form. Production, commercial, management and general business projects lead to the creation and implementation of organizational and economic advantages that the company already has.

It proceeds from the position that human capital is a fundamentally important asset for enterprises, since the development and implementation of innovations without its presence is not possible in modern socio-economic conditions. Taken together, human capital appears to be a key asset of an organization, without which it cannot exist in a modern development national economic system.

Thus, according to the concept of human capital, for modern company this asset is of particular importance, as it allows to effectively implement innovations in practice, introduce them into production, commercial, management activities, as well as create organizational and economic advantages.

Human capital reflects the potential available to ensure growth in intensity, efficiency and rationalization professional activity person. The presence of human capital implies the ability of people to participate in production.

Human capital concept considers this phenomenon as a special economic category, which is a combination of intellectual abilities, acquired knowledge, professional skills, and abilities that a person receives as a result of training, experience and practical activities.

At the same time, human capital, being a factor in the development of a person's potential, leads to a direct and indirect increase in labor productivity at existing enterprises, as well as an increase in the efficiency of their activities through the use of existing human capital. In fact, human capital is a priority factor in the innovative type of economic development, since enterprises are able to achieve great success in their economic activities, developing it through the use of human capital.

In a holistic concept of human capital, approaches to its assessment are based on various models of an organizational and managerial nature that use qualitative and quantitative parameters for assessment. At the same time, the ability of an enterprise that evaluates human capital is usually limited by its ability to create such an assessment system that would allow an objective assessment of the available human capital, in addition, the needs for assessment may differ from enterprise to enterprise. It should be noted that the most formalized approaches are those based on quantitative parameters and cost indicators for assessing human capital, while purely managerial models do not allow an enterprise to assess it accurately enough, since they operate only with qualitative or natural characteristics. Consequently, human capital concept operates with qualitative and quantitative characteristics of this asset.

Factors of human capital development

Factors in the development of human capital include the following combinations of individual and industrial activities:

The combination of natural abilities and physical energy acquired as a result of training and life activity with their demand in production with subsequent optimal costs.
The combination of knowledge and experience used by man in the field of social reproduction, with an increase in labor productivity and an increase in production efficiency.
The stock of knowledge, abilities and skills is accumulated in the process of an appropriate combination of production activities and the appropriate motivation of the employee.
Increase individual income combined with the reproduction of human capital in the broadest sense (additional education, professional retraining reinvested in productive activities).

There is a process of circulation: the actual human capital contributes to the efficiency of production, efficient production invests in the development of human capital. Consequently, the factors of development of human capital and their actual impact on the development of capital have the character of a cyclically repeating process. This process is endless, since the desire to increase individual and national wealth has no upper limit.

Factors in the development of human capital determine the algorithm on which the development of human capital is based, this algorithm is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - Development of human capital

The process of human capital development is organizational and complex. The renewal of human capital is accompanied by the development of the capabilities and abilities of the individual with their subsequent implementation. Therefore, the motives that influence this process can be both material and spiritual.

It can be rightly argued that the main motives for the development of human capital are the following:

physiological motives.
security motives,
social motives,
reasons for respect
self-esteem motives.

Due to the increase in the individual incomes of the owners of human capital, the economic growth of the country's economy occurs - this is how one can characterize the impact of human capital on economic growth.

The individual skills and experience that an individual is endowed with can lead him to make informed human rights decisions - such is the impact of security needs on the development of human capital. Reasonable rational decisions of most people create an atmosphere of security in society.

By increasing individual labor productivity, a person is able to perform the work that has great social value - this is how social motives influence the development of human capital.

New ideas, scientific developments, introduced into practice, increase respect for the people who proposed and implemented them - such is the influence of the motive of respect on the development of human capital.

The development of intelligence and the generation of new technical and technological ideas lead a person to self-respect.

The role of human capital for economic growth and enterprise development

The value of capital invested in material resources is reduced. The efficiency of agriculture, the food industry is less and less determined tangible assets: the size of land holdings, industrial buildings, machines, equipment; to a greater extent, the value of enterprises is formed by "intangible resources" - ideas, entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of personnel, strategic and intellectual association of partners, etc. The main thing that resources are spent on is the generation of ideas, the search for information, its processing, their rapid practical application for the production of products and profits.

Indeed, in order to realize the desire to accelerate economic growth, eliminate poverty and move to an innovative type of development, it is necessary today to start creating a system that would stimulate investment in human capital. The accumulation of human capital and its subsequent use will solve the problems of economic growth at the level of the national economic system.

Among the features of accumulation and financial injections into human capital in Russia, it is necessary to note the positive trends in the growth of the number of workers who increase their human capital by improving their qualifications and acquiring new professional skills. This is definitely a plus. At the same time, the general low culture among workers and employers regarding the refinancing of human capital is a limiting condition for intensive economic growth. In modern conditions, human capital in Russia is the main factor in the intensification of economic growth.

Human capital, which itself is a factor in the development of enterprises, can act as an integrative basis for the growth of enterprises in modern conditions (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - Human capital as a factor in the growth and development of enterprises

Thus, a system of interrelated elements can be traced: the development of the economy and social factors in society makes it possible to "activate" the factors of human capital development, leading to an increase in labor productivity in enterprises, an increase in the efficiency of enterprises through the introduction of new technologies and investment in personnel. Consequently, the importance of human capital for an enterprise is manifested in its ability to ensure economic development. An economic entity succeeds by developing its production and commercial activities taking into account human capital.

Among the typical problems associated with the use of human capital in enterprises, the following can be distinguished:

First, the low level of development of the human capital assessment system, which is often limited to the traditional approach.

Secondly, the low degree of use of the human capital of the enterprise leads to a decrease in the efficiency and productivity of labor, the use of the working time fund.

Thirdly, there is often an insufficiently thought-out policy for the use labor resources and human capital in general, or this policy is absent altogether.

Consequently, in modern conditions, it is required to implement measures at enterprises aimed at eliminating typical problems and shortcomings and forming objective approaches to the system for assessing, developing and using human capital.

findings

Human capital is a combination of the following factors:

qualities that a person brings to his work: intelligence, energy, positivity, reliability, devotion;
a person's ability to learn: giftedness, imagination, creative personality, ingenuity ("how to do things");
motivation of a person to share information and knowledge: team spirit and goal orientation.

Despite the fact that knowledge has always been one of the most important conditions for the development of production, the uniqueness modern stage It lies precisely in the accumulation of knowledge by mankind in such quantity, in which they have passed into a new quality, turning into the main factor of production.

Literature

Shultz T. Investments in human capital. – M.: Publishing House of the Higher School of Economics, 2003.
Becker G. Human behavior: an economic approach. – M.: Publishing House of the Higher School of Economics, 2003.
Management / ed. V.E. Lankin. - Taganrog: TRTU, 2006.
Avdulova T.P. Management. – M.: GEOTAR-Media, 2013.
Alaverdov A.A. Management of human resources of the organization. – M.: Synergy, 2012.
Bazarov T.Yu. Personnel Management. – M.: Yurayt, 2014.
Vesnin V.R. Human resource management. – M.: Prospekt, 2014.
Golovanova E.N. Investments in the human capital of the enterprise. – M.: Infra-M, 2011.
Gruzkov I.V. Reproduction of human capital in the conditions of the formation of the innovative economy of Russia. Theory, methodology, management. – M.: Economics, 2013.
Mau V.A. Development of human capital. – M.: Delo, 2013.
Hugheslid M. How to manage human capital to implement the strategy. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2012.

Man, his abilities and creative qualities, with the help of which he transforms himself and the world around him, has traditionally occupied a central place in the social and economic sciences. At the same time, the intensive development of the material and technical base of production associated with the industrial revolution overshadowed the problems of human development and its productive abilities, creating the illusion of the superiority of physical capital in ensuring economic growth. As a consequence of this, for many years the productive abilities of a person were considered and evaluated as one of the quantitative factors of production. The main task was only to successfully combine labor, fixed and circulating capital.

Modern conditions of globalization of the world economy, informatization production processes again drew the attention of economists to the internal abilities of a person - the level of education, creativity, health, general culture and morality, etc. That is why in recent years, research in the field of human capital has become increasingly relevant.

The problem of human capital development has deep roots in the history of economic thought. First attempt to evaluate monetary value The productive qualities of a person were made by V. Petty, the founder of English classical political economy. He noted that the wealth of society depends on the nature of people's occupations, distinguishing between useless occupations and occupations that "improve the qualifications of people and dispose them to this or that type of activity, which in itself is of great importance."

V. Petty also saw great benefit in public education. His view was that "schools and universities should be so organized as to prevent the ambitions of privileged parents from flooding these institutions with dullards, and so that the really brightest may be chosen as pupils."

Later, the idea of human capital is reflected in A. Smith's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). He considered the productive qualities of the worker as the main engine of economic progress before. A. Smith wrote that "an increase in the productivity of useful labor depends entirely on increasing the dexterity and skill of the worker, and then on improving the machines and tools with which he worked."

A. Smith believed that the fixed capital consists of machines and other tools, buildings, land and "acquired and useful abilities of all residents and members of society." He drew attention to the fact that "the acquisition of such abilities, considering also the maintenance of their owner during his upbringing, training or apprenticeship, always requires real costs, which represent a fixed capital, as if realized in his personality."

The main idea of his research, which is one of the key ones in the theory of human capital, is that the costs associated with productive investments in a person contribute to productivity growth and are reimbursed along with profits.

AT late XIX- XX centuries. such economists as J.McCulloch, J.B.Say, J.Mill, N.Senior, believed that the ability to work acquired by a person should be considered as capital in its “human” form. So, back in 1870, J. R. McCulloch clearly defined a person as capital. In his opinion, instead of understanding capital as a part of the production of industry, alien to man, which could be made applicable to support him and contribute to production, there does not seem to be any reasonable reason why man himself could not be considered as such, and there are so many reasons why it can be considered as a formable part of the national wealth.

An important contribution to understanding this problem was made by Zh.B. Say. He argued that professional skills and abilities acquired through costs lead to an increase in labor productivity and, in this regard, can be considered as capital. Assuming that human abilities can accumulate, J.B. Say called them capital.

John Stuart Mill wrote: “The man himself ... I do not consider as wealth. But his acquired faculties, which exist only as a means and begotten by labor, I believe with good reason, fall into this category. And further: "The skill, energy and perseverance of the workers of the country are considered to be its wealth to the same extent as their tools and machines."

The founder of the neoclassical trend in economic theory, A. Marshall (1842-1924) in his scientific work “Principles economics"(1890) drew attention to the fact that "the motives that encourage a person to accumulate personal capital in the form of investments in education are similar to those that encourage the accumulation of material capital."

At the end of the 30s. 20th century Nassau Senior suggested that man could be successfully treated as capital. In most of his discussions on this topic, he took in this capacity the skill and acquired abilities, but not the person himself. Nevertheless, he interpreted the person himself as capital with maintenance costs invested in a person with the expectation of receiving benefits in the future. Except for the terminology used by the author, his reasoning is very closely related to the theory of reproduction of the labor force of K. Marx. The key component of the definition of the concept of "labor force" by Marx and the theorists of human capital is the same component - human abilities. K. Marx repeatedly spoke about their development and cumulative effectiveness, emphasizing the need for the development of the “individual”.

Scientific studies of the classics of world economic thought, the development of the practice of market economy made it possible at the turn of the 50-60s of the XX century to form the theory of human capital into an independent section economic analysis. The return of theoretical economists in the late 50s and early 60s to the idea of human capital and the intensive development of this trend in Western economic theory is due to objective reasons. It is an attempt to take into account the real national economic shifts generated by scientific and technological revolution and expressed in the fact that in modern conditions the accumulation of intangible elements of wealth (scientific achievements, the growth of the level of education of the population, etc.) has become of paramount importance for the entire course of social reproduction. The merit of its nomination belongs to the famous American economist, Nobel Prize winner in 1979 T. Schultz, and the basic theoretical model was developed in the book by G. Becker (Nobel Prize winner in 1992) "Human Capital: Theoretical and Empirical Analysis". This work became the basis for all subsequent research in this area and was recognized as a classic of modern economics.

G. Becker put the idea of human behavior as rational and expedient as the basis for the analysis, applying such concepts as price, rarity, opportunity costs, etc., to the most diverse aspects of human life. The concept formulated by him became the basis for all subsequent research in this area.

Human capital, according to G. Becker, is the stock of knowledge, skills, and motivations that everyone has. Investments in it can be education, accumulation of professional experience, health protection, geographical mobility, information search. “These investments improve skills, knowledge, or health and therefore contribute to increased monetary or in-kind incomes.”

Other researchers in the field of human capital (T. Schultz, E. Denison, J. Kendrick) considered only education as the capital of each person.

T. Schultz for his work on the theory of "human capital" and "investment in people" gained fame as the father of the revolution of investment in human capital. For him, these investments had a "broad horizon". These included investments in education within the walls of educational institutions, at home, at work, etc.

He considered investing in human capital (in particular, in education) the only way to overcome the poverty of the country. T. Schultz estimated the time and efforts of students as a large half of all costs in the education process. He made estimates of the cost of the labor force, including the cost of education and "lost" human time spent studying. Important role T. Schultz attributed the increase in the level of education of women and the higher education of young people, considering the “three main functions of higher education” to be the discovery of talent, training and scientific work. “Investing in a person increases not only the level of labor productivity, but also the economic value of his time.” T. Schultz was the first to apply to him the same categories, with the help of which classical political economy analyzes capital in the usual sense: profit, investment conditions, etc. (comparing a person in the economic sense with material capital).

According to T. Schultz and his supporters:

Between human and material capital there is no fundamental differences, both one and the other bring income;

The growth of investment in people significantly changes the structure of wages. Its main part is income from human capital;

Investments in human capital are ahead of investments in material capital, therefore, ownership of material capital acquires a secondary meaning;

Society, by investing more in a person, can achieve not only the growth of the product, but also its more even distribution.

Let's turn now to domestic experience studying some issues of the theory of human capital. Although the Russian school of economics did not use the concept of "human capital" for a long time, it also has rich experience in studying its individual aspects, in particular, the economic aspects of education. Among the scientists who analyzed the impact of public education on the socio-economic development of society, one can distinguish such as I.T. Pososhkov, M.V. Lomonosov, D.I. Mendeleev, A.I. Chuprov, I. Ilnzhul, E. NLnzhul, S.G. Strumilin and others. The ideas of the authors concerned the issues of the economic value of education, the need to increase government spending on education, as well as improve its quality. Quantification factors of education for economic growth was given by S.G. Strumilin in 1924 in the article “Economic Importance of Public Education”. This work caused discussions, mainly in the direction of evidence of the productive and unproductive nature of pedagogical work. In the same work, he carried out calculations of the effectiveness of universal education according to the 10-year plan for the reform of education in the RSFSR. He also proved that higher education, corresponding to 14 years of schooling, gives an increase in qualifications 2.8 times more than the corresponding length of service. S.G. Strumilin came to the conclusion that economic efficiency higher education is less than primary and secondary. The cost of education was calculated by him using the "lost earnings" method. But S.G. Strumilin conducted an economic analysis of education from the standpoint of assessing profitability, and this differs from the understanding of “investment in human capital”.

S.A. Dyatlov, R.I. Kapelyushnikov, M.M. Kritsky, S.A. Kurgansky and others can be noted among modern domestic researchers of human capital problems.

So, for example, B.M. Genkin considers human capital as a set of qualities that determine productivity and can become sources of income for a person, family, enterprise and society. As a rule, such qualities are usually considered health, natural abilities, education, professionalism, mobility.

From the point of view of A.N. Dobrynina and S.A. Dyatlova, "Human capital is a form of manifestation of human productive forces in a market economy..., an adequate form of organization of human productive forces included in the system of a socially oriented market economy as a leading, creative factor in social reproduction."

Analysis of the content and conditions of capitalization of human capital allows A.N. Dobrynin and S.A. Dyatlov to develop a generalized definition of human capital as economic category modern information and innovation society. “Human capital is a certain stock of health, knowledge, skills, abilities, motivations formed as a result of investments and accumulated by a person, which are expediently used in the labor process, contributing to the growth of its productivity and earnings.”

A group of scientists led by L.I. Abalkin, who explore the problem of Russia's strategic development in the 21st century, considers human capital as the sum of innate abilities, general and special education, acquired professional experience, creativity, moral, psychological and physical health, motives for activities that provide an opportunity to generate income.

T.G. Myasoedova presents human capital as a combination of natural abilities, health, acquired knowledge, professional skills, motivations for work and continuous development, a common culture that includes knowledge and observance of the norms, rules, laws of human communication, moral values.

Summing up, we can say that the evolutionary development of society is accompanied by the evolution of the status of a person in the economic system of society.

All-round informatization of production processes, interest in the factors of economic growth, commissioning of mechanisms that are difficult to manage caused the formation of the theory of human capital into an independent section of economic analysis in the 60s of the XX century. Its supporters (T. Schultz, G. Becker and others) proceed from the existence of two factors of production:

Physical capital, which unites all elements of the productive forces, with the exception of the worker himself;

Human capital, which includes both innate abilities and talents, physical strength and health, as well as knowledge, experience, and skills acquired throughout a person’s life.

Based on this position, they argue that investments in human capital are carried out throughout life and include the costs of education, health maintenance, etc. to them.

Thus, human capital can be most fully characterized as follows: it is a certain level of health, education, skills, abilities, motivations, energy, cultural development, both a specific individual, a group of people, and society as a whole, formed as a result of investments and savings. , which are expediently used in a particular area of social reproduction, contribute to economic growth and affect the amount of income of their owner.