This thesis is a collection of five independent but closely related studies. The overall purpose is to approach the analysis of learning outcomes from a perspective that combines three major elements, namely lifelonglifewide learning, human capital, and the benefits of learning. The approach is based on an interdisciplinary perspective of the human capital paradigm. It considers the multiple learning contexts that are responsible for the development of embodied potential – including formal, nonformal and informal learning – and the multiple outcomes – including knowledge, skills, economic, social and others– that result from learning. The studies also seek to examine the extent and relative influence of learning in different contexts on the formation of embodied potential and how in turn that affects economic and social well being. The first study combines the three major elements, lifelonglifewide learning, human capital, and the benefits of learning into one common conceptual framework. This study forms a common basis for the four empirical studies that follow. All four empirical studies use data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) to investigate the relationships among the major elements of the conceptual framework presented in the first study. <u>Study I. A conceptual framework for the analysis of learning outcomes</u> This study brings together some key concepts and theories that are relevant for the analysis of learning outcomes. Many of the concepts and theories have emerged from varied disciplines including economics, educational psychology, cognitive science and sociology, to name only a few. Accordingly, some of the research questions inherent in the framework relate to different disciplinary perspectives. The primary purpose is to create a common basis for formulating and testing hypotheses as well as to interpret the findings in the empirical studies that follow. In particular, the framework facilitates the process of theorizing and hypothesizing on the relationships and processes concerning lifelong learning as well as their antecedents and consequences. <u>Study II. Determinants of literacy proficiency: A lifelong-lifewide learning perspective</u> This study investigates lifelong and lifewide processes of skill formation. In particular, it seeks to estimate the substitutability and complementarity effects of learning in multiple settings over the lifespan on literacy skill formation. This is done by investigating the predictive capacity of major determinants of literacy proficiency that are associated with a variety of learning contexts including school, home, work, community and leisure. An identical structural model based on previous research is fitted to the IALS data for 18 countries. The results show that even after accounting for all factors, education remains the most important predictor of literacy proficiency. In all countries, however, the total effect of education is significantly mediated through further learning occurring at work, at home and in the community. Therefore, the job and other literacy related factors complement education in predicting literacy proficiency. This result points to a virtual cycle of lifelong learning, particularly to how educational attainment influences other learning behaviours throughout life. In addition, results show that home background as measured by parents’ education is also a strong predictor of literacy proficiency, but in many countries this occurs only if a favourable home background is complemented with some post-secondary education. <u>Study III. The effect of literacy proficiency on earnings: An aggregated occupational approach using the Canadian IALS data</u> This study uses data from the Canadian Adult Literacy Survey to estimate the earnings return to literacy skills. The approach adapts a labour segmented view of the labour market by aggregating occupations into seven types, enabling the estimation of the variable impact of literacy proficiency on earnings, both within and between different types of occupations. This is done using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The method used to construct the aggregated occupational classification is based on analysis that considers the role of cognitive and other skills in relation to the nature of occupational tasks. Substantial premiums are found to be associated with some occupational types even after adjusting for within occupational differences in individual characteristics such as schooling, literacy proficiency, labour force experience and gender. Average years of schooling and average levels of literacy proficiency at the between level account for over two-thirds of the premiums. Within occupations, there are significant returns to schooling but they vary depending on the type of occupations. In contrast, the within occupational return of literacy proficiency is not necessarily significant. The latter depends on the type of occupation. <u>Study IV: Determinants of economic and social outcomes from a lifewide learning perspective in Canada</u> In this study the relationship between learning in different contexts, which span the lifewide learning dimension, and individual earnings on the one hand and community participation on the other are examined in separate but comparable models. Data from the Canadian Adult Literacy Survey are used to estimate structural models, which correspond closely to the common conceptual framework outlined in Study I. The findings suggest that the relationship between formal education and economic and social outcomes is complex with confounding effects. The results indicate that learning occurring in different contexts and for different reasons leads to different kinds of benefits. The latter finding suggests a potential trade-off between realizing economic and social benefits through learning that are taken for either job-related or personal-interest related reasons. <u>Study V: The effects of learning on economic and social well being: A comparative analysis</u> Using the same structural model as in Study IV, hypotheses are comparatively examined using the International Adult Literacy Survey data for Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The main finding from Study IV is confirmed for an additional five countries, namely that the effect of initial schooling on well being is more complex than a direct one and it is significantly mediated by subsequent learning. Additionally, findings suggest that people who devote more time to learning for job-related reasons than learning for personal-interest related reasons experience higher levels of economic well being. Moreover, devoting too much time to learning for personal-interest related reasons has a negative effect on earnings except in Denmark. But the more time people devote to learning for personal-interest related reasons tends to contribute to higher levels of social well being. These results again suggest a trade-off in learning for different reasons and in different contexts.

The purpose of this study is to research the relationships among leadership style, team cohesion, collective efficacy, organizational justice, and organizational capital. This study used the questionnaires as a measurement tool to research, and the questionnaires samples was drawn out from CSBC Corporation, Taiwan all engineers, managements, engineer assistants, and management assistants, the writer released 460 questionnaires to them, eventually ended up effective 375 questionnaires with 82.06% return rate. The findings are as follows. 1. The transformational leadership has positive influence on intellectual capital including human capital, structural capital, and social capital, and the transactional leadership have positive influence on structural capital, but have not any influence on human capital and social capital. 2. Team cohesion merely has partial medium on the relationships among transformational leadership, human capital and structural capital; Team cohesion has full medium on the relationships between transformational leadership and social capital. 3. Collective efficacy has full medium on the relationships between transformational leadership and human capital; Collective efficacy merely has partial medium on the relationships among transformational leadership, structural capital and social capital. 4. Organizational justice has full medium on the relationships between transformational leadership and human capital; Organizational justice merely has partial medium on the relationships among transformational leadership, structural capital and social capital.

過往清史研究關於清代官制多探討其制度成因、演變，鮮少觸及到俸祿、功名與官制彼此間的關聯性或影響程度，而從勞動經濟學的角度來看，官員的功名、官秩應反應出其人力資本投資與職場經驗的累積程度。有鑑於此，本研究利用清代各期間編纂地方方志中的樣本資料來探討及評估清代臺灣地方官吏人力資本投資、職場經驗及其他特徵變數對於薪資(俸祿)報酬的影響為何。 本論文第一個主題探討人力資本對康熙、雍正、乾隆時期薪俸的影響，實證結果顯示，進行人力資本投資(考取功名)可提升俸祿4.5%；官秩升遷可提升俸祿29.9%。若以職官屬性分類，本研究發現文官在人力資本投資與工作經驗的報酬率均優於武官，我們認為主要原因可能因文、武職官升遷模式有所差異。文官晉陞過程與其工作經驗有關，而武官晉陞過程可能與是否有戰功的關係較高，因此受到人力資本與工作經驗的影響較小。 本研究第二部份以傳統迴歸及Heckman兩階段估計法估計Mincerian所得函數，探討清治時期212年間臺灣鳳山縣職官文職與武職構成與其功名、官秩對工資(俸祿)影響。研究結果顯示：(1)以傳統迴歸分析實證結果估計會存有樣本選擇偏誤的問題；(2)俸祿考慮養廉下官員任期是否秩滿、是否因丁憂退出勞動市場、是否具八旗背景對文官薪資有顯著影響；官秩大小對武官薪俸則有正向影響。(3)俸祿不考慮養廉下，官秩對文、武職官薪俸帶有提升效果。 最後，本文探討養廉銀政策的施行對文職職官薪俸的影響。以DID估計發現：政策的實施使職官薪俸提升了0.5倍至數十倍不等；且職官個人功名與官秩顯著影響可獲取的薪俸額度。 / Previous researches in the history of Qing dynasty mainly study the cause of bureaucracy or the evolution in the bureaucratic system, however, there are fewer studies which explain the relationship of wage, official rank and the fame of scholarly honor. In the side of labor economic, the scholarly honor, official rank reply the accumulation of human capital and the experience in the job market. According it, this dissertation tries to evaluate the return of human capital investment, job experience and other characteristic variables on the wage on samples during the periods of Qing dynasty. The first topic tries to analyze the impacts of human capital on wage during the period Kangxi, Yongzeng and Qianlong era. The empirical results indicate that the human capital investment (scholarly honor) rises 4.5% in the wage rate; the return rate of official rank arise 29.9% wage rate. We also find that the civilian officials have better return rate in both factors than military ones. The main reason may due to the promotion process between civilian and military officials are not the same. The promotion in the civilian official base on the experience, the promotion process in military officials may relate to the performance in the war. Therefore the human capital and experience have smaller influence in the military officials’ wage. Using the traditional regression and Heckman two step methodology, the second part of this study estimates the Mincerian earnings function which try to explain the structure of the civilian officer and military bureaucracy sectors, and the return of official rank, the fame of scholarly honor on wage in Fenshan during the occupation period in Qing era. The empirical results indicate: (1) there has a sample selection bias if we estimate with traditional regression. (2) the term of official finished, in mourning for parent's death or the background in Eight banners system has significant effect when we consider the silver honesty system in wage. (3) official rank increases the wage rate of return in civilian and military official if the component of wage does not consider the silver honesty system. Finally, the dissertation investigates the influence of silver honesty system (SHS) in the wage of civilian officer. The empirical estimation finds that the implantation of policy increases the wage between 0.5 to dozens of times through difference and differences methodology (DID). The estimation also indicates that the FAME and RANK affect the available amount of salaries significantly.

This thesis consists of three essays that examine issues on university attendance behavior, factorsof university completion, and the labor market value of a university diploma in Sweden. Essay [I] analyzes how the rapid expansion of higher education that increased the geographicalaccessibility to higher education in the 1990s affected university enrollment decisions amongvarious socioeconomic groups of young adults in Sweden. The empirical findings show that theprobability of enrollment in university education increases with accessibility to universityeducation. The results also indicate that accessibility adds to the likelihood of attending auniversity within the region of residence. Access to higher education more locally seems to havedecreased the social distance to higher education, meaning that the option of attending highereducation, as compared to entering the local labor market after upper secondary school, hasbecome a more common and a more natural alternative for more socioeconomic groups insociety. Essay [II] compares the performance of students in universities built before and after the largedecentralization and expansion of the higher educational system in Sweden, starting in the late1970s. Two outcome measures are used: (i) whether or not the student has obtained a degreewithin seven years after she initiated her studies; and (ii) whether or not she obtained 120 creditpoints (the requirement for most undergraduate degrees) within seven years. Controlling forseveral background variables as well as GPA scores in a binomial probit model, we show thatstudents at old universities are about 5 percentage points more likely to get a degree and about 9percentage points more likely to obtain 120 credit points. However, in an extended bivariatemodel where we consider selection on unobservables into university type, we cannot reject thepossibility of no difference in performance between the two university types. Essay [III] analyzes the labor market value of a university diploma (sheepskin) in Sweden. Incontrast to previous studies, this study only focuses on Swedish university students who havethree years of full time university education or more − where some have obtained a universitydegree, others not. The results show that for male students, the wage premium of possessing adegree, i.e. the sheepskin effect, is roughly 5-8 percent. For women, it is about 6-7 percent forthose who have completed four years of fulltime or more. For students who attended a moreprestigious university in the metropolitan areas in Sweden and majored in the natural sciences, asheepskin effect of roughly 13 percent for men and 22 percent for women is traced. However,this result did not hold among students who attended. Keywords: Higher education, university enrollment; university choice; accessibility; universitycompletion; selection bias; propensity score matching, sheepskin, human capital.

La tesi intende analizzare i nessi tra politiche di investimento in capitale umano e sviluppo, attraverso il caso specifico delle Filippine. Alla luce dei risultati del caso paese la tesi suggerisce come la teoria classica sul capitale umano sia ancora valida nel panorama odierno nelle sue affermazioni di base. Alcuni fenomeni globali tuttavia richiedano una rivisitazione della teoria classica ed introducono nuove variabili nello studio dell'efficacia ed efficienza degli investimenti in capitale umano. Nel caso specifico delle Filippine, la tesi si sofferma sull'evoluzione storica delle politiche sul capitale umano nel paese, raggiungendo l'obiettivo di analizzarle in relazione alla crescita economica, la riduzione della poverta' e poi, in modo piu' specifico, misurando i ritorni a livello individuale e pubblico sugli investimenti fatti in capitale umano dal 1974. Il ruolo del governo emerge come fattore critico nel guidare le politiche di sviluppo del paese. / The relationship between human capital policies and development is analyzed through a case study of the Philippines. The case study evidences the validity of the principal assumptions of classical human capital theory. Emerging global issues, however, point to the need for introducing new factors and variables in the study of human capital policies and development, in order to assess their efficiency. In the case of the Philippines, the evolution of human capital policies in the country is assessed since 1974. The analysis shows the relationship between human capital and economic growth, poverty reduction and public and private returns on investments in human capital, identifying the role of government as a critical factor in leading national development.

To ensure quality patient care hospitals invest in nursing intellectual capital by allocating financial, human and material resources for nurses to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to provide safe patient care. This study’s purpose was to test selected propositions of the middle-range theory of nursing intellectual capital which provides a conceptualization of the influence of nurses’ knowledge, skills and experience (nursing human capital) to patient and organizational outcomes. The theory was systematically developed after a critical review of the literature. It proposes that nursing human capital (registered nurses’ experience, and knowledge and skills acquired from continuing professional development including university courses, conferences, workshops, in-services, specialty certification) is related to variables within the work environment (nurse staffing, employer support for nurse continuing professional development), which in turn, is associated with the quality of patient care (adverse events) and the recruitment and retention of nurses. The theory also proposes that nursing structural capital, nursing knowledge available within practice guidelines, is associated with the quality of patient care. A cross-sectional design was used to test the proposed relationships. The study took place in 6 acute care hospitals in two provinces of Canada. Financial, human resource and risk management data were collected from hospital departmental databases and a survey of unit managers. Data from 91 inpatient units were used with structural equation modeling to test the theory’s propositions. The results indicated that nurses’ knowledge and skills represented by the proportion of RNs with degrees and proportion of RNs with specialty certification were directly associated with low hospital-acquired infection rates. Nurse experience, measured as mean years RN professional experience and RN unit tenure, was found to be significantly related to higher RN recruitment and retention. The proportion of RNs with degrees was found to partially mediate the influence of nurse staffing on hospital-acquired infections. The results provide preliminary evidence of the association of nursing intellectual capital with patient and organizational outcomes. The findings may assist administrators with fiscal and human resource decision-making related to the education of nurses within acute care hospitals, and professional organizations with policies governing nursing education and continuing professional development.

To ensure quality patient care hospitals invest in nursing intellectual capital by allocating financial, human and material resources for nurses to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to provide safe patient care. This study’s purpose was to test selected propositions of the middle-range theory of nursing intellectual capital which provides a conceptualization of the influence of nurses’ knowledge, skills and experience (nursing human capital) to patient and organizational outcomes. The theory was systematically developed after a critical review of the literature. It proposes that nursing human capital (registered nurses’ experience, and knowledge and skills acquired from continuing professional development including university courses, conferences, workshops, in-services, specialty certification) is related to variables within the work environment (nurse staffing, employer support for nurse continuing professional development), which in turn, is associated with the quality of patient care (adverse events) and the recruitment and retention of nurses. The theory also proposes that nursing structural capital, nursing knowledge available within practice guidelines, is associated with the quality of patient care. A cross-sectional design was used to test the proposed relationships. The study took place in 6 acute care hospitals in two provinces of Canada. Financial, human resource and risk management data were collected from hospital departmental databases and a survey of unit managers. Data from 91 inpatient units were used with structural equation modeling to test the theory’s propositions. The results indicated that nurses’ knowledge and skills represented by the proportion of RNs with degrees and proportion of RNs with specialty certification were directly associated with low hospital-acquired infection rates. Nurse experience, measured as mean years RN professional experience and RN unit tenure, was found to be significantly related to higher RN recruitment and retention. The proportion of RNs with degrees was found to partially mediate the influence of nurse staffing on hospital-acquired infections. The results provide preliminary evidence of the association of nursing intellectual capital with patient and organizational outcomes. The findings may assist administrators with fiscal and human resource decision-making related to the education of nurses within acute care hospitals, and professional organizations with policies governing nursing education and continuing professional development.

Abstract Hansson, Magnus (2011): What New or Supplementary Answers can the Life Story Approach provide within the Field of Return Migration and Entrepreneurship? A Case Study of Ghanaian Returnees. Human Geography, Advanced level, Master thesis for Master Exam in Human Geography, 15 ECTS Supervisor: Bo Malmberg Language: English Short summary Researchers have claimed that return migrants from developing countries have great potential to influence the development process in terms of economic growth and poverty lessening. The primary aim of this thesis is, to provide new or additional information regarding why some Ghanaian returnees fail to set up a micro, small or medium enterprise while some others succeed. The secondary aim is to explain which capital gained abroad is of significant importance for Ghanaian return migrants’ success in setting up a business. For carrying out the research purposes, life story interviews with Ghanaian returnees who are running a business have been carried out in Ghana. Interviews with experts within the field of migration have been carried out as well as a literature review of the topic. Theories related to return migration reviewed in this thesis are, New economics of labour migration and the Structural approach, Transnationalism and the Social network theory, the Human capital theory and the Financial capital theory. The results showed that explanations for outcomes of returnees’ entrepreneurial activities are very complex and can be explained by many variables. Findings from the field research shows that social as well as human capital is more important than financial capital for Ghanaian returnees when setting up a business.

<p>The United States experienced a tremendous expansion of higher education after the Second World War. However, this expansion has not led to a substantial reduction to class inequalities at elite universities, where the admissions process is growing even more selective. In his classic studies of French education and society, Pierre Bourdieu explains how schools can contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of class inequalities. Bourdieu's concepts have stimulated much research in American sociology. However, quantitative applications have underappreciated important concepts and aspects of Bourdieu's theory and have generally ignored college life and achievement. With detailed survey and institutional data of students at elite, private universities, this dissertation addresses a gap in the literature with an underexplored theoretical approach. </p> <p>First, I examine the class structure of elite universities. I argue that latent clustering analysis improves on Bourdieu's statistical approach, as well as locates class fractions that conventional schemas fail to appreciate. Nearly half of students have dominant class origins, including three fractions - professionals, executives and precarious professionals - that are distinguishable by the volume and composition of cultural and economic capital. Working class students remain severely underrepresented at elite, private universities. Second, I explore two types of social capital on an elite university campus. In its practical or immediate state, social capital exists as the resources embedded in networks. I explore the effects of extensive campus networks, and find that investments in social capital facilitate college achievement and pathways to professional careers. As an example of institutionalized social capital, legacies benefit from an admissions preference for applicants with family alumni ties. Legacies show a distinct profile of high levels of economic and cultural capital, but lower than expected achievement. Legacies activate their social capital across the college years, from college admissions to the prevalent use of personal contacts for plans after graduation.</p> <p>Third, I examine how social class affects achievement and campus life across the college years, and the extent to which cultural capital mediates the link between class and academic outcomes. From first semester grades to graduation honors, professional and middle class students have higher levels of achievement in comparison to executive or subordinate class students. The enduring executive-professional gap suggests contrasting academic orientations for two dominant class fractions, while the underperformance of subordinate class students is due to differences in financial support, a human capital deficit early in college, and unequal access to "collegiate" cultural capital. Collegiate capital includes the implicit knowledge that facilitates academic success and encourages a satisfying college experience. Subordinate class students are less likely to participate in many popular aspects of elite campus life, including fraternity or sorority membership, study abroad, and drinking alcohol. Additionally, two common activities among postsecondary students - participating in social and recreational activities and changing a major field early in college - are uniquely troublesome for subordinate class students. Overall, I conclude that Bourdieu provides a unique and useful perspective for understanding educational inequalities at elite universities in the United States.</p> / Dissertation

<p>I examine how employing workers with specific human capital affects capital structure decisions by employers. Based on plant-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau, I use the opening of new plants as an exogenous reduction in human capital specificity-- the inability to transfer specific skill sets across employers--for incumbent workers in a local labor market. My results indicate that the opening of a new manufacturing plant in a given county leads to a 2.6-3.9% increase in the leverage of existing manufacturing firms in the county, relative to the leverage of manufacturing firms in an otherwise comparable county. Moreover, plant openings have a larger impact on firms that are more likely to share labor with the new plant, that have high labor intensity, and that have high marginal tax benefits of debt. Alternative explanations concerning productivity spillovers, product market competition, and county-wide shocks do not appear to account for the results. I find consistent evidence in a separate sample that contains a broad panel of firms. Overall, these results suggest that human capital specificity raises the cost of debt and thus decreases optimal leverage.</p> / Dissertation