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Human Capital and the Future of Transition Economies

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  • Spagat, Michael

Abstract

Transition economies have an initial condition of high human capital relative to GDP per capita, giving them high growth potential. In the model, at a good equilibrium a large number of children of well-educated parents take advantage of their family backgrounds and invest substantially in their own human capital. At a bad equilibrium, past educational achievements are wasted as children fail to build upon their parents’ achievements. Policies affecting the education system and the returns to human capital can be decisive in determining the outcome. The model provides a basis for distinguishing development economics from transition economics.

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  • Spagat, Michael, 2002. "Human Capital and the Future of Transition Economies," CEPR Discussion Papers 3517, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3517
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    Cited by:

    1. Tilman Brück & Damir Esenaliev, 2018. "Post†socialist transition and intergenerational educational mobility in Kyrgyzstan," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(1), pages 61-89, January.
    2. Spagat, Michael, 2002. "Human Capital, Growth and Inequality in Transition Economies," CEPR Discussion Papers 3556, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Habibov, Nazim, 2012. "Early childhood care and education attendance in Central Asia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 798-806.
    4. Yue Sun & Liqiu Zhao & Zhong Zhao, 2024. "Hukou Status and Children’s Education in China," Working Papers 2024-004, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Searing, Elizabeth A.M. & Rios-Avila, Fernando & Lecy, Jesse D., 2013. "The impact of psychological trauma on wages in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 165-173.
    6. Arabsheibani, Reza & Staneva, Anita, 2012. "Returns to Education in Russia: Where There Is Risky Sexual Behaviour There Is Also an Instrument," IZA Discussion Papers 6726, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Desislava Kolarova, 2003. "Business Services in the Economies of France and Bulgaria," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 85-101.
    8. Marta C. N. Simões, 2011. "Education Composition and Growth: A Pooled Mean Group Analysis of OECD Countries," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 58(4), pages 455-471, December.
    9. repec:lic:licosd:14404 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Mariya Neycheva, 2016. "Secondary versus higher education for growth: the case of three countries with different human capital’s structure and quality," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 2367-2393, November.
    11. Mihails Hazans & Ija Trapeznikova, 2006. "Access to Secondary Education in Albania: Incentives, Obstacles, and Policy Spillovers," SSE Riga/BICEPS Research Papers 2006-1, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS);Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga).
    12. Khadijah Iddrisu & Joshua Yindenaba Abor & Kannyiri T. Banyen, 2024. "Financial development, globalisation and foreign direct investment nexus: an empirical study from Africa," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(6), pages 1-31, June.
    13. Sun, Yue & Zhao, Liqiu & Zhao, Zhong, 2024. "Hukou status and children's education in China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1386, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Wioletta Wierzbicka, 2021. "Differentiation in levels of human capital among small cities in Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 9(2), pages 209-222, December.
    15. Tilman Brück & Damir Esenaliev, 2013. "Post-Socialist Transition and the Intergenerational Transmission of Education in Kyrgyzstan," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1284, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    16. Yelena Kalyuzhnova & Uma Kambhampati, 2007. "Education or employment-choices facing young people in Kazakhstan," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(5), pages 607-626.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital; Development; Multiple equilibria; Education; Growth; Transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies

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