In recent years, a research consensus has coalesced around the notion that human capital development and an efficient public service are critically important determinants of societal transformation, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there is no similarly wide agreement on how to systematically drive improvements in the quality of a nation's human capital or its public service. This thesis contributes to this debate and adds to the literature on strategies for effective civil service human capital development and management in a developing context. Specifically, the study interrogates and explores the experience of a developing country - Nigeria, to illustrate the dynamics of a typical civil service human capital and capability development (CD) strategy. I critically examine the social and relational complexities of the policy process and how dominant neo-liberal logic is constituted, forming part of the metanarrative in state identities that perpetuate unequal power relations, elite interests, and ineffective institutional arrangements. Influenced by post structural and social constructivist philosophies, the research challenges the dominant neo-liberal orthodoxy on human capital. In this regard and utilising a case study approach, the study critically explores and reveals how the standards for human capital development are negotiated in the Nigerian federal civil service (NFCS), and examines the discourses and practices they produce. I utilise the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse (SKAD) as well as policy documents and semi-structured interviews with senior policy planners, to capture the nuanced realities and everyday meanings that are lost in dominant metanarratives of civil service human capital reforms in SSA. These explorations are positioned within the broader development debates about the need to adopt social constructivist research frames to better understand contextual issues in the capability development (CD) process. The research findings indicate that while most reform programmes in the NFCS have been captivated by the capacity development and service delivery rhetoric, the complex interplay between the dearth of human capabilities and the politicisation of the implementation process means that the impact of such policies have been very minimal. The study reveals that the relational complexities between policy agents have been engendered largely by the nature of Nigeria's political economy, which appears to have produced dynamic and interweaving unequal power relations that have helped constitute discourses centred on institutional inefficiencies, including: 'patronage', 'intense rent-seeking', and 'personalisation' of the policy process that are currently ongoing. These discourses are actively navigated, produced and reproduced according to Nigeria's social and political contexts. I argue that this socially constituted and re-constituted locale creates a complex and uniquely challenging context for reforms, such that developing civil service capacities has become a major challenge, because 'reform' policies tend to serve the interests of a few powerful elites, who are bent on maintaining the status quo. The thesis makes key recommendations that recognise these challenges and provides policy options and a framework to help the Nigerian federal service embark upon a capability development initiative that will help improve the efficiency of the Service and lead to accelerated national development.

by Andrew Fung Chak Yan & Danny Chan Ka Keung. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Bibliography: leaves [1]-[2]

二十一世紀企業的價值不再僅止於帳面資產所反映的價值，許多無形資產所隱藏的價值更甚於有形資產，這部份即是所謂的智慧資本，其中又以人力資本最為重要，尤其在二十一世紀的知識經濟時代，更須正視「人」所扮演的角色，因為人所具備的知識、技術與能力，已成為企業競爭優勢的來源。近幾年來，台灣資訊電子業之所以能蓬勃發展的主要原因即在於具備了技術密集與知識密集的特性，本研究有鑒於人力資本的重要性日增，而技術又是資訊電子業的關鍵成功因素，因此擬探討技術人力資本強度是否對公司經營績效有顯著的正向影響。 　　本研究以我國資訊電子業之57家上市上櫃公司1991年至2000年共241個觀察值為樣本，蒐集公司內部技術人員人數之實際資料，運用實證分析方法，探討技術人力資本強度與公司經營績效間的關聯，並將研究發展強度、員工薪資報酬水準、員工生產力、公司規模這四個公司特性一並納入分析。 　　實證結果顯示，無論以資產報酬率或權益報酬率衡量經營績效，皆與技術人力資本強度呈顯著正相關，且無論是以營業利益、營業毛利、稅前息前淨利、稅前淨利或稅後淨利計算報酬率，結果均支持本研究的假說。至於其他公司特性方面，除公司規模外，研究發展強度、員工薪資報酬水準及員工生產力多與經營績效呈正相關，亦符合本研究的預期。 　　此外，本研究亦探討技術人力資本的變動對經營績效的解釋程度，研究結果顯示，技術人員人數每增加10%，營業利益即增加4.4%，顯示技術人力資本不僅與公司經營績效有顯著正相關，當技術人員增加時，營業利益也會隨之增加，代表技術人員的人數對公司本業經營績效之影響相當大。另外，研究發現以營業毛利作為獲利的替代變數時，模式的解釋力(Adj-R2)最高，代表技術人員對公司經營績效的影響主要還是反映在製造成本與銷貨成本的降低。 　　本研究結果可供我國資訊電子業制定人力資源管理決策的參考，在全球競爭日益激烈的環境下，未來我國資訊電子業公司在人才的招募上，應提高技術人員所佔的比例，來增強本身在技術上的競爭力，進而提昇公司的經營績效。 / Management theory has gradually accepted that ‘hidden assets’ or most recently ‘intellectual capital’, especially human capital, increasingly play a major role for the survival of companies. With the coming of knowledge economy, knowledge and competence of employees have become the most important sources of competitive advantage. The reason why Taiwanese information and electronic industry has grown rapidly these years lies in the key factor of technology intensity and knowledge intensity. Since technology is the soul of this industry and technology must be realized directly through technicians, this study intends to examine the association between technical human capital intensity and corporate operating performance. 　　The sample used in this study consists of 57 information and electronic companies listed on TSE and ROSE from 1991 to 2000, totally 241 observations. We collect the data of number of technicians from Public Offering Prospectus. This study uses multi-regression model as the empirical method to test the hypothesis that the technical human capital intensity and corporate operating performance are positively related. In addition, we include R&D intensity, labor compensation level, labor productivity and company scale as the subordinate independent variables. 　　Our results provide strong evidence that higher technical human capital intensity leads to better operating performance. Besides, when the gross profit is used to measure profitability, the Adj-R2 of the model achieves 50%, which means the major impact of technicians on corporate performance is reflected in the reduction of manufacturing costs or cost of goods sold. We also investigate more about how the variation of technical human capital influences the operating performance. The result shows that when the number of technicians increases 10%, the operating income increases 4.4%. As for other subordinate variables, R&D intensity, labor compensation level and labor productivity are all significantly positively related to operating performance.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Graduate School of Management, 2004. / Bibliography: p. 210-272. / "December 2003". / Overview -- Literature review of intellectual capital reporting with a human capital focus -- Forces shaping intellectual capital reporting in Sri Lanka -- Reseach method -- Political economy of accounting reporting theory -- Hypothesis development and data interpretation -- Results of hypothesis testing --Interpretation of results -- Conclusions. / This study examines and explains the intellectual capital reporting (ICR) practices, with a human capital (HumC) focus, of firms located in a developing nation, Sri Lanka. The study ascertained the following: first, to what extent the industry groups, based on the number of shareholders, differ in their ICR practices; and second, to what extent firms in Sri Lanka differfrom counterparts in other nations in their ICR practices. -- The literature reviewed highlighted the voluntary nature and unregulated nvironment of ICR. It also underlined the inability of traditional accounting to recognise IC within its financial statements. This has lead to a plethora of non-uniform definitions of intellectual capital (IC) and ICR, and a wide range of theoretical frameworks available for IC. -- This thesis examined the top 30 firms by market capitalisation listed on the Colombo stock exchange in both 1998/1999 and 1999/2000. It reviewed their annual reports using content analysis to analyse the type and amount ofIC reported, and carried out 11 case study interviews with directors and senior executives to analyse the type and amount of IC managed within the firms. Using this data, this study tested the political economy of accounting (PEA) theory. The study collapsed the firms into four industry groups based on the number of areholders; this was done on the basis that the number of shareholders of a firm influences their ICR practice. -- The results indicate that, overall, there were distinct differences in ICR practice between industry groups. The industry groups were found to report similarly in relation to IC category. However, in relation to IC elements the industry groups were found to report differently, with some industry groups over reporting on certain elements which were not well managed and vice versa. The differences in ICR practices indicate that industry groups use ICR to mediate the agenda of debate between them and their economic, social and political constituents to maximise their capital reproduction. The study also indicates that differences exist in ICR practices between firms located in Sri Lanka and firms in other nations in relation to both IC categories and IC elements. These differences are attributed to the unique economic, social and political context of each country. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / xvii, 383 p., ill

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Iowa, 2000. / Supervisor: Scott R. Eliason. Also issued in paper (viii, 114 leaves, bound ; 28 cm.). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued on CD-ROM (43 files, 421 kilobytes).

The significance of human capital development (HCD) from an organizational perspective is adequately reflected in the extant literature; however, its inherent connection with total quality management (TQM) philosophy is yet to be investigated. Hence, this study intends to explore the role of HCD in implementing TQM philosophy and to develop a comprehensive HCD framework in this respect. The labor-intensive Bangladesh ready-made garment sector is used as the research site since the phenomenon under inquiry is not readily evident in the chosen setting. The interpretivist worldview is espoused in this exploratory research to accomplish the research aim. Correspondingly, an inductive approach followed by a qualitative multiple case study methodology is adopted. Five (5) RMG establishments are purposively selected as case organizations. Thirty (30) in-depth interviews (6 from each case organization) are conducted, using the semi-structured interview technique to generate rich and thick primary data. Reflexive thematic analysis is manually performed to analyze the interview transcripts. Findings imply that HCD engenders three major effects: reduced costs of operations, improved product quality, and on-time shipment. Thereby HCD ensures greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, which is the essence of TQM philosophy. Empirical evidence specifically suggests that HCD can contribute to TQM implementation by empowering employees to reliably participate in problem solving and decision-making, innovatively perform tasks, and effectively accomplish appropriate changes in work processes and procedures. This study contributes to the knowledge by evidencing the fact that an HCD framework integrating both learning and healthcare interventions has an explicitly positive nexus with TQM philosophy. / Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK

This diploma thesis deals with the development of human capital in China, India, and South Africa. It focuses on the historical development and the main milestones in the development of education systems in individual countries and subsequently their current state. The aim is to compare individual countries in terms of human capital development and to figure out why South Africa is ranked worse than the other two countries in the World Bank's Human Capital Index, even though it is one of the upper middle-income countries along with China and India is a country with a lower middle income and yet it is ranked higher in this ranking. The work examines the history of the development of education systems in individual countries and describes their significant milestones that have influenced education to such an extent that the country is still struggling with the consequences. Firstly, this thesis describes the current state of education systems and gathers important characteristics and major problems. These problems stem mainly from historical developments, which have caused China to reform its education in order to get rid of the consequences of Soviet influence. India has been particularly influenced by British influence, which has changed its traditional education and is currently struggling with...

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / William F. Blankenau / This dissertation encompasses three essays on the macroeconomics of human capital and economic growth. Below are the individual abstracts for each essay. Essay 1: Does Public Education Spending Increase Human Capital? I investigate the effect of public education spending on the quality of human capital as measured by international student test scores in science and mathematics, conditional on the efficiency of a country's governance. Combining World Bank country level data on government efficiency with rich micro data from the OECD PISA-2009, I estimate a human capital production function from student level data. Prior work suggests that public education expenditures are inconsequential for student achievement. I illustrate that public education spending matters for student test scores when one uses student level data instead of aggregate country level data. These results are robust to controlling for governance measures such as corruption control and regulatory quality. An implication is that less efficient government does not preclude improving test scores through education spending. Essay 2: Inequality of Opportunity in Education: International Evidence from PISA. I provide lower-bound estimates of inequality of opportunity in education (IEO) using micro-data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The measure represents variation in student mathematics test scores which can be explained by predetermined circumstances (including parental education, gender, and additional community variables). I explore the heterogeneity of the measure at the top and bottom of the test score distribution, and demonstrate that IEO accounts for 10 percent of the variation in test scores for students at the top and bottom of the test score distribution. Using this inequality measure I establish three main conclusions. (1) IEO decreases overall in response to an increase in preprimary enrollment rates. An implication here is that improvements in early childhood education might mitigate the effects of IEO factors for some students. (2) IEO increases in a manner which relates to overall inequality. This indicates the possibility of a more general persistence to inequality factors. An implication is that equity-based education policies can be a key tool for reducing income inequality. (3) There is evidence of an equity-efficiency tradeoff in education. An implication here is that public education policies aimed at reducing IEO might hinder overall education efficiency, in that it decreases academic achievement for some groups of students. Essay 3: Public Education Spending and Economic Growth: The Role of Governance. Although the theoretical literature often connects public education spending to growth, individual empirical findings sometimes conflict. In this paper I propose that inefficiencies in public education spending might explain these inconsistencies. Using a dataset from both developed and developing countries observed over the period of 1995 to 2010, I demonstrate that the efficiency of public education spending on growth depends on a country's level and quality of governance. I also find evidence that increasing educational spending is associated with higher economic growth only in countries that are less corrupt. These findings have important implications for the formation of effective education policies in developing countries. They illustrate that efficient public education spending augments economic growth in a way that increased spending alone does not match.

Human capital is a major resource controlled by a company, but is not recognised as an asset by traditional accounting practices. An alternative accounting treatment of human capital, using the human resources scorecard as a guide, is suggested in this study. The study comprises a literature review as well as an empirical study to that end. The empirical research of this study focuses on how human capital affects important financial figures and ratios of a company when employee-related costs are recognised as an asset rather than as an expense. A corresponding liability was recognised to make provision for an annual cash outflow relating to employee related costs. The annual financial statements of ten companies listed on the JSE were examined in order to determine the impact on the reported results, had human capital been treated as an asset. A methodology whereby asset values for human capital can be calculated was introduced. The influence on several core financial ratios of a company is analysed. A large increase in assets and liabilities was noted in both 2010 and 2011 when human capital was recognised as an asset rather than as an expense on a company’s financial statements. Assets for the companies analysed increased on average between 58.62% and 414.78% and liabilities increased between 204.84% and 748.26%. Due to the large increase in assets and liabilities, the recognition of human capital as an asset had a significant impact on the financial ratios of the companies analysed. This is directly linked to the decision making of company stakeholders. Throughout this study, it becomes evident that there are some general inadvertencies and inconsistencies regarding the human capital and employee costs recognition and reporting on companies’ financial statements. The way in which human capital is reported varies from company to company. The capitalisation of human capital has an impact on the financial performance of a company that cannot be ignored. There are several advantages to comprehensive human capital reporting which includes workforce motivation as well as an enhanced reputation of a company. Whether human capital is treated as an asset or as an expense, companies should invest in broad, comprehensive human capital reporting in their financial statements. The study concludes with recommended human capital disclosure in financial statements. / MCom (Management Accountancy)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

The present fast-changing economic environment contributes to the daily challenges faced by organisations in their attempts to maintain a competitive edge. Employees need to be innovative continuously and maintain high levels of productivity in order to reach organisational goals. From a global perspective, a lot of research has been done concerning personal financial wellbeing, yet very little research on this topic could be found in the South African context. Seeing that intellectual capital is regarded as one of the most important assets of any organisation, the current study set out to determine the impact of personal financial wellbeing on employee productivity and absenteeism as part of total employee cost. For this purpose, a confidential online questionnaire was completed voluntarily by sampled employees (n=872) from the manufacturing industry. The results showed that financial interference is an outcome of the level of financial wellbeing; therefore, financial wellbeing does have an impact on financial interference. It was also determined that financial interference, in turn, does have an impact on both productivity and absenteeism. According to the results, personal financial wellbeing also affects both productivity and absenteeism directly. One recommendation for future research is to use this study as a basis from which to more generally improve financial wellbeing in the South African context. Also, more research could be conducted on suitable financial educational programmes to improve financial wellbeing in the South African workplace, as well as on determining a monetary value of the impact of financial wellbeing on productivity and absenteeism. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015