Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Human Capital Creation in an Economic Perspective pp 172–195Cite as

Education, Competence Development and Economic Growth — A Microeconomic Explanation to Macroeconomic Growth

  • Conference paper

Abstract

In this paper I define education broadly and indirectly as the investment activity that produces the kind of competence capital that contributes to economic growth, as measured. Hence, this essay is partly a study of proper economic measurement. I am concerned both with the particular educational activity that occurs in educational institutions, separated from the job context, and learning in a broader sense, on-the-job or in the context of the job. I ask:

  1. 1.

    Why is education in a narrow and a broad sense important for economic growth?

  2. 2.

    What do we know about the quantitative relationships involved, and the incentives that promote development of competence?

  3. 3.

    What can governments do? Are there well defined parameters? What knowledge is required to achieve political ambitions?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abramovitz, M. (1988), "Thinking about Growth", in Abramovitz, M. (ed.), Thinking about Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akerlof, G.A. (1970), "The Market for "Lemons": Qualitative Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism", Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 84, pp. 488 - 500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, E.R., Ch.J. Morrison and L.S. Rosenblum (1992), High Tech Capital Formation and Labor Composition in the US Manufacturing Industries; an exploratory analysis. NBER Working Paper No. 4010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, J. and S. Carter (1990), The Worsening Shortage of College Graduate Workers. University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY: Center on the Educational Quality of the Work Force, Working Paper No. 90 - 15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackburn, N.L., D.E. Bloom and R.B. Freeman (1990), "The Declining Economic Position of Less Skilled American Men", in Burtless (ed.), A Future of Lousy Jobs? The Changing Structure of U.S. Wages. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson, B. (1991), "Productivity Analysis: A Micro-to-Macro Perspective", in Deiaco, E., E. Hörnell and G. Vickery (eds.), Technology and Investment — Crucial Issues for the 1990s. London: Pinter Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dargay, J. (1988), Factor Demand in Swedish Manufacturing: Econometric Analyses. Stockholm: IUI Research Report No. 34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denison, E.F. (1967), Why Growth Rates Differ. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1987), Technological Competition and Trade in the Experimentally Organized Economy. Stockholm: lUI Research Report No. 32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1988a), "Schumpeterian Innovation, Market Structure and the Stability of Industrial Development", in Hanusch, H. (ed.), Evolutionary Economics. Applications of Schumpeter's Ideas. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1988b), "Ägare, entreprenörer och kapitalmarknadens organisation — en teoretisk presentation och översikt", in Örtengren, J. et al. (eds.), Expansion, avveckling och företagsvärdering i svensk industri. Stockholm: IUI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1989), "The Dynamics of Supply and Economic Growth — how industrial knowledge accumulation drives a path-dependent economic process", in Carlsson, B. (ed.), Industrial Dynamics. Boston/Dordrecht/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1990a), "The Knowledge Based Information Economy", in Eliasson-Fölster-Lindberg-Pousette-Taymaz (eds.), The Knowledge Based Information Economy. Stockholm: IUI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1990b), "The Firm as a Competent Team", Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 13, pp. 275 - 298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1990c), "Business Competence, Organizational Learning and Economic Growth — Establishing the Smith-Schumpeter-Wicksell (SSW) Connection", in Scherer, F.M. and M. Perlman (eds.), Entrepreneurship, Technological Innovation, and Economic Growth: Studies in the Schumpeterian Tradition. University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1991a), "Deregulation, Innovative Entry and Structural Diversity as a Source of Stable and Rapid Economic Growth", Journal of Evolutionary Economics, No. 1, pp. 40 - 63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1991b), "Modeling Economic Change and Restructuring. The Micro Foundations of Economic Expansion", in de Wolf, P. (ed.), Competition in Europe. Essays in Honor of Henk de Jong. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1991c), "Modeling the Experimentally Organized Economy: Complex Dynamics in an Empirical Micro-Macro Model of Endogenous Economic Growth", Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 16, pp. 153 - 182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1991d), "Financial Institutions in a European Market for Executive Competence", in Wihlborg-Pianigiani-Willet (eds.), Financial Regulation and Monetary Arrangements after 1992. Elsevier Science Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1991e), Produktivitet, vinster och ekonomisk välfärd — hur ser sambanden ut? Stockholm: IUI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1992a), Arbetet — dess betydelse, dess innehclll, dess kvalitet och dess ersättning. Stockholm: lUI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1992b), The Markets for Educational Services. Stockholm: lUI Working Paper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. (1993), "Den ekonomiska politikens gränser och möjligheter", in Den lânga vagen (The Long Road). Stockholm: IUI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson, G. and E. Taymaz (1992), The Limits of Policy Making: An analysis of the consequences of boundedly rational Government using the Swedish micro-to-macro model (MOSES). Stockholm: IUI Working Paper No. 333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Färe, R. and S. Grosskopf (1990), "A Distance Function Approach to Measuring Price Efficiency", Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 43, pp. 123 - 126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson, D.W. (1984), "The Contribution of Education to U.S. Economic Growth, 1948-73" in Dean, E. (ed.), Education and Economic Productivity. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson, D.W. and B.M. Fraumeni (1989), "The Accumulation of Human and Non-Human Capital 1848-1984", in Lipsey-Tice (eds.), The Measurement of Saving, Investment and Wealth. Chicago University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson, D.W. and B.M. Fraumeni (1990), "Investment in Education and U.S. Economic Growth", in Walker-Bloomfield-Thorning (eds.), The U.S. Savings Challenge; Policy Options for Productivity and Growth. Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson, D.W. and Z. Griliches (1967), "The Explanation of Productivity Change", Review of Economic Studies, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 249 - 283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirzner, I. (1973), Competition and Entrepreneurship. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, F. (1921), Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, F.H. (1944), "Diminishing Returns from Investment", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. LII, pp. 26 - 47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosters, M.H. (1990), "Schooling, Work Experience and Wage Trends", American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 80, pp. 308 - 312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R.E., Jr. (1988), "On the Mechanics of Economic Development", Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 22, pp. 3 - 41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, L.N. (1959), "On the Existence of General Equilibrium for a Competitive Market", Econometrica, Vol. 27, pp. 30 - 53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mill, J.S. (1848), Principles of Political Economy with Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, C.J. (1990), Market Power, Economic Profitability and Productivity Growth Measurement: An Integrated Structural Approach. NBER Working Paper No. 3355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romer, P.M. (1986), "Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 94, pp. 1002 - 1037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, V.L. (1966), Investment and Production — a Study in the Theory of the Capital-Using Enterprise. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westerman, J. (1768), Svenska Näringarnes Undervigt emot de Utländske förmedelst en trögare Arbets-drift ( On the inferiority of the Swedish compared to foreign manufacturers because of a slower work organization ). Stockholm.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Weizsäcker, Ch. (1986), "Rights and Relations in Modern Economic Theory", in Day, R. and G. Eliasson, (eds.), The Dynamics of Market Economies. Stockholm: IUI and Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ysander, B.-C. (1978a), "Homogeneity in Education — a comment on economic theories of education", in Bowman, M.J., A. Sohlman and B.-C. Ysander (eds.), Learning and Earning. Stockholm: National Board of University and Colleges, Liber Tryck; also reprinted in Ysander, B.-C. (ed.), Truth and Meaning in Economics — Selected Essays on Economic Theory and Policy. Stockholm: IUI, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ysander, B.-C. (1978b), "Homogeneity in Education. Appendix (The meaning of human capital)", in Bowman, M.J., A. Sohlman and B.-C. Ysander (ibid); also reprinted in Ysander, B.-C. (ed.), Truth and Meaning in Economics — Selected Essays on Economic Theory and Policy. Stockholm: IUI, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IUI, Stockholm, Sweden

    Gunnar Eliasson

Authors
  1. Gunnar Eliasson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, ETLA, Lönnrotinkatu 4 B, FIN-00120, Helsinki, Finland

    Rita Asplund

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Eliasson, G. (1994). Education, Competence Development and Economic Growth — A Microeconomic Explanation to Macroeconomic Growth. In: Asplund, R. (eds) Human Capital Creation in an Economic Perspective. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-99776-1_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-99776-1_9

  • Publisher Name: Physica, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-0815-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-99776-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation