This paper deals with Iraqis in the Swedish labour market. The main goal was to point out on positive aspects of the Swedish labour market integration. Previous studies were mostly problem oriented on immigrants’ situation in finding a job, especially when related to immigrant from non-European countries. Instead this study is focused on the more positive aspects. It was attempted to answer which public resources respectively which individual assets were of value in getting a job. This paper is based on a qualitative method, as five Iraqis with jobs were interviewed. To analyse the empiricism of this study the human capital theory and the theory of social capital were applied. Furthermore the impact of public resources on getting a job was taken into account in the analysis. The study shows that both public resources and individual assets were of importance in the pursuit of a job. The interviews showed that one’s education and social network weighed most when looking for a job. On the other hand internships were named as the most significant of the public resources. But finally it is to conclude that it is not enough to itemise influences but to have a look at their interaction.

Recent studies claims that Sweden has the lowest returns on education compared to other OECD countries. Other research made in the subject tend to focus on the gains from education, but forget to calculate the costs, both direct cost such as material, accommodation and food, but also opportunity costs from not working instead of investing in education. The purpose of this thesis is to study if an investment in an education is an effective way of monetary utility maximizing in Sweden, in other words income. This thesis will investigate whether education will be a profitable investment, and if so how many years of employment it will take an individual to gain from that investment. The Human Capital theory is the theoretical framework of this thesis and the result is in Swedish Crowns. This research quantifies that an education is an effective way to income maximizing and men’s payback time in monetary terms are more likely to be shorter than female’s.

Education, as an indispensable component of human capital, has been acknowledged to play a critical role in economic growth, which is theoretically elaborated by human capital theory and empirically confirmed by evidence from different parts of the world. The educational impact on growth is especially valuable and meaningful when it is for the sake of poverty reduction and pro-poorness of growth. The paper re-explores the precious link between human capital development and poverty reduction by investigating the causal effect of education accumulation on earnings enhancement for anti-poverty and pro-poor growth. The analysis takes the evidence from a well-known conditional cash transfer (CCT) program — Oportunidades in Mexico. Aiming at alleviating poverty and promoting a better future by investing in human capital for children and youth in poverty, this CCT program has been recognized producing significant outcomes. The study investigates a short-term impact of education on earnings of the economically disadvantaged youth, taking the data of both the program’s treated and untreated youth from urban areas in Mexico from 2002 to 2004. Two econometric techniques, i.e. difference-in-differences and difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach are applied for estimation. The empirical analysis first identifies that youth who under the program’s schooling intervention possess an advantage in educational attainment over their non-intervention peers; with this identification of education discrepancy as a prerequisite, further results then present that earnings of the education advantaged youth increase at a higher rate about 20 percent than earnings of their education disadvantaged peers over the two years. This result indicates a confirmation that education accumulation for the economically disadvantaged young has a positive impact on their earnings enhancement and thus inferring a contribution to poverty reduction and pro-poorness of growth.

Abstract In recent years, the government has implemented several policies to lower the unemployment rate. In this insecure environment, the concept of employability has emerged as a key contributor to career success and job search success. Past researches show lack of attention on the relationship between employability and job search success, furthermore, most researches about employability were taking college students as examples. Thus, this research tries to proceed an empirical study of general job seekers and find out the effect of employability on job search success. Besides, it also comprehends the exploration of the mediating effect of the job search self-efficacy. After statistical analyses, the results are summarized as the following. 1. Adaptability has no effect on job search self-efficacy. 2. Adaptability has no effect on job search success. 3. Career identity has positive effect on job search self-efficacy. 4. Career identity has positive effect on job search success. 5. Human capital and social capital have positive effect on job search self-efficacy. 6. Human capital and social capital have positive effect on job search success. 7. Job search self-efficacy has positive effect on job search success.

Over the last few decades, the rising concern of environmental protection and consumers¡¦ increasing environmental consciousness have brought fundamental impacts to enterprises in the world. Environmental protection has become one of corporate social responsibilities, and in the meantime, one of the opportunities for profitability. Among all resources in organizations, human resource plays the most important role in keeping corporate competitive advantage. In order to create and maintain corporate competitive advantage, traditional human capital also has to be transformed into green human capital that possesses the ability to develop green innovation. The purpose of this research is to investigate how green human capital will be influential on the level green innovation, and how it actually leads to corporate competitive advantage. The study uses in-depth interviews and questionnaires to collect data for the analysis. The results reveal that green human capital strategic value has a positive impact on green product innovation and green product innovation has a mediating effect in the relationship between green human capital strategic value and responsiveness. On the other hands, green human capital uniqueness has a positive impact on green process innovation and green process innovation plays a mediating effect in the relationship between green human capital uniqueness and cost advantage.

This research addresses the question of what factors lead Mexican-origin individuals living in the U.S. to seek a new residence outside their Southwestern state of residence. The analysis examines three hypotheses: (1) the human capital hypothesis that college graduates have higher odds of migrating out of the core region than those with less than a high school education; (2) the household social capital hypothesis that posits that the presence of a household member born outside the core increases the odds of migration; and (3) the community social capital hypothesis which states that householders residing in an area with community social capital will have higher odds of leaving the core than those living in areas with no community social capital. These hypotheses are investigated using three models: (1) a full model that includes both native- and foreign-born Mexican-origin householders; (2) a native-born model which includes only native-born Southwest householders; and (3) a foreign-born models that includes only foreign-born Mexican-origin householders. By using the Saenzian region-concepts of core, periphery, and frontier, I find: (1) limited support for the human capital hypothesis; (2) consistent support for the household social capital; and (3) no support for the community social capital. The analysis is important to sociological theory and demography because it specifically endeavors to explain how the connections between three kinds of capital?human, household, and community?shape the decision to leave the Southwest for other regions of the country. By computing statistical and theoretical particulars, the thesis ascertains that migration-selectivity theories regarding the general population are useful in theorizing Mexican-origin interregional migration. Findings expand existing sociological literature by theorizing how human, household, and community capital operate under the Saenzian regions to shape the interregional migration of the growing Mexican-origin population of the U.S.

Abstract This research attempted to explain the relationship among HR investment, organizational human capital and firm performance. A positive link between a firm¡¦s HR investment and its performance through the mediating effect of overall human capital was proposed. Alternative hypotheses were presented to test the effect of different HR investment portfolios on various human capital dimensions, as well as the link between these human capital dimensions and firm performance outcomes. A review on the concept of human capital revealed several problems in the research of human capital at organizational level. Four new latent constructs (quantity of human capital, human capital-organization fit, complementarity of human capital, and specificity of human capital) were extracted from the literature to form a new paradigm in the measurement of organizational level human capital. This new paradigm represented a resource-based perspective. Data were collected from top executives of 105 companies located in the US and in Taiwan in the knowledge-intensive industry segments such as professional service, financial service, R&D, and hi-tech manufacturing, etc. Survey questionnaires were used as data collection instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL was performed to test validity and reliability of new measurement scales. Hierarchical regression statistics were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that HR investment had significant positive impact on firm performance and was significantly related to higher level of human capital in a firm as measured by the quantity of human capital, human capital-organization fit, complementarity of human capital, and specificity of human capital. Further, the mediating effect of firm-level human capital between HR investment and firm performance was substantiated. This study also tested a more complex model linking two HR investment portfolios to four dimensions of human capital and firm performance outcomes. The findings showed that higher level of acquisition investment was linked to higher level of human capital-organization fit, complementarity of human capital, and specificity of human capital. More significantly, a higher level of development investment was linked to higher levels of all four dimensions of human capital. In addition, each individual dimension of human capital, except the quantity of it, was found to positively predict firm performance outcomes.

The approach of the age of knowledge economy and prosperous growth of IT makes knowledge become one of the most important core resources. The knowledge is also organizations' key point of seeking for survival and development. Knowledge economy emphasizes on transferring ¡§knowledge¡¨ into ¡§profit¡¨ instead of knowledge itself. Therefore, knowledge application is more essential than knowledge possession. At rapid digital age, knowledge management becomes key point of core competence. Hence, this study, knowledge management as variables, will discuss if knowledge management will upgrade the achievement of R&D performance of human capital and organizational culture. This study used questionnaire. This study used convenience sampling to select 1,517 high-tech industries as subjects from Taiwan Industrial Park Directory (published by Taipei County Exhibition Hall, 2005) and the appendix of high-tech industry yearbook (published from 2002 to 2005) as population. Valid questionnaires were 140 copies. This study used LISREL for data analysis and the result are listed as following: 1. Investment in human capital management helps efficiently improve R&D performance. The functional activities of human resources, such as recruit, maintenance and encouragement, connect organizations with employees effectively. Enhancement of employees' contribution, promise and encouragement strengthen value and uniqueness of human resources and also produce remarkable progress of R&D performance. 2. Execution of organizational culture, including participation, strategic vision which aids to organization's evolution, team work and organizational structure, helps to improve significantly for R&D performance. 3. Promotion and execution of knowledge management play as important mediators in organizations. The efficiency of R&D performance in human capital and organizational culture will be enhanced through the mediation caused by execution of knowledge management. 4. The amount of enterprises' employees makes diversity of performance of human capital and knowledge management. The enterprises that own 2,000 employees and above have more remarkable performance in human capital and knowledge management than the enterprises that own fewer employees. It means, large-scale enterprises have more competence because of more cost reduction, which improves quality of products and customer services. Regarding knowledge management, different amount of enterprises' employees also makes diversity of employees' knowledge creation and collection. The result of this study indicates that large-scale enterprises are more capable of invention and acquiring latest knowledge.

ABSTRACT As the progress of information technology, the trend of globalization market and dramatic market competition, human resource can be the only source of sustaining a competitive advantage for organizations. It is not all employees who possess knowledge and skills of core resources for firms. It is the fundamental work for human resource management for firms to improve employment management of human resource. Given pressures for both efficiency and flexibility, in addition to the use of internal full-time employees, firms are use external workers, such as temporary employees, contract laborers, consultant etc. The fact highlights that human resource management can be divided to make or buy decisions. It would be more efficient employment to hire at employee's characteristic. The related academic is less and lack of a systematic framework for carrying for employment management. This study, develop a human resource architecture based transaction cost economics, human capital, resource-based view and the academic of Lepak & Snell (1999). The conclusions are: 1.When human resource are both valuable and unique, firms should internally develop human resource and would rely on a commitment-based human resource configuration. 2. When human resource is valuable but not unique, firms should acquire human resource from labor market and would rely on a market-based human resource configuration.3. When human resource is not valuable and unique, firms should use contractual human resource and would rely on a compliance-based human resource configuration.4. When human resource is unique but not valuable, firms should use alliance and would rely on a collaborative-based human resource configuration.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the development of knowledge-based economy and related policies in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. Furthermore, a cross-country analysis of knowledge-based economy is conducted. The meaning and content of knowledge-based economy are firstly analyzed in the light of innovation theory and human capital theory. A cross-country empirical study is then conducted. The data source is 2001 World Development Indicators CD-Rom published by the World Bank. Utilizing the method of factor analysis, we extract two important factors characterizing knowledge-based economy. The first is the efficiency of communication and exchanging information, which represents the efficiency of delivering knowledge, and the level of human capital, which represents the stock of knowledge. The regression method is used to analyze the relationships between the two factors and productivity. It is found that both factors have strong positive effects on GDP per capita, agriculture value added per worker, and research and development expenditure. Individual indicators in the two factors are used to evaluate and compare the performance of Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. It is found that Taiwan¡¦s level of knowledge-based economy is similar to the average level of APEC memberships, but better than that of East Asia, of Pacific countries, and of upper-middle income countries. China¡¦s level of knowledge-based economy is obviously not able to catch up with the average level of APEC memberships, that of East Asia, that of Pacific countries, and that of low-middle income countries. The performance of knowledge-based economy of Hong Kong is much better and equal to that of OECD and of G8 memberships. Our findings imply that the performance of knowledge-based economy of Taiwan is better than that of China, but inferior to that of Hong Kong and that of Japan, Singapore, and Korea. The reason might be that Taiwan¡¦s implementation of related national policies falls behind these countries. We suggest that the government should put more emphasis on implementing information and communication infrastructure in order to enhance the efficiency of delivering, stirring up, and diffusing of knowledge.