Religion, human capital and growth

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-50
Author(s):  
Giuseppina Autiero ◽  
Concetto Paolo Paulo Vinci

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how rulers by supporting religion influence the growth of human capital and physical capital. Design/methodology/approach – The authors consider a model where the government, on the one hand, sets the output quota transferred to religious activities and workers and entrepreneurs, on the other, choose human and physical capital, which are complementary. The findings of the model are used to interpret some historical evidence. Findings – When a religious denomination puts a strong emphasis on children’s education, the rulers who back religion, may encourage the diffusion of education among the followers of that denomination. Conversely secular rulers may face a religion that they consider a force opposing modernization and may develop a secular system promoting the diffusion of education. In both cases, the diffusion of education triggers the increase in physical capital and economic growth. Originality/value – The contribution of the paper is to show how religion may be either a progressive force and promote education by contributing to economic growth or present a conservative dimension opposing the diffusion and rise of human capital.

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Françoise Okah-Efogo ◽  
Gaëlle Tatiana Timba

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to supplement the literature on the effect of female entrepreneurship on economic growth by bringing new evidence for the case of SMEs owned by women in Cameroon. Design/methodology/approach – Effects of female entrepreneurship on Cameroonian economic growth are analyzed through a simple statistical analysis. Findings – Our results reveal that there is a growing female entrepreneurship in Cameroon, localized in many different sectors of activity. Moreover, these SMEs are opportunity entrepreneurship which contributes to economic growth by considerably reducing unemployment particularly for women, generating revenues for government and enhancing human capital skills. Research limitations/implications – The study suggests an investment in SMEs owned by women and an investment in education and skills of those women in order to positively affect economic growth. Originality/value – Many studies have focussed their attention on the relationship between SMEs and economic growth, but few attempted to evaluate the theoretical assumptions in case studies and in a gender perspective.


Significance The government initiated the talks with a view to defusing tensions in domestic politics. Opposition parties boycotted the one-sided presidential election in 2014 that brought President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to power for a second time since his 2009 win. Abdel Aziz initially came to power in a coup in 2008, and dominates politics along with his Union for the Republic (UPR) party. Impacts Economic growth will be driven primarily by the mining and petroleum sector. Mining companies may scale back their investment plans further. Economic hardship and discrimination may lead to more protests, but these will be limited.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goncalo Monteiro ◽  
Stephen J. Turnovsky

PurposeRecent research supports the role of productive government spending as an important determinant of economic growth. Previous analyses have focused on the separate effects of public investment in infrastructure and on investment in education. This paper aims to introduce both types of public investment simultaneously, enabling the authors to address the trade‐offs that resource constraints may impose on their choice.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ a two‐sector endogenous growth model, with physical and human capital. Physical capital is produced in the final output sector, using human capital, physical capital, and government spending on infrastructure. Human capital is produced in the education sector using human capital, physical capital, and government spending on public education. The introduction of productive government spending in both sectors yields an important structural difference from the traditional two‐sector growth models in that the relative price of human to physical capital dynamics does not evolve independently of the quantity dynamics.FindingsThe model yields both a long‐run growth‐maximizing and welfare‐maximizing expenditure rate and allocation of expenditure on productive capital. The welfare‐maximizing rate of expenditure is less than the growth‐maximizing rate, with the opposite being the case with regard to their allocation. Moreover, the growth‐maximizing value of the expenditure rate is independent of the composition of government spending, and vice versa. Because of the complexity of the model, the analysis of its dynamics requires the use of numerical simulations the specific shocks analyzed being productivity increases. During the transition, the growth rates of the two forms of capital approach their common equilibrium from opposite directions, this depending upon both the sector in which the shock occurs and the relative sectoral capital intensities.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings confirm that the form in which the government carries out its productive expenditures is important. The authors have retained the simpler, but widely employed, assumption that government expenditure influences private productivity as a flow. But given the importance of public investment suggests that extending this analysis to focus on public capital would be useful.Originality/valueTwo‐sector models of economic growth have proven to be a powerful tool for analyzing a wide range of issues in economic growth. The originality of this paper is to consider the relative impact of government spending on infrastructure and government spending on human capital and the trade‐offs that they entail, both in the long run and over time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1506-1521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhu Sehrawat ◽  
A.K. Giri

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of female human capital on economic growth in the Indian economy during 1970-2014. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs Ng-Perron unit root test to check the order of integration of the variables. The study also used ARDL-bounds testing approach and the unrestricted error-correction model to investigate co-integration in the long run and short run; Granger’s causality test to investigate the direction of the causality; and variance decomposition test to capture the influence of each variable on economic growth. Findings The study constructed a composite index for both male and female human capitals by taking education and health as a proxy for human capital. The empirical findings reveal that female human capital is significant and positively related to economic growth in both short run and long run, while male human capital is positive but insignificant to the economic growth; same is the case for physical capital, it implies that such investment regarding female human capital needs to be reinforced. Further, there is an evidence of a long-run causal relationship from female human capital, male human capital and physical capital to economic growth variable. The results of variance decomposition show the importance of the female human capital variable is increasing over the time and it exerts the largest influence in change in economic growth. Research limitations/implications The empirical findings suggest that the Indian economy has to pay attention equally on the development of female human capital for short-run as well as long-run growth of the economy. This implies that the policy makers should divert more expenditure for developing support for female education and health. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to study the relationship between female human capital and economic growth in the context of the Indian economy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kashif Munir ◽  
Shahzad Arshad

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-run and short-run relationship between factor accumulation (i.e. physical capital and human capital) and economic growth by calculating the stocks of human capital and real physical capital. Design/methodology/approach The study uses endogenous growth model, where GDP per worker is the dependent variable and factor accumulation (real physical capital per worker and human capital) is the explanatory variable under the autoregressive distributive lag framework from 1973 to 2014 for Pakistan. Findings The results suggest that there is a long-run relationship between factor accumulation and GDP per worker in Pakistan. Findings of the study are consistent with the endogenous growth model suggesting that accumulation of human capital increases labor productivity, employment level and per capita income, and causes economic growth. Practical implications Developing countries like Pakistan should increase share of human capital for economic development. Government should invest in the education sector because investment in human capital has a large potential of productivity growth and welfare increase in developing countries. Originality/value This study challenges the notion of human capital and real physical capital stock used by different researchers. Considering human capital as a core factor of production, a series of human capital as average year of schooling is calculated by utilizing the perpetual inventory method.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 804-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Shujaat Mubarik ◽  
Chandran Govindaraju ◽  
Evelyn S. Devadason

Purpose – Pakistan adopted “one-size-fits-all” policy for human capital (HC) development with the assumption that the level of HC is equal across industry and firm size. The purpose of this paper is to test this major assumption on which this policy is based, by comparing the differences in the levels of HC, overall and by dimensions of HC, by industry and firm size. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on new data set of a sample of 750 manufacturing SME firms in Pakistan, compiled through a survey. Applying the independent sample t-test, one way analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance, the hypotheses of differences in levels of overall and dimensions of HC were tested. Findings – The results indicate significant differences in the levels of HC by industry and firm size. The levels of HC were found to be higher in textiles, food, metal and leather industries, and for medium-sized firms. Practical implications – The findings provide supporting evidence on the inadequacy of the current human capital development (HCD) policy in Pakistan. The study therefore recommends customized HCD policies, accounting for differences across industry and firm size. Originality/value – By taking the data on nine major dimensions of HC from 750 manufacturing sector SMEs, the study tests the level of overall HC and its nine dimensions by industry and size. The study also challenges the “one-size-fits-all” policy of the government of Pakistan for developing HC in SMEs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 878-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumyananda Dinda

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse inclusive growth that focuses on the creation of opportunities for all. Inclusive growth allows people to contribute to and benefit from economic growth, while pro-poor growth approaches focusing on welfare of the poor only to reduce inequality. Design/methodology/approach – Social capital forms with the development of human capital through schooling. Educated individuals are interested in dialogue and conversation. Interaction enables people to build trust, confidence and cooperation, to commit themselves to each other (i.e. reciprocity), and thereby to knit the social fabric. This study deals with the formation of social capital through development of human capital that is created through improvement of schooling and/or social inclusion. Creation of human and social capital is the basis for inclusive growth. Findings – Recently, economics literature incorporates social capital for explaining regional disparities. Economic development of country depends on the impact of social capital which includes social culture, norms and regulations that promote economic reforms and development activities. Social capital forms with the development of human capital through schooling. Research limitations/implications – More detail regional levels data are required for empirical findings. Practical implications – This paper definitely suggests a clear policy for inclusive growth model in less developed regions/countries. Briefly and specific few policies are suggested as: first, improve productive consumption providing nutritional intake to all the excluded people of the society; second, dismal the social blocking and create the base for bridging social capital formation; third, improve school enrollment and strengthen the feeling of togetherness; fourth, design school curriculum as per need base; and fifth, develop institutions and improve capacity building. Social implications – The Government expenditure policy should be focused more on productive consumption rather than unproductive consumption. The government should concentrate on the development of education and health sectors. Originality/value – The inclusive economic growth process overcomes low-level equilibrium trap. The predictions of the model are examined empirically for a cross-section of countries and have substantial support in the chosen sample data.


Significance The budget was subsequently presented to parliament for discussion on October 18. The 2022 budget was increased to USD27bn, up from USD25.4bn in 2021. Akhannouch’s Five Year Plan is expansive and comes against a backdrop of renewed projected economic growth for 2022. Impacts COVID-19 will complicate the revival of Morocco’s tourism industry, a large and quick source of hard currency. The government has publicised the social welfare components of the plan, but it is unlikely to have the capacity to implement them. Disparity between the human capital of urban centres such as Rabat and Casablanca and the hinterland will impede wide reforms.


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