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Cliometrics and the Evolution of Human Capital

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Wissensökonomie und Digitalisierung

Abstract

Human capital has been seen to be a key factor for current and future economic growth. In a broader sense, it appears that we are moving towards a knowledge economy driven by human capital, technological progress and digitalization. However, although this evolution may be a new trend, similar developments have occurred in history before. In line with this reasoning, the scholarly field of cliometrics has received ever more attention during the last years. In consequence, this paper presents the foundations of cliometrics, and provides insights into the basic conceptual framework and evolution of human capital during the last centuries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Nonetheless, when further factors are included it becomes increasingly difficult to measure the return.

  2. 2.

    A concise overview of the most important human capital theories has recently been published by Diebolt et al. (2017).

  3. 3.

    In 1562 the legal duration of an apprenticeship was set to 7 years. In addition, apprentices should be at least 24 years old when the contract ended (Wallis 2008).

  4. 4.

    It was also possible to pay premiums in instalments (Humphries 2006).

  5. 5.

    Note that these shares refer to the twentieth century polities and not those in existence at the time.

  6. 6.

    Note that Dittmar (2011) refers to England, while Buringh and van Zanden (2009) refer to Great Britain. However, all adopting cities were located in England.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Claude Diebolt

  2. London School of Economics, London, UK

    Roger Fouquet

  3. European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), Seville, Spain

    Ralph Hippe

Authors
  1. Claude Diebolt
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  2. Roger Fouquet
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  3. Ralph Hippe
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Correspondence to Claude Diebolt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Yaman Kouli

  2. Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany

    Peter Pawlowsky

  3. Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany

    Markus Hertwig

Additional information

BETA/CNRS, Université de Strasbourg; cdiebolt@unistra.fr.

Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); r.fouquet@lse.ac.uk. Acknowledgement: Support for this research from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), through its support of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP) is gratefully acknowledged.

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate for Growth and Innovation, Human Capital and Employment Unit; ralph.hippe@ec.europa.eu. Disclaimer: The views expressed are purely those of the writers and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission.

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Diebolt, C., Fouquet, R., Hippe, R. (2020). Cliometrics and the Evolution of Human Capital. In: Kouli, Y., Pawlowsky, P., Hertwig, M. (eds) Wissensökonomie und Digitalisierung . Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-22333-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-22333-5_2

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