In recent years young entrepreneurs have attracted considerable attention from policy makers and the media, and there is evidence that increasingly many young people aspire to start their own business. However, there has been little research into how young entrepreneurs actually build their businesses, and the limited existing research about young entrepreneurs has tended to focus on participants who have struggled to achieve business survival and growth. By contrast, this thesis investigates how young entrepreneurs are able to build high performing businesses. All participants have built a business with a turnover between £1 million and £90 million or otherwise raised at least £1 million in external investment. It takes a qualitative approach, based primarily on semi-structured interviewing, to understanding the knowledge and skills 21 young entrepreneurs used to build their businesses. It uses a human capital theory framework to analyse how the young entrepreneurs developed relevant knowledge and skills prior to start-up in order to build a business. It then considers what additional human and social capital the young entrepreneurs acquired during the venture creation process itself. The findings identify three different pathways, each of which typifies the human capital used by particular young entrepreneurs, according to their educational background and the precise age at which they started their business. The study also establishes the necessary human capital which all of the young entrepreneurs developed prior to start-up or during the early stages of starting their ventures, which was important to their success in growing a business. The study finally contributes to the debate about whether general human capital or venture-specific human capital is most important to entrepreneurs, finding that for young entrepreneurs developing pre-start-up general human capital is particularly significant.

Human capital is increasingly believed to play an indispensable role in the growth process; however, adequately measuring its stock remains controversial. Because the estimated impact that human capital has on economic growth is sensitive to the measure of human capital, accurate and consistent measures are desirable. While many measures have been developed, most rely on some proxy of educational experience and are thus plagued with limitations. In this study, I adopt a lifetime earnings approach to estimate the monetary value of the human capital stock for New Zealand. I find that the country's working human capital increased by half between 1981 and 2001, mainly due to rising employment level. This stock was well over double that of physical capital. I also model human capital as a latent variable using a Partial Least Squares approach. Exploratory analyses on a number of countries show that age, gender and education combined can capture 65-97 percent of the explained variation in human capital. JEL Classifications: J24, O47.

It is clear that economic growth is achieved by a number of means depending on theoretical affiliation and also that growth rate varies across countries. The thesis investigates the relationship between economic growth and the proportion of representation by women in national parliament across countries. Women are discriminated at every level in the society based on gender and the thesis analyses the effects on production and growth, based on the fact that half of the population are not given equal opportunities to participate in economic activities. The study is performed through two cross-country regression analyses, divided by low- and high-income countries with secondary data. The variables included are: the proportion of seats represented by women, initial GDP/capita, FDI, level of education, population growth, and terms of trade and level of democracy. The variables are chosen in accordance to growth theories. The findings cannot isolate if a high proportion of female parliamentarians increase growth, but the result indicates that a more gender equal economy operate at a higher production level. Increased proportion of female representation in local parliament should according to theory, increase inclusive incentives and policies for women in the labour force and enrolment in higher education, thus increasing the average level of human capital. Previous studies support the result; gender equality is viewed as “smart economics”.

The work represents human capital development problems in Lithuania. There is conception, clasification and formation of human capital resources theoretical analization. It also identifies and analizes human capital formation, development and investing problems. The experiment part uncovers the qualification boucle in Lithuania. In the last part of theoretical analization is given the summation of human capital development opportunities in the future and the possible solutions for existing problems. In the end the conclusions and recommendations are delivered.

No description available.

In order to survive and compete in the new knowledge based economy, it is necessary for small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs in Thailand to enhance their human capital and entrepreneurial competencies, which are factors that can be improved through education and training. Career success implies an improvement in SME entrepreneurs' quantity and quality of life, which is the major theme of the Ninth (2002-2006) and Tenth (2007-2011) National Economic and Social Development Plan. Most of the previous studies concerning human capital, entrepreneurial competencies and career success of SME entrepreneurs, and the relationships among these factors, have been conducted in developed countries. Therefore it is important to conduct further research on these issues in the context of Thailand, which is identified as a developing economy. / This study aims to provide a better understanding of the effects of human capital and entrepreneurial competencies on the career success of Thai SME entrepreneurs. A total of 13 hypotheses have been developed based on an individual perspective by applying the human capital approach in examining the relationship between human capital factors and career success, and the competency approach in examining the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and career success. The hypotheses, testing results from 388 questionnaires completed by SME entrepreneurs in Thailand, support a theoretical model of the career success of SME entrepreneurs. As all of the human capital and entrepreneurial competencies have positive relationships with objective and subjective career success, this study provides both theoretical and empirical evidence for the crucial role of these factors in determining the career success of SME entrepreneurs, particularly in the context of Thailand. It also corresponds to earlier research efforts to re-emphasize the individual perspective in entrepreneurship and career research. / As the instrument used to measure entrepreneurial competencies has been tested with SME entrepreneurs in Thailand, it could be used as a self-assessment tool for SME entrepreneurs to identify their own personal level in each area of entrepreneurial competencies, and identify areas requiring further development. Finally, as the Thai governmental and non-governmental organisations can play a pivotal role in encouraging entrepreneurial activities and the SME entrepreneurs, they can use the results of this study as guidelines for developing better training programs. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007.

Bibliography: leaves 336-344. / 344 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Graduate School of Management, 2000?

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

University, Diss., 2006--Sankt Gallen. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, 1991. / Thesis statement taken from added t.p. tipped in. Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-232).