Competition And Human Capital Accumulation

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Excerpt from Competition and Human Capital Accumulation: A Theory of Interregional Specialization and Trade Marshall (1920) posits instead that the external economies arise from proximity to specialized inputs. As noted by Helpman and Krugman (1985), unless there is a natural comparative advantage for the production of these inputs in the region, this explanation is incomplete. The puzzle is simply rolled back to the previous production stage: Why do the producers of inputs locate in the region? Our theory is that the location decisions of the firms and their input suppliers are interdependent. Input suppliers find it advantageous to be located where they have several potential customers because competition among their downstream customers assures them a fair return. In the absence of such competition, the relatively immobile suppliers would be subject to the monopsony power of the downstream firms. Foreseeing that monopsony power would be used to drive down input prices, potential input suppliers would not choose to invest ex ante in the accumulation of the capital necessary to supply the inputs efficiently. This critical role of competition in securing a return to suppliers is one of the elements in Porter's (1989) broad treatise on regional agglomeration. For concreteness, the particular input we focus on is industry specific human capital which is costly for individuals to acquire, such as the specific hand-eye coordination needed to cut diamonds or the skills which facilitate the creation of a new chocolate concoction. If trained workers can choose among several potential employers, they will be paid as a function of their marginal product. By contrast, if there is only one potential employer, and it is impossible to write contracts that specify the level of training, there is no reason for this monopeonist to pay trained employees any more than untrained employees earn (in this industry or elsewhere). The hold-up problem described by Williamson (1975) arises. Confronted with the prospect of a single potential employer, workers do not find it worthwhile to accumulate human capital. Moreover, if entry by firms is costly, firms will themselves refrain from entering if they can expect to be the only firm in the industry. The industry cam only exist with several closely located competitors. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Executives say that people are their most important asset, but most don’t walk the talk. They don’t have systematic strategies for how to get the people they want to want them. They don’t have measures and metrics for how they are doing to be the employer of choice. They don’t hold leaders accountable regarding those ambitions. In many cases, this is because top leaders don’t have concrete tools to help them do what they know they should. This book fills that gap in three major sections. The first section supports with clear and compelling data what executives intuitively but somewhat superficially believe—that people are their most important asset. The second section provides a systematic process and set of tools to help leaders get the people they want to want them; it shows executives how to win the competition for human capital. The third section then helps leaders position people appropriately so that they can create a sustainable competitive advantage; its shows executives how to compete with human capital. When it comes to human capital, most books get it wrong. Strategy books place human capital to the side as an enabler of competitive advantage. HR books treat human capital as a support activity to business strategy. This book places human capital where it should be—not to the side and not as an enabler or a support activity, but at the center and as the source of competitive advantage.

Contents: Individual Education Decisions - Life Expectancy Decisions - Education and Earnings Inequality - Individual Search Decisions - Disaggregate Matching - Strategic Hiring and Search - Unobserved Bilateral Search - Regional Mobility and Job Competition.

This book provides an in-depth investigation of the link between human capital and economic growth. The authors take an innovative approach, examining the determinants of economic growth through a historical overview of the concept of human capital. The text fosters a deep understanding of the connection between human capital and economic growth through the exploration of different theoretical approaches, a review of the literature, and the application of nonlinear estimation techniques to a comprehensive data set. The authors discuss nonparametric econometric techniques and their application to estimating nonlinearities—which has emerged as one of the most salient features of empirical work in modeling the human capital-growth relationship, and the process of economic growth in general. By delving into the topic from theoretical and empirical standpoints, this book offers an insightful new view that will be extremely useful for scholars, students, and policy makers.

The entire planet looks to Asian and other emerging markets to sustain growth momentum as traditional markets in the USA and Europe struggle with the slow and arduous processes of deleveraging after the global financial crisis. At the same time, there is growing recognition in Asia that the sources of growth must shift to sustain their own growth momentum in the years ahead. Heavy reliance on the region’s high savings rates and plentiful supplies of low-cost labour will have to shift towards increasing the human capital embodied in more educated and skilled labour forces capable of contributing to productivity growth and innovation as future drivers of growth. Human Capital Formation and Economic Growth in Asia and the Pacific focuses on why and how countries are making this shift. The demographic transition is shown to be a significant factor as ageing populations in Japan, South Korea and China manage declining growth in the labour force by stepping up investments in education, and by changing policies and institutions. Lessons to be learned from these experiences by more youthful populations in Southeast Asia are explored. In addition, attention is paid to the consequences of cross-border differentials in technical knowledge and the quantity and quality of human capital. Several implications for public policy and for international cooperation on human-capital issues in the Asian region are identified. The chapters in this volume are edited versions of papers presented at the 35th Pacific Trade and Development conference held in Vancouver, Canada, in June 2012. The conference goal was to better understand how governments and business in Asia and the Pacific can apply the key insight that one of the reasons economies grow is because of human-capital formation – the quality and diversity of the labour force are augmented – not just because the labour force grows in size. Students of Asia’s growth prospects will find several aspects of this volume of particular value. It includes chapters on the big-picture conceptual and measurement issues; on country experiences in meeting the imperatives of the demographic transition and investing in education and skills training; and on country experiences with attracting foreign knowledge and the supply and recruitment of skills across borders in Asia and the Pacific. Policymakers will also find useful the discussions of policy implications and the menu of issues requiring intergovernmental cooperation within the Asian region.