Using longitudinal data of college graduates in Colombia, we estimate labor market returns to postsecondary degrees and to various skills--including literacy, numeracy, foreign language, and field-specific skills. Graduates of academic programs and schools of higher reputation obtain higher earnings relative to vocational public programs. A one…

Understanding what determines a worker's passion for skills training has important policy implications, particularly in the current context of the fourth industrial revolution, in which knowledge is deemed obsolete within several years. The purpose of this study is to answer a specific question: are higher-ability garment workers more likely to…

Over the past four decades, income inequality grew significantly between workers with bachelor's degrees and those with high school diplomas (often called "unskilled"). Rather than being unskilled, we argue that these workers are STARs because they are skilled through alternative routes--namely their work experience. Using the skill…

In this study, using a database of higher education student surveys, we analyse the motivations behind paid work through cluster analysis and reveal which variables influence them. We hypothesise that working while studying is also an investment in human capital. We research to what extent students are motivated to work alongside their studies by…

This paper is the first in a series of policy reports dealing with the impact of human capital investments on the U.S. labor market. It is part of a larger series of papers from the ETS Center for Research on Human Capital and Education that uses data from the "Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies" (PIAAC) to…

Ample evidence indicates that a person's human capital is important for success on the labor market in terms of both wages and employment prospects. However, unlike the efforts to identify the impact of school attainment on labor-market outcomes, the literature on returns to cognitive skills has not yet provided convincing evidence that the…

This article analyzes how Russia's networks of higher education institutions contribute to their host regions in terms of the following three major facets: the economic development; the human capital development; and the innovative development. To ensure the analytical framework used derives relevant and representative findings given the nature of…

This article uses data from a major international survey to construct earnings functions in terms of learning outcomes and variables related to working life in different European countries. In order to complement the extended earnings regression model, the authors have used partial correlation analysis and the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to…

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the link between age and proficiency in information-processing skills, based on information drawn from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). The data reveal significant age-related differences in proficiencies, strongly suggesting that proficiency tends to "naturally" decline with age. Age…

Canada weathered the global economic crisis well, mainly reflecting sustained growth in domestic pending, and the economy is continuing to grow despite the persistence of international turbulence, most recently stemming from the euro zone sovereign debt crisis. In Canada's case, several factors are acting in its favour. Federal fiscal plans are…

In this study, occupational investment--the accumulation of skills acquired to work within an occupation--is demonstrated to be a more significant determinant of earnings growth than length of experience. (SK)

Although government social and economic policy, where women and minorities are concerned, is largely focused on income and earnings, specific types of data on the occupational affiliation of women would be useful for research. It is necessary to have a theoretical frame of reference in order to ask the right questions about women's occupational…

A model illustrating the relationship between mentoring and job competency was developed and tested in a sample of 82 members of a local chapter of a national association for training and development professionals. Human capital was conceptualized in terms of job competency attainment and social capital in terms of mentoring and protege…

There is a strong and growing argument for higher educational attainment in the United States. The jobs that are expected to support the economy in the coming years will depend on a skilled workforce that is able to learn and adapt quickly to new challenges. However, demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K-16 pipeline to…

This book provides an introduction to earnings capacity (EC), a measurement of human capital, and its application to a research study of potential earned annual income over a 25-year period. Focus is on qualitative aspects of EC such as race, age, gender and education and its utilization. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 reviews existing…