HUMAN
CAPITAL FROM THE POSITION OF SYSTEM APPROACH
Viktoriia Kryvoshei, PhD
Assistant Professor of finance department,
KHARKIV UNIVERSITY
OF FOOD TECHNOLOGIES AND TRADE
333, Klochkovska
Str.
Kharkiv, 61051,
Ukraine
Specific
approaches to the assessment of the content of the category “human capital” is
considered in the article. The authors formulate their opinion on the matter,
which scrutinizes the category “human capital” from the position of system
approach. Both composition and structure of “human capital” are determined.
Key
words: “human capital”, system
approach, model of composition and structure.
The
notion “human capital” acquires great importance not only for the economists –
theorists, but for certain businesses as well. Most of the companies start
paying special attention to the accumulation of human capital as the most
valuable of all types of capital.
As
V.Shchetinin in his article “Human capital and ambiguousness of its
interpretation” claims that human capital concept is one of the most
perspective directions of economic science development in the XXI-st century.
Besides, in the opinion of one of the prominent theorists of human capital L.Turrow “Human capital concept plays
key role in modern economic analysis”.
“Human
capital” theory allows study various phenomena of market relations; educe
efficiency of financial assets put into human factor of financial assets,
allows evaluate efficiency of economic activity of any enterprise, and at
present it is one of the most important indexes of the business success.
One
of the most important statements in the theory of human capital states that its
increase is one of the main reasons of economic development because human
capital takes the largest part of the society’s welfare.
The
category “human capital” will be considered from the position of system
approach according to which three models of the economic category under
discussion.
The
first model, so called “model of the black box” (fig.1), demonstrates the
essence of human capital, i.e. its importance for the enterprise. Education,
upbringing, health, i.e. the base which makes an individual an object of
capital embodiment – are input parameters. At the output we receive certain
human utility, i.e. the benefit which human capital gives to the enterprise. It
can be presented both as a tangible index (some profit ratio, raise of various
financial indexes) and intangible one (image of the enterprise, unit
identification, intellectual property).
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The
second model, model of the composition (fig.2), allows imagine composition of
human capital, emphasize its major components in order to research this
category later with a certain particularity.
Theorists
studying human capital define its composition differently. I.V.Ilyinskiy
distinguishes the following components: capital of education, capital of
health, capital of culture. Dobrynin A.I. interprets the individual’s store of
health, knowledge, habits, abilities, and motivations, which promote growth of
labor productivity and influence the incomes (wages) growth as a human capital.
“Human capital” – as most of western
economists define it – consists of the
acquired knowledge, habits, motivations, and energy, which human beings
possess, and which can be used for certain period of time in order to produce
goods and services’ [1].
The
following elements of the category under investigation, namely: education,
professional training, health, motivation, income, and common culture can be
distinguished in the result of the consideration of different points of view concerning
the composition of human capital.
The
third model is the model of the human capital structure (fig.3), which describes
each of the elements of the category under consideration and interrelation
between the elements.
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Human capital |
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education |
health |
Professional training |
motivation |
Common culture |
income |
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Knowledge: general educational, special |
Physical: age, heredity, environmental conditions,
labor conditions Moral: moral and psychological climate in
the community and family |
qualification, experience, skills |
to study, to economic and labor activity |
intelligence, individual qualities, upbringing, moral
principles |
profit ratio per person (wage) |
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Fig.3. Model of the human capital
structure |
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Education
includes all knowledge that an individual receives during his life-time, i.e.
general educational (studying at schools and general subjects in higher
schools), and special knowledge (special subjects aimed at receiving knowledge
in a definite field).
Working
capacity of an individual in any sphere of the economy, on any position largely
depends on person’s health. The element “health” can be divided into two
components – moral and physical health. Physical health means everything that a
person receives at birth and acquires later, everything that influences his
physiology, i.e. heredity, age, environmental and labor conditions. Moral health
is provided by the moral and psychological climate both in the family and
community.
Professional
training includes qualification, skills, and work experience.
An
individual can be motivated both to training and economic and labor activities.
Income
is the profit ratio per person or from a person, so it is the result of using
human capital. In this case it may be considered as income of one person, which
is his wage at the enterprise.
General
culture includes distinctness peculiar to a particular individual, specifically
it is mentality, creativity, upbringing, which form certain moral standards as
well as all humanities which can influence activities of the enterprise:
responsibility, sociability, creativity and even, as L.Turrow writes “respect
of political and social stability”.
All
elements of human capital are closely interrelated, e.g. increasing educational
status the person expands both capital and health, level of his income, and
general culture. The employee’s knowledge and skills, which he acquired due to education
and professional training including proficiency received as a result of his
work experience, make definite capital supplies. Monetary value of capital
supplies is determined by pay rates according to which employers can “rent”
human capital at a labor market. Job search and migration increase value of
human capital of particular individuals due to the raise of price (pay rates
received per unit of time for the use of workers’ knowledge and skills).
Therefore,
human capital is the main value of modern society and fundamental factor of
economic growth both of the country in general and an enterprise in particular.
In order to increase human capital it is necessary to pay attention at its each
and every component.
Ëèòåðàòóðà
1.Êàïåëþøíèêîâ Ð. Ñîâðåìåííûå çàïàäíûå êîíöåïöèè ôîðìèðîâàíèÿ ðàáî÷åé ñèëû. – Ì.: Íàóêà, 1981.
2.Êîðèöêèé À.Â. Ââåäåíèå â òåîðèþ ÷åëîâå÷åñêîãî êàïèòàëà: Ó÷åáíîå ïîñîáèå – Íîâîñèáèðñê: ÑèáÓÏÊ, 2000. – 112 ñ.
3.À.È. Äîáðûíèíà, Ë.Ñ. Òàðàñåâè÷à. ÑÏá.: Èçä. ÑÏáÃÓÝÔ, «Ïèòåðêîì». 1999. – Ñ. 366, 544.