Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science (Jul 2014)
THE INVESTMENT IN HUMAN CAPITAL – MORE THAN AN IDEA IN PRESENT AND FUTURE REALITIES
Abstract
The essence of the idea of human capital is of "investment in people" in order to improve their productivity. Education and health costs are generated in the hope of future benefits, hence the term "human capital investment". In general, the human capital is treated as an investment. Moreover, the investment is a continuous one, targeting either the development (training or continuous education courses, for example) or to maintain the capital stock (regular medical appointments, for example). Accepting numerous studies published in the last decades regarding the human capital, we will mention education as a main factor contributing to the training and development of individuals. The costs of education are investments in the human capital, investments that assure the accumulation and avoidance of its depreciation. In countries, there is a consensus, that parts of the level of government investment include also the need for investment in educational services, governments undoubtedly playing a central role in directing the formation and development of human capital. We need to invest in human capital, doubly so as that the investment in education is a profitable one, the rate of capitalization of the investment in education ranging from 5-30%, according to OECD statistics.
