Human Capital and Productivity

• Authors: Angel de la Fuente.
• BSE Working Paper: 110023 | September 15
• Keywords: human capital , growth , productivity , measurement error
• JEL codes: O40, I20, O30, C19
• human capital
• growth
• productivity
• measurement error

This paper surveys the empirical literature on human capital and productivity and summarizes the results of my own work on the subject. On balance, the available evidence suggests that investment in education has a positive, significant and sizable effect on productivity growth. According to my estimates, moreover, the social returns to investment in human capital are higher than those on physical capital in most EU countries and in many regions of Spain.