Human Capital Formation And Economic Growth In Asia And The Pacific

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.

There are, in simple terms, three principal kinds of capital that come necessarily into play when a society is evolving towards improving the lives, livelihoods, and qualities of life of its people. The first form of capital is financial – this normally includes physical forms of invested money in plant, buildings, and infrastructure. The second form of capital is human – seen simply as the level and range of skills and capabilities that are available for use in the society. When people are literate, numerate, skilled, experienced, informed, cooperative, and inquisitive, they and their societies can do much more. The third form of capital is social. Here cooperativeness shows its effects, and the rules of how that works vary greatly between societies. It is the second of these elements, human capital, that is the main focus of this book, but it overlaps with social capital extensively in these accounts and can only be understood in terms of its connections into the wider societal system. The varying patterns of its workings and influence in different Asian contexts are explained against the background of a theory of societal progress. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Asia Pacific Business Review.

The East Asian countries have been relatively more advanced than other developing countries in the field of human capital development. Even in the 1960s they managed to attain higher levels of human capital compared with other low- and middle-level economies in the developing world. This volume examines the role of human capital formation in the rapid growth of the East Asian economies. Apart from the formal education variable, other factors such as better health care of the labour force, nutritional status of the population, and on-the-job training are important concerns that were not given sufficient attention in the 1993 World Bank study The East Asian Miracle. This present volume offers many insights of interest to policy-makers and specialists with regard to developing (and transitional) economies.

Human capital is an important factor for economic growth in South Asia. Between 1981 and 2010, human capital contributed about 22% of annual gross domestic product per worker growth in India. During the same period, it contributed around 21% in Bangladesh, and 16% in Sri Lanka. However, education and skills remain the binding constraint. Raising the quality of education and skills in South Asia's workforce can play a critical role in catching up to the level of development of the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and other successful Southeast Asian economies. This study reviews the development of human capital in South Asia and analyzes contributing factors to human development including policies and strategies that countries in South Asia follow.

Monograph which investigates the experience of human capital formation and the expansion of the steel industry in developing economies of East Asia. Explores opportunities for Asia-Pacific cooperation in order to transfer the necessary technical and managerial skills for the development of an internationally efficient steel industry.

This report was prepared with the primary objective of drawing insights on how Asian economic giants India and the People's Republic of China leveraged education and skills development to advance economic growth. The analysis presented similarities and differences in human capital development strategies and their outcomes that helped define development pathways between the two countries. It also outlined the prospects for human capital development in the sustainability of the two countries' economic growth. The report was completed in 2014 under the Development Partnership Program for South Asia: Innovative Strategies for Accelerated Human Resource Development in South Asia (TA-6337 REG).

This book is a reflection of the current research that explores the mechanism, dynamics and evidence of the impact of human capital on economic development and social well-being in modern China. Composed of keynote speeches and selected papers from The 2005 International Conference of the Chinese Economists Society (www.china-ces.org), it tracks the latest understanding and empirical evidence of the relationships amongst health, education and economic development in China. The book presents a broad spectrum of study topics covering human capital and economic growth; demand, attainment and disparity in both education and health; and investing in human capital and the economic and social returns in China. Distinguished contributors include Robert Fogel, Michael Grossman, Daniel Hamermesh, Gregory Chow and Dean Jamison.

This volume is the third in a series that examines Canada's economic relationships with the countries of East Asia. The purpose of this volume is to illuminate the links among the peoples of the region that Canadians needs to understand when doing business abroad or cooperating with East Asians in North America. The book's six papers examine the role of culture in institutional similarities and differences, both within East Asia and between East Asia and the west, the impact immigrants have on the receiving economy, the role of education and human capital in economic growth, and the role international linkages like trade, investment, cooperation and immigration play in the spread of knowledge.