Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):3-12 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.389

Human Capital Quality and Economic Growth

Rudolf Kubík

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, Fakulta financí a účetnictví (rudolf.kubik@vse.cz).

The topic of the relationship between human capital and economic growth has been intensively examined in empirical studies since the 1980s. Although the positive impact of education and human capital on growth has been repeatedly confirmed, there are still doubts about the strength and probable inverse causality of the relationship. The quality of human capital is frequently mentioned in the empirical literature as an important factor which can help to understand and properly determine the link. The quality of human capital is a key focus of this paper. It tests and confirms the hypothesis that the quality is an important factor which significantly influences the intensity of the relationship. The main hypothesis has been tested using the dynamic panel data technique (GMM estimation) on panel data covering 65 countries in 1960-2005. It has been confirmed that the years of schooling have a higher positive impact on economic growth in countries with a higher quality of education.

Keywords: Human capital, economic growth, quality of schooling, GMM estimation, dynamic panel data models

JEL classification: C33, E24, I21, J21, J24, O11, O47

Published: February 1, 2013  Show citation