Human Capital and its Critics: Gary Becker, Institutionalism, and Anti-Neoliberalism

GARY BECKER AND THE ART OF ECONOMICS

Journal of Demographic Economics ◽

10.1017/dem.2014.3 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 3-6

Author(s):

Aloysius Siow

Keyword(s):

Human Capital ◽

Criminal Behavior ◽

Social Issues ◽

Systematic Application ◽

Gary Becker

Gary Becker, an American economist, died on May 3, 2014, at the age of 83. His major contribution was the systematic application of economics to the analysis of social issues. He used economics to study discrimination, criminal behavior, human capital, marriage, fertility and other social issues.

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MODERNIZING POLISH AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS TEACHING AND RESEARCH: AN EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC COOPERATION

Acta Scientiarum Polonorum - Oeconomia ◽

10.22630/aspe.2017.16.4.40 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 13-21

Author(s):

Graham Dalton ◽

Willem Heijman ◽

Edward Majewski

Keyword(s):

Human Capital ◽

Market Economy ◽

Nobel Prize ◽

Life Sciences ◽

Agricultural Economics ◽

The Social ◽

Gary Becker ◽

Research Programmes ◽

Net Benefits ◽

Collapse Of Communism

Twenty-five years ago in response to the collapse of communism in Poland, an academic consortium was formed around two Polish Universities of Life Sciences (formerly Universities of Agriculture) for a Tempus project. The consortium has expanded from a project to revise curricula in agricultural economics within a market economy to much wider educational and research interests. The consortium’s main achievement has been in the organisation and accreditation of MBA programmes which has subsequently been augmented by a network for other educational and research programmes in a number of countries (AGRIMBA). This article explores the social net benefits of this example of investment in human capital relying on the concepts laid down by the Nobel Prize winners Theodore Schulz and Gary Becker.

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Return on Investment in Training

Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, Second Edition ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-198-8.ch264 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 1794-1799

Author(s):

Tad Waddington

Keyword(s):

Human Capital ◽

Nobel Prize ◽

Return On Investment ◽

Gary Becker ◽

Current Business

In 1992, the economist, Gary Becker, won the Nobel prize for his work that demonstrated the importance to organizations of human capital and of training, in particular. Despite the importance of human capital to the long-term health and growth of organizations, they continue to under-invest in training (Becker, 1993). In The Human Equation, Jeffrey Pfeffer (1998) explained why, “Training is an investment in the organization’s staff, and in the current business milieu, it virtually begs for some sort of return-on investment calculations” (p.89). In other words, because organizations do not adequately measure the value that training adds, they fail to reap the benefits of fully investing in training. This article shows you how to measure your return on investment in training.

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GARY BECKER ON HUMAN CAPITAL

Journal of Demographic Economics ◽

10.1017/dem.2014.4 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 27-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yoram Weiss

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Political Economy ◽

Human Capital ◽

Physical Capital ◽

Substantial Growth ◽

Gary Becker ◽

The Us ◽

Theoretical Results ◽

Over Time

Gary Becker’s work on “human capital” started around 1960. It was motivated by the rising interest in economic growth at the time. As stated in the introduction to the first edition of his book, Human Capital, “The origin of this study can be traced to the finding that a substantial growth in incomes in the US remains after the growth of physical capital and labor has been accounted for”. This unexplained residual suggested to several researchers that unmeasured features of the quality of the labor force must also be brought into consideration. While econometricians such as Edward Denison, Dale Jorgenson, and Zvi Griliches turned to seek better data that would reduce the scope of the unexplained residual, Becker constructed a detailed and original theory regarding the possible effects of a major unobserved and all inclusive factor, termed, human capital, would have on observed outcomes such as wages and education and their variation over time and among individual types. Most of the theoretical results reported in the three editions of Human Capital, 1964, 1975, and 1995 are already anticipated in a single early paper that was published in the Journal of Political Economy in 1962.

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The Human Capital Hoax: Work, Debt and Insecurity in the Era of Uberization

Organization Studies ◽

10.1177/0170840616686129 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (5) ◽

pp. 691-709 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

Author(s):

Peter Fleming

Keyword(s):

Human Capital ◽

Business Models ◽

Human Capital Theory ◽

Economic Insecurity ◽

Costs And Benefits ◽

Capital Theory ◽

On Demand ◽

Self Employment ◽

Gig Economy ◽

Gary Becker

Human capital theory – developed by neoclassical economists like Gary Becker and Theodore Schultz – is widely considered a useful way to explain how employees might enhance their value in organizations, leading to improved skill, autonomy and socio-economic wellbeing. This essay argues the opposite. Human capital theory implies that employees should bear the costs (and benefits) of their investment. Highly individualized training and work practices are an inevitable corollary. Self-employment, portfolio careers, the ‘gig economy’ and on-demand business models (including Uber and Deliveroo) faithfully reflect the assumptions that inform human capital theory. I term this the radical responsibilization of the workforce and link it to growing economic insecurity, low productivity, diminished autonomy and worrying levels of personal debt. The essay concludes by proposing some possible solutions.

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Gary Becker's Impact on Economics and Policy

The American Economic Review ◽

10.1257/aer.p20151107 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 105 (5) ◽

pp. 80-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Edward P. Lazear

Keyword(s):

Human Capital ◽

Social Science ◽

20Th Century ◽

Research Area ◽

Government Organizations ◽

The Family ◽

Gary Becker ◽

The World ◽

Policy Guidance ◽

Economic Thinking

Gary Becker was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. He advanced social science by introducing economic thinking into areas that were thought to be off limits. Because his theory was motivated by his desire to explain the world, his analyses were highly policy relevant. His work on discrimination, deterrence of crime, fertility, human capital, and the family all produced implications that were testable and verified by his and others' empirical research. Equally important, each research area provided policy guidance and many of his ideas have been implemented by government and non-government organizations.

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