Human Capital, Economic Growth, and Sustainable Development Goals: An Evaluation of Emerging Economies

Economies often follow a ‘growth first’ approach and prioritize building economic capital over human capital. The cases of most of the world’s developed economies suggest that a persistent and consistent trend of human capital development in the right direction is essential to prosper economically and socially. However, emerging economies appear to mobilize most of their resources toward economic growth, assigning the issues of human or intellectual capital a secondary or lower priority. The approach can limit emerging economies’ growth potential, while it contradicts and restricts the progress towards sustainable development goals. This chapter examines the current state of national human capital and economic growth patterns in the context of sustainable development in the world’s 22 emerging economies. The chapter begins with reviewing the current literature on the role of human capital on economic growth, and then analyzes the economic growth and human capital development patterns in the selected economies at the world level and across regions and income groups. The chapter then assesses the human capital relevant SDG indicators to assess the economies’ progress and identify the existing gaps. Finally, the chapter briefly highlights the challenges and actions needed by emerging economies to make human capital work for sustainable growth and development. The chapter offers a novel contribution to the current literature about evaluating the state of human capital and its priority and relationship against economic growth in the world’s major emerging economies. Furthermore, the discussions could help to align human capital with the current growth strategies and the progress towards the SDGs.