scholarly journals Israel — The Human Capital Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dov Chernichovsky
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Positive Externalities ◽  
Good Investment ◽  
The Individual

Human capital (HC) is about people — as individuals and as communities — and their welfare-enhancing qualities. For the individual, their human capital is not only an element of well-being, like good health and self-esteem, but also a means to facilitate their welfare, at least in the long term, through longevity as well as market and non-market productivity. For the community — group, organization, or nation — the benefits of HC to individuals can further be enhanced through social interdependencies, positive externalities, and optimal allocation of HC in the group, thus making HC a public good. Investment of a share of the benefits of HC in its formation makes for social and economic long-term sustainability of the community. The term “human capital” semantically combines the words “human” and “capital.” From an economic point of view, “capital” refers to the physical factors of production, including land, used along with labor-enhanced HC to create goods or services. These factors are not themselves significantly consumed or depreciated in the short-term production process (Boldizzoni, 2008). That is, skilled humans oversee production (and consumption) processes that yield social and economic value for them. From this perspective, human capital essentially refers to people’s ability — as individuals and as a collective — to identify and use the (physical) resources available to them for their current and future, even intergenerational, well-being. Both the formation and the use of HC are strongly associated with the demography of the community, mainly with regard to population growth and age distribution, because these determine the community’s potential and ability to form and optimally use its HC, subject to the constraint of market failures and imperfections. The objective of this paper is to indicate (1) challenges relating to the formation and deployment of HC in Israel, and (2) potential ways to meet these challenges. The first, theoretical part introduces concepts, models, approaches, and metrics. It starts with pertinent aspects of demography that relate to a nation’s optimal use of its individuals’ human capital and continues with a discussion of critical dimensions of human capital — knowledge and skill, location of economic activity, and health.

Integrating Focusing and Differentiation: A Therapeutic Path for Couples in Intimate Relationships

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evi Zohar
Keyword(s):  
Couples Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Emotional Healing ◽  
Felt Sense ◽  
Inner World

Continuing the workshop I've given in the WPC Paris (2017), this article elaborates my discussion of the way I interlace Focusing with Differentiation Based Couples Therapy (Megged, 2017) under the systemic view, in order to facilitate processes of change and healing in working with intimate couples. This article presents the theory and rationale of integrating Differentiation (Bowen, 1978; Schnarch, 2009; Megged, 2017) and Focusing (Gendlin, 1981) approaches, and its therapeutic potential in couple's therapy. It is written from the point of view of a practicing professional in order to illustrate the experiential nature and dynamics of the suggested therapeutic path. Differentiation is a key to mutuality. It offers a solution to the central struggle of any long term intimate relationship: balancing two basic life forces - the drive for individuality and the drive for togetherness (Schnarch, 2009). Focusing is a body-oriented process of self-awareness and emotional healing, in which one learns to pay attention to the body and the ‘Felt Sense’, in order to unfold the implicit, keep it in motion at the precise pace it needs for carrying the next step forward (Gendlin, 1996). Combining Focusing and Differentiation perspectives can cultivate the kind of relationship where a conflict can be constructively and successfully held in the inner world of each partner, while taking into consideration the others' well-being. This creates the possibility for two people to build a mutual emotional field, open to changes, permeable and resilient.

Configurations to Superior Environmental Innovation Strategy: A Both–And Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 108602662110316
Author(s):  
Tiziana Russo-Spena ◽  
Nadia Di Paola ◽  
Aidan O’Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Innovation Strategy ◽  
Environmental Innovation ◽  
Data Set

An effective climate change action involves the critical role that companies must play in assuring the long-term human and social well-being of future generations. In our study, we offer a more holistic, inclusive, both–and approach to the challenge of environmental innovation (EI) that uses a novel methodology to identify relevant configurations for firms engaging in a superior EI strategy. A conceptual framework is proposed that identifies six sets of driving characteristics of EI and two sets of beneficial outcomes, all inherently tensional. Our analysis utilizes a complementary rather than an oppositional point of view. A data set of 65 companies in the ICT value chain is analyzed via fuzzy-set comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a post-QCA procedure. The results reveal that achieving a superior EI strategy is possible in several scenarios. Specifically, after close examination, two main configuration groups emerge, referred to as technological environmental innovators and organizational environmental innovators.

Are we Ready for a “Microbiome-Guided Behaviour” Approach?

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (04) ◽  
pp. 708-724
Author(s):  
ANDREA LAVAZZA ◽  
VITTORIO A. SIRONI
Keyword(s):  
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Fecal Microbiota ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Mind

Abstract:The microbiome is proving to be increasingly important for human brain functioning. A series of recent studies have shown that the microbiome influences the central nervous system in various ways, and consequently acts on the psychological well-being of the individual by mediating, among others, the reactions of stress and anxiety. From a specifically neuroethical point of view, according to some scholars, the particular composition of the microbiome—qua microbial community—can have consequences on the traditional idea of human individuality. Another neuroethical aspect concerns the reception of this new knowledge in relation to clinical applications. In fact, attention to the balance of the microbiome—which includes eating behavior, the use of psychobiotics and, in the treatment of certain diseases, the use of fecal microbiota transplantation—may be limited or even prevented by a biased negative attitude. This attitude derives from a prejudice related to everything that has to do with the organic processing of food and, in general, with the human stomach and intestine: the latter have traditionally been regarded as low, dirty, contaminated and opposed to what belongs to the mind and the brain. This biased attitude can lead one to fail to adequately consider the new anthropological conceptions related to the microbiome, resulting in a state of health, both physical and psychological, inferior to what one might have by paying the right attention to the knowledge available today. Shifting from the ubiquitous high-low metaphor (which is synonymous with superior-inferior) to an inside-outside metaphor can thus be a neuroethical strategy to achieve a new and unbiased reception of the discoveries related to the microbiome.

scholarly journals Theoretical perspectives upon the return to work of cancer patients: The difficult path of integration in the organization

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radu-Ioan Popa
Keyword(s):  
Return To Work ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Organizational Life ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Returning To Work

Abstract The present article follows an in-depth analysis of several relevant articles and major findings concerning the return to work of cancer patients, in various situations, from a manager and patient point of view, putting into discussion the effects and consequences of different factors that may influence the well-being of the patient at work and impact the organizational life. The concepts of returning to work and integration are scarcely analysed throughout the scholarly literature in the case of employees diagnosed with cancer, due to several reasons presented in the paper: from the complex topic of investigation that many studies fail to approach in terms of confidentiality, technical, ethical and moral grounds to the specific and difficult apparatus for research in the case of an even more complex, multiple instances and personalized manifestation long-term illness. In conclusion, the general framework solicits for a more integrated model of research and future multi-facet schemes for interventions, considering that there is a general consensus focusing on the need for connecting the health services with the employee and employer level, alongside stakeholders’ active participation.

scholarly journals Resilience and disaster research

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-547
Author(s):  
Helena Bakić
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Mental Health Disorder ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
The Individual

Disasters pose a significant threat to the long-term well-being of individuals, communities and societies. Therefore, studying resilience, defined as the process of maintaining and recovering psychological well-being after adversity, is crucial for disaster preparedness and mitigation. The aims of this paper are to summarize the historical context of resilience research, present the key concepts, discuss current measurement approaches and propose future research directions. Key determinants of resilience - risk, positive adaptation and resources - are discussed with the focus on studies of adults affected by disasters. This narrative review demonstrates that research up to date has focused mostly on finding the individual characteristics that predict the absence of psychopathology or mental health disorder symptoms, while other types of resources or dynamic relations between key aspects of resilience have been neglected. Future studies should aim to include multiple measurement points, high- and low-risk groups, long-term follow-up and broader perspectives on both psychological well-being and potential resources.

scholarly journals Nutraceutical Boom in Cancer: Inside the Labyrinth of Reactive Oxygen Species

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maura Calvani ◽  
Amada Pasha ◽  
Claudio Favre
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Long Term Results ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Cell Growth Arrest ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
The Individual

In recent years, epidemiological studies have shown that food is a very powerful means for maintaining a state of well-being and for health prevention. Many degenerative, autoimmune and neoplastic diseases are related to nutrition and the nutrient–organism interaction could define the balance between health and disease. Nutrients and dietary components influence epigenetic phenomena and modify drugs response; therefore, these food–host interactions can influence the individual predisposition to disease and its potential therapeutic response. Do nutraceuticals have positive or negative effects during chemotherapy? The use of nutraceutical supplements in cancer patients is a controversial debate without a definitive conclusion to date. During cancer treatment, patients take nutraceuticals to alleviate drug toxicity and improve long-term results. Some nutraceuticals may potentiate the effect of cytotoxic chemotherapy by inducing cell growth arrest, cell differentiation, and alteration of the redox state of cells, but in some cases, high levels of them may interfere with the effectiveness of chemotherapy, making cancer cells less reactive to chemotherapy. In this review, we highlighted the emerging opinions and data on the pros and cons on the use of nutraceutical supplements during chemotherapy.

scholarly journals Vergelyking van die uitwerking van sedentêre en aktiewe werkomgewings op algehele welstand

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peet Du Toit ◽  
Lee-Anne Naicker ◽  
Evangeline Nortje ◽  
Michael Kleynhans ◽  
Ronél Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Active Lifestyle ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Primary Responsibility ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
The Individual

The concept of wellness has changed over the decades with the ever-changing lifestyle of society as it adapts to technological advances. The contemporary view is that wellness is the primary responsibility of the individual and is accomplished by practising health-promoting behaviour. There are various factors that contribute to wellness in the sense of an individual’s long-term sense of overall well-being. One of the most essential factors is physical activity, and there is a large body of research that explores the benefits of a physically active lifestyle. This article is based on the assumption that the most accurate way to measure these benefits are to compare an active with a sedentary lifestyle. The purpose of this review is to clarify the concept of wellness and highlight the benefits of a physically active working environment as opposed to the disadvantages of a sedentary environment in attaining overall wellbeing.

scholarly journals INVESTMENT IN HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE CONDITIONS OF INNOVATIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-368
Author(s):  
E.N. Tikhonova ◽  
I.V. Korepanova
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovations ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Positive Externalities ◽  
A Company ◽  
Different Levels

Paradoxically, economic slowdown has been one of the major current trends alongside with intensive technology development. Changes in nature of production require employees to acquire qualitatively different skills that were not were not previously needed. In particular, one of them is being able to provide diffusion of innovations. Consequently, investment in human capital is gaining a new meaning, the quality of which contributes to long-term economic growth in modern socioeconomic reality. Investing is being implemented on different levels, starting from an individual and all the way to a company or a government. Every entity plays their own special role in the process of achieving the common goal of improving the quality of human capital. Investing in entities from different levels requires different tools, mechanisms and involves different kinds of risks for investors. Benefits gained from human capital don’t only belong to investors but also take the form of positive externalities.

CONTRIBUTION OF EDUCATION TO SOCIAL CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
Vojislav Ilić ◽  
Igor Novaković ◽  
Slobodan Cvetanović
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Human And Social Capital

During the last decade of the last century, the concept of capital in scientific literature has been significantly expanded. Namely, for decades, the belief that the category of capital includes only visible resources has been modified in terms of extending its comprehensiveness to intangible resources, such as human and social capital. Human capital encompasses knowledge, skills, competencies and characteristics embodied in the individual, which enable the creation of personal, social and economic well-being, while social capital represents the capital of cooperation, interaction, mutual trust and help. When it comes to education, the ability to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and competences is crucial for the economic and social progress of individual countries. Unlike physical capital that is completely tangible, human and social capital are intangible. Recent approaches, as components of human capital, in addition to education and the level of health status of the population, outline the characteristics of people and societies that have an impact on the effects of work, including factors of ability, motivation and culture, etc. Some experts extend the content of human capital to individual characteristics of people such as creativity, innovation, motivation, attitudes (about life, business, etc.), diligence, responsibility, perseverance, self-initiative, communication success, problem solving, critical thinking, self-study, flexibility and adaptability. The paper considers the contribution of education as one of the basic and absolutely indisputable component of human capital to the development of social capital. It has come to the conclusion that countries with high education of the population tend to become richer and to invest more and more resources in the development of their own processing system. Therefore, in current business conditions in the process of creating human capital, the importance of activities focused on lifelong education and professional development is especially important. Both types of capital are developing in close interdependence. The increase in human capital corresponds significantly to the development of social capital. On the contrary, social capital represents an essential premise of increasing the efficiency of human capital. Moreover, there is not a small number of authors who regard certain attributes of social capital as human capital components. Considering the contribution of education as a component of human capital to the development of social capital, it can be concluded that education does so because it helps young people to recognize their duties as members of society, promote civil and social engagement of people and influence human behavior. Citizens with higher education have a high degree of civic and social engagement. The educated people are much more involved in their communities and take practical steps to improve the welfare of communities in which they live contributing, among other things, to the development of social capital.

Self-interest

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John O’Neill
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Virtuous Life ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Other Regarding

The concept of self-interest is used in two distinct ways. It sometimes refers to what is in a person’s interests, to well-being understood as what makes their life go well. Self-interest can also refer to a motive or disposition of character: persons are said to act from self-interest when they aim at their own good or to be self-interested when they are disposed to pursue their own good. Are humans always really motivated by self-interest? Psychological egoists believe that all actions, including apparently other-regarding actions, spring from self-interested motivations. Some arguments for this view depend on a fallacious inference from the claim that a person gets pleasure from the satisfaction of an other-regarding desire to the claim that the agent acts in order to get pleasure. Recent appeals to the assumptions of economic theory also fail to establish the universality of self-interested motivation. The weak assumption that individuals aim to maximize preference-satisfaction does not entail that they are self-interested. Stronger assumptions about self-regarding interests used in the explanation of behaviour in markets cannot be extended to explanations of behaviour in non-market settings. Individuals’ identities are constituted by a variety of roles, relations and commitments, and in different institutional contexts under different descriptions individuals can have distinct and sometimes conflicting conceptions of their interests. What is the relation of self-interest and morality? Classical theories of morality claim that the virtuous life is the best life for the individual. This view ties morality to what is in a person’s interests. But this does not entail that agents are necessarily motivated by self-interest. In contrast, some contractual theories tie morality to self-interested motivation: moral rules are those that agents motivated by self-interest would agree upon in order to realize their long-term good given a rough equality of power. Ethical theories in the Kantian tradition reject any justification of ethical obligations that appeals to self-interest. In claiming that commitments to others and excellences of character are part of the good life, however, classical theories can avoid the more plausible versions of Kantian objections.

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