Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education
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Overview
Human Capital is Becker's classic study of the consequences of investing in a person's knowledge and skills. According to his theory, investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments in equipment. Becker looks at the economic effects of investment in education on employment and earnings, and shows how his theory measures the incentive for such investment. The human capital approach also allows for determining the costs and returns from college and high school education. Another part of the study explores the relation between on-the-job experience, age, and earnings.Synopsis
Human Capital is Becker's classic study of how investment in an individual's education and training is similar to business investments in equipment. Recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economic Science, Gary S. Becker is a pioneer of applying economic analysis to human behavior in such areas as discrimination, marriage, family relations, and education. Becker's research on human capital was considered by the Nobel committee to be his most noteworthy contribution to economics.
This expanded edition includes four new chapters, covering recent ideas about human capital, fertility and economic growth, the division of labor, economic considerations within the family, and inequality in earnings.
"Critics have charged that Mr. Becker's style of thinking reduces humans to economic entities. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Becker gives people credit for having the power to reason and seek out their own best destiny."—Wall Street Journal