O presente trabalho analisa a evolução do diferencial de rendimentos entre os empregados no setor agrícola brasileiro, no período entre 1995 e 2009. Utilizando-se dos microdados da PNAD disponibilizados pelo IBGE, são estimadas cinco equações de rendimento como forma de verificar quais os determinantes do rendimento no setor, considerando-se idade, nível de escolaridade, situação censitária, região, atividade, entre outras variáveis. Também são consideradas interações entre região e atividade como forma de identificar o efeito de cada atividade dentro de uma mesma região e entre regiões. Os dois primeiros modelos permitem constatar que o nível educacional é um determinante significativo para a formação do rendimento no setor, o qual passa a ser intensificado a partir dos dez anos de escolaridade. Houve, entretanto, redução do retorno do rendimento à escolaridade, o que corrobora a convexidade do rendimento à educação verificada para outros setores. As horas trabalhadas também mostraram-se um fator significativo para a formação do rendimento do trabalho no setor. Verifica-se ainda um efeito regional significativo, o que está associado aos diferentes níveis de desenvolvimento de atividades agropecuárias entre as regiões. Já os coeficientes associados à cor do indivíduo indicaram que tal variável não apresenta um efeito relevante para a formação dos rendimentos no setor, diferentemente do que ocorre em outros setores. Um aspecto importante foi apresentado pelos coeficientes associados aos indivíduos de cor preta, os quais indicaram que, apesar de existir um diferencial negativo em relação aos indivíduos brancos, tal diferencial mostrou-se inferior ao verificado para a população brasileira em geral. Assim, pode-se afirmar que a diferenciação em termos de cor no setor agrícola não é tão intensa quanto a dos demais setores da economia, sendo o efeito inferior ao verificado no meio urbano. Já os resultados associados ao gênero apontaram para um diferencial positivo de rendimento dos indivíduos do sexo masculino inferior ao verificado para a economia como um todo, o que é um indício de que o gênero é uma característica mais fortemente observada no mercado de trabalho não agrícola. Considerando-se as atividades constata-se que o rendimento associado ao cultivo de milho é, em média, inferior ao obtido nas outras atividades agropecuárias, ao passo que para as atividades cultivo de soja e de cana-de-açúcar constata-se um diferencial positivo. Os resultados associados ao terceiro e ao quarto modelos indicam que a introdução de interações entre região e atividade não altera de maneira significativa os coeficientes das variáveis consideradas nos modelos anteriores. Verifica-se em termos intrarregionais um diferencial predominantemente negativo de rendimentos associado ao cultivo de milho, comportamento contrário ao verificado para o cultivo de soja. Já para o cultivo de cana-de-açúcar constata-se um comportamento distinto entre as regiões, o que ocorre também no caso da criação de bovinos. Já em termos interregionais constata-se um diferencial negativo associado ao cultivo de milho para todas as regiões, considerando-se como base de comparação tal cultivo na região Centro-Oeste, sendo que.as demais atividades apresentam um comportamento distinto entre as regiões. Por fim, o quinto modelo permite verificar que há um efeito significativo sobre o rendimento decorrente da conclusão de cada nível completo de escolaridade. / This paper analyzes the evolution of the earnings gap among employees in the Brazilian agricultural sector, in the period of 1995 to 2009. Using the microdata of the Brazilian National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), five earnings equations are estimated as a means of identifying the determinant factors of earnings in the sector, considering age, educational background, census situation, region, activity, and other variables. Interactions between region and activity are also considered, as a means of identifying the effect of each activity in the same region and between regions. The first two models show that level of education is a significant determinant factor for the formation of earnings in the sector, which starts to intensify at ten years of school education. However, there has been a reduction in the earnings from investments in schooling, which corroborates the convexity of earnings from education seen in other industries. Hours worked also appeared to be a significant factor for the formation of labor earnings in the sector. There is also a significant regional effect, which is associated with the different levels of development of agricultural and livestock activities between regions. The coefficients associated with the individual\'s skin color indicated that unlike other sectors, this variable does not have a material effect on the formation of earnings in this sector. An important aspect was presented by the coefficients associated with Black individuals, which indicated that in spite of the existence of a negative difference in relation to White individuals, this difference was less than that verified for the Brazilian population in general. Accordingly, it can be said that differentiation in terms of skin color in the agricultural sector is not as intense as that of the other sectors of the economy, and the effect is less than that observed in the urban environment. The results associated with gender, in turn, pointed towards a positive earnings differential for males that is lower than that verified for the economy as a whole, an indication that gender is a characteristic more strongly observed in the nonagricultural job market. In relation to activities, it can be seen that earnings associated with maize cultivation are, on average, lower than those of other agricultural and livestock activities, while a positive differential is observed for soya and sugarcane cultivation activities. The results associated with the third and fourth models indicate that the introduction of interactions between region and activity does not significantly alter the coefficients of the variables considered in the previous models. In intraregional terms, there is a predominantly negative earnings gap associated with maize cultivation, while the opposite behavior occurs in soya cultivation. In sugarcane cultivation, we see a different behavior between regions, which also occurs in the case of cattle breeding. However, in interregional terms, it is possible to observe a negative differential associated with maize cultivation in all regions, taking this crop in the Midwest as a basis for comparison, while the other activities present different behavior between regions. Finally, the fifth model shows the presence of a significant impact on earnings resulting from the conclusion of each complete level of schooling.

This dissertation assesses the role of education quality in the convergence process of GDP per capita through teacher\'s quality impact in human capital formation. The simple two-period OLG model suggests initial level of teacher\'s human capital is important to explain non-convergence, even when education quality return is decreasing. This non-convergence arises because an initially low level of teachers\' human capital translates into a low level of human capital transferred to students, which means a low level of teachers\' human capital in the next period, and so on. This work, therefore, provides an alternative explanation of why countries income does not converge, even when differences in other inputs are not accounted for / Esta dissertação analisa o papel da qualidade da educação no processo de convergência do PIB per capita através do impacto da qualidade de professores na formação de capital humano. O modelo de gerações sobrepostas proposto sugere que o nível inicial de capital humano dos professores é importante para explicar o fenômeno da não-convergência, mesmo quando o retorno marginal da qualidade da educação é decrescente. Esta não-convergência surge porque um baixo nível inicial de capital humano dos professores se traduz em um baixo nível de capital humano transferido aos alunos, o que significa um baixo nível de capital humano dos professores no próximo período, e assim por diante. Este trabalho, portanto, fornece uma explicação alternativa do porquê não se observa convergência de renda entre países, mesmo quando as diferenças de outros fatores de produção não são levadas em conta.

Submitted by Rosangela Silva (rosangela.silva3@unioeste.br) on 2018-05-09T16:43:32Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Adriana da Cunha Weilang.pdf: 1017980 bytes, checksum: 1b774a3591ffdfef0de22ba71bd49feb (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-09T16:43:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Adriana da Cunha Weilang.pdf: 1017980 bytes, checksum: 1b774a3591ffdfef0de22ba71bd49feb (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The period after LDB 9394/96 can also be seen as the period of educational reforms in Brazil, where issues were reviewed such as financing, management, curricular, teacher training, evaluation, in order to adjust education to the new economic imperatives that have passed to determine public policy. These reforms were not only locally, but followed the reform movement spread in Latin America and in other developing countries, stimulated and mediated by international bodies such as the World Bank, Unesco / Unicef and Cepal. Also there were several proposals for changes in public policy with educational influence of neoliberal theses, which, from these modifications, we can see the transition from education into the realm of the market, making modified the main objective of the school, having as focus on human resource training to serve the companies. Based on these statements, the present study was developed aiming to show the relationship between educational reforms to teacher training after the LDB 9394/96 and proposals of an International Program held by multilateral agencies. The program chosen was PREAL (Program for Educational Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean), which was established in 1996 and approved by ministers of education from different countries, including Brazil, and is funded by the IDB and UNESCO, having as a goal, as your documents, contribute to the improving of quality and equal education. Four documents were chosen to be analyzed, the report "The future is at stake," the First Bulletin for Latin America and the Caribbean "Lagging Behind", the Second Bulletin for Latin America and the Caribbean "Quantity with no Quality " and the Bulletin of Education Brazil "Out of Inertia", which are targeted directly for Latin America and Brazil. In these documents were analyzed how the changes were proposed in educational reform and in which influences their policy for teacher training, with the references to the administrative reform of the Brazilian state, the political instability and human capital of teachers. The thesis was developed in 3 chapters, where in the first was explained about the Administrative Reform of the Brazilian State and the LDB 9394/96, considering the following relation: State x Neoliberal Policy (economic and social) x Educational Reform, in the second chapter was approached about the educational policy of the teachers from the LDB No. 9394/96 and in the third chapter it was analyzed the documents of PREAL and documents of public policy education for teachers training from the LDB No. 9394/96, seeking to identify how the proposals for training of teachers contained in the documents of PREAL related to training policies teachers in Brazil. The methodology included the study of referential theoretical and descriptive about policies of teachers training related to PREAL, through primary and secondary sources as the main benefit for the analysis of Neoliberal Policies, Educational Reform and the PREAL, trying to understand the proposition of the formation from teachers in this context. / O período pós LDB 9394/96 pode também ser visto como o período das reformas educacionais no Brasil, onde foram revistas questões como financiamento, gestão, currículos, formação de professores, avaliação, com o objetivo de adequar a educação aos novos imperativos econômicos que passaram a determinar as políticas públicas. Essas reformas não foram somente a nível local, mas acompanharam o movimento reformista espalhado na América Latina e nos demais países em desenvolvimento, estimuladas e mediatizadas por organismos internacionais, tais como Banco Mundial, a Unesco/Unicef e a Cepal. Também foram várias as proposições de mudanças nas políticas públicas educacionais com influência das teses neoliberais, onde, a partir dessas modificações, pode-se perceber a passagem da educação para a esfera do mercado, fazendo com que o principal objetivo da escola fosse modificado, passando a ter como foco a formação dos recursos humanos para servir as empresas. Com base nessas afirmações, a presente pesquisa foi desenvolvida procurando mostrar a relação entre as reformas educacionais para a formação de professores após a LDB 9394/96 e as proposições de um Programa Internacional mantido por organismos multilaterais. O Programa escolhido foi o PREAL (Programa para a Reforma Educacional para a América Latina e o Caribe), que foi criado em 1996 e aprovado por ministros de educação de diversos países, inclusive o Brasil, e é financiado pelo BID e pela UNESCO, tendo por objetivo, conforme seus documentos, contribuir para a melhoria da qualidade e pela igualdade da educação. Escolhemos para análise 4 documentos, o Relatório “O futuro está em jogo”, o Primeiro Boletim para a América Latina e Caribe “Ficando para Trás”, o Segundo Boletim para a América Latina e Caribe “Quantidade sem Qualidade” e o Boletim da Educação no Brasil “Saindo da Inércia”, que estão direcionados diretamente para a América Latina e para o Brasil. Nesses documentos foram analisados de que forma foram propostas as modificações na reforma educacional e qual as suas influências para a política de formação de professores, tendo como referências a reforma administrativa do Estado brasileiro, a política de capital humano e a precarização do trabalho docente. A dissertação foi desenvolvida em 3 capítulos, onde no primeiro foi explanado sobre a Reforma Administrativa do Estado Brasileiro e a LDB nº 9394/96, considerando a seguinte relação: Estado x Política Neoliberal (econômica e social) x Reforma Educacional, no segundo capítulo foi abordado a respeito da política educacional dos professores a partir da LDB nº9394/96 e no terceiro capítulo foram analisados os documentos do PREAL e documentos referentes às políticas públicas educacionais para a formação de professores a partir da LDB nº 9394/96, procurando identificar como as propostas para formação dos professores contidas nos documentos do PREAL estão relacionadas às políticas de formação dos professores no Brasil. A metodologia compreendeu o estudo de referencial teórico-descritivo sobre políticas de formação de professores relacionadas ao PREAL, por meio de fontes primárias e secundárias como principal subsídio para a análise das Políticas Neoliberais, das Reformas Educacionais e do PREAL, buscando compreender a proposição da formação dos professores nesse contexto.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:32:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo Cesar da Silva.pdf: 993382 bytes, checksum: 125ba75c888b58fd50a8a9c08ad02944 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-08 / This research aimed to identify which factors are linked to the contribution of the Professional Master in the trajectory of its graduates and learn about those who influenced the course and the other representing the changes caused by the course after its completion. Based on the theory that promotes education as a decisive part in opportunities to increase the percentage of income level, increased employability, innovation capacity and skills development. From the perspective of human capital, we opted for the application of an electronic questionnaire along with four universities in Brazil that offer profissonal masters courses in controllership and accounting. The survey identified 140 questionnaires answered. After collecting data, they were analyzed with the technique of factor analysis, which allowed the identification and interpretation of the factors extracted from existing variables. Among other factors, were identified as relevant: Visibility and Professional Strengthening, Enhancement and Development in Teaching and Research, Employability and income increased through competitiveness. This research also makes a contribution, the data collection tool that can be improved and targeted for future research in topics related to this. / Com esta pesquisa procurou-se identificar os principais fatores que estão ligados à contribuição do Curso de Mestrado Profissional em Controladoria e Contabilidade na Trajetória dos seus Egressos, além de conhecer aqueles fatores que influenciaram a escolha pelo curso e outros que representam as mudanças provocadas pelo mestrado profissional após a sua conclusão. Baseou-se na teoria que promove a educação como peça decisiva nas oportunidades de aumento do percentual do nível de renda, empregabilidade, capacidade de inovação e aumento de habilidades. Sob a ótica da teoria do capital humano, optou-se pela aplicação de um questionário eletrônico junto aos egressos de quatro universidades no Brasil que ofertam os cursos de mestrado profissional em controladoria e/ou contabilidade. A pesquisa totalizou o resultado de 140 questionários respondidos de forma integral. Após a coleta de dados que ocorreu entre os meses de abril e maio de 2012, os mesmos foram analisados com a técnica multivarida denominada análise fatorial, o que permitiu a identificação e interpretação dos fatores extraídos das variáveis existentes no questionário enviado aos egressos. Dentre outros fatores, foram identificados como relevantes: a Visibilidade e Fortalecimento Profissional; Aprimoramento e Desenvolvimento em Docência e Pesquisa e Empregabilidade e Aumento de Renda pela Competitividade Profissional. Estes fatores podem ser considerados por futuros candidatos a esta modalidade de mestrado, bem como, para as instituições de nível superior que pretendem implantar o mestrado profissional. Esta pesquisa deixa, também, como contribuição o instrumento de coleta de dados que pode ser aprimorado e direcionado para futuras pesquisas em temas relacionados a este.

O Capital Humano é a fonte inspiradora e produtora do progresso científico e tecnológico e do desenvolvimento socioeconômico de uma sociedade. Tal desenvolvimento deve ser orientado por políticas e estratégias concebidas pelo Estado. Desenhar uma Política de Desenvolvimento Nacional, voltada para as necessidades específicas e prioridades do País, só é possível com o domínio efetivo do conhecimento científico e tecnológico, pelos cidadãos nacionais. Nessa perspectiva, o Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia de Moçambique concebeu o Plano Estratégico de Formação e Desenvolvimento de Recursos Humanos para a Área de Ciência e Tecnologia (PDRHCT), aprovado em Março de 2006, pelo Conselho de Ministros. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar criticamente o PDRHCT, desde a sua concepção, até à sua implementação. Sua relevância está na contribuição que o estudo faz para a melhoria do processo de formação do capital humano que resulte no desenvolvimento socioeconômico e cultural do País. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como qualitativa, exploratória e descritiva, baseada em um estudo de caso, que teve como unidade de análise, o Sistema de Ensino Superior, Ciência e Tecnologia de Moçambique (SESCT). A coleta de dados primários foi feita com base em entrevistas semi-estruturadas e em profundidade, e os dados secundários, por meio de pesquisa documental. A análise dos resultados baseou-se nas técnicas de Análise de Conteúdo, Estatística Descritiva e Análise Documental. Constatou-se a existência de diferentes fatores que dificultam o alcance dos objetivos do Plano, dentre os quais se destacam quatro problemas principais: (1) uma concepção do PDRHCT inadequada, sem o envolvimento do Ministério da Educação, nem das Instituições de Ensino Superior; (2) deficiências na comunicação e coordenação entre as instituições do SESCT; (3) um Modelo Institucional de suporte ao Sistema, com uma estrutura funcional que dificulta a interpretação clara das linhas de comando e subordinação entre as instituições, e mesmo entre seus dirigentes; e (4) a falta de maturidade das instituições, assim como do próprio Sistema, motivada pela instabilidade que tem caracterizado os Governos de Moçambique, causando mudanças constantes na estrutura e nos objetivos estratégicos das instituições do Estado, aliada a uma cultura de gestão centrada nas pessoas e não nas instituições. Com a pesquisa, pretendeu-se contribuir para melhorar o processo de planejamento da formação e desenvolvimento de recursos humanos, em Moçambique, com base em um modelo de gestão integrado e eficaz, que assegure o retorno esperado do investimento público, na educação superior. O contributo da pesquisa para a academia consiste em criar estímulos para novos estudos, sobre Moçambique, nas áreas de Gestão de Pessoas e de Planejamento Estratégico de Recursos Humanos, ainda carentes de estudos científicos, naquele contexto. Ao procurar melhorar o processo de formação do capital humano, ela contribui para o bem-estar dos cidadãos, assim como da sociedade moçambicana. / Human Capital is the inspiring source and the producer of the scientific and technological progress and socio-economic development of a society. Such development should be guided by policies and strategies conceived by the State. Designing a National Development geared towards a country\'s specific needs and priorities is only possible when its citizens have mastery over scientific and technical knowledge. It was within this perspective that Mozambique\'s Ministry of Science and Technology designed the Strategic Plan for Human Resources Training and Development for the Science and Technology Area (PDRHCT), approved in March 2006 by the Council of Ministers. This research aimed to make a critical analysis of the PDRHCT from its design phase through to its implementation, and its relevance lies in its contribution to improving the training of human capital so that it will produce results in terms of national socio-economic and cultural development. The research is characterized as qualitative, exploratory and descriptive. It was based on a case study, which had the Higher Education, Science and Technology System of Mozambique (SESCT) as the analysis unit. Primary data was collected based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews, and secondary data, through documental research. The results\' analysis was based on the techniques of content analysis, descriptive statistics and documental analysis. The findings noted a number of factors that hampered achievement of the Plan\'s objectives, and highlighted four main problems: (1) an inadequate design of the PDRHCT, with no involvement of the Ministry of Education nor Higher Education Institutions, (2) failings in communication and coordination among SESCT institutions, (3) an Institutional Model for supporting the System, with a functional structure that impedes the clear interpretation of the lines of command and subordination among institutions, and even among their leaders, and (4) the lack of maturity of the institutions, and of the System itself, driven by the instability that has been a feature of Mozambique\'s governments, namely constant changes in the structure and strategic objectives of State institutions combined with a management culture centred on people rather than on institutions. The research aimed to contribute to improving the planning process for human resource training and development in Mozambique, through using an integrated and effective management model that would guarantee the expected return on public investments in higher education. The contribution of this research to the academy lies in the stimulus it provides for new studies in the fields of people management and strategic human resource planning in Mozambique, which are still scarcely studied. In seeking to improve the process of human capital development, it contributes to the well-being of both citizens and Mozambican society as a whole.

The way organizations make decisions today is very often purely based on intuition or gut-feeling. It does not matter whether decisions are of high risk for the company’s future or not, managers golden-gut is the only thing that determines whether invest- ments should be made or not. Analytics is the opposite of this intuition-based decision making. If taken seriously, almost all decisions in organizations are made on facts that are analytically derived from massive amount of data from internal and external sources such as customer relationship systems to social networks. Business leaders are becoming more aware of analytically based decisions, and some use it more than others. Analytics is usually practiced in finance, customer relationships or marketing. There is, however, one area where analytics is practiced by a small number of companies, and that is on the organization’s workforce. The workforce is usually seen as one of the most complicated areas to practice analytics. An employee is, of course, more com- plicated than a product. Despite this fact, companies usually forget that conducting analytics on employees is very similar to conducting analytics on customers, which has been practiced for many decades. Some organizations are showing great success with applications of Workforce Analytics (WA). Most of these organizations are located in the US or outside of Sweden. This thesis has conducted research on to what extent Workforce Analytics is practiced in Sweden. Empirical findings show that some com- panies use WA in Sweden. The practice is not of highest sophistication of WA. Also, they show aspiration towards the idea of WA and some are locally conducting various of applications.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for Doctor of Technology Degree in Human Resources Management, Durban University of Technology, Durban, 2017. / The proposed contribution of this empirical study was the formulation of an exploratory human capital development model aligned to performance management for administrative employees at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). The human capital development model comprised of elements that encapsulated the link between performance improvement aided with human capital development strategies and the positive outcomes that stems from improved performance. In the context of the study, there is no standardised human capital development model for administrative employee at DUT. Hence, the study seeks to develop a human capital development model for administrative employees. The objective of the study was to develop a model that integrates the procedures of managing institutional performance with the development of its employees. The research design adopted a quantitative paradigm, using a self- administered questionnaire that was mailed to a sample 254 administrative employees. A significant response rate of 68.1% was obtained as 173 respondents returned the questionnaire. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24 for Windows. There were some significant findings that emerged from this study. It was indicated that 99.4% of respondents were not subjected to a performance evaluation, while 74% of the respondents showed that human capital development improved performance. A further 87.7% of the respondents reported that human capital development influence promotional opportunities, while 74.5% of the respondents responded to human capital development being linked to succession planning. A further 61.85% of the respondents also indicated that management commitment was imperative for the effective implementation of performance management systems. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and the Barlett’s Test of Sphercity indicated the factorability of the measuring instrument. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relation between the variables that formulated the human capital development model. Eight of the ten analysis showed that there was a relationship between the variables. The Pearsons Chi-Square test showed a significant correlation for the hypothesis that tested the variables of the study. One of the recommendations suggested is for top management to buy-in to performance management so that their leadership can encourage supervisors to commit to the process. Effective feedback, training, development, mentoring and coaching are recommended to improve the performance of administrative employee. Recommendations suggested the development of a succession planning and career advancement policy for the institution. The study concluded with suggestions for future research. / D

This paper contributes to the field of research on entrepreneurship and self-employment. More explicitly, it contributes to the research regarding heterogeneity by studying the ‘necessity’ self-employed. In this paper, we question the notion of ‘necessity’ and its connection to weak labour market attainment by measuring individual’s human capital in relation to local labour market structures. The used data derives from relevant labour market data combined with data from a postal survey study conducted in 2011, containing self-employed between the age 25–64. The results show no connection between labour market attainment and ‘necessity’ self-employment. The results however indicate a correlation between sociodemographic-aspects and ‘necessity’ self-employment.

Bakgrund Investerare som direktinvesterar i företag måste hantera risk som del av beslutsfattandet. Forskning visar att entreprenörerna i sådana företag är en faktor som investerare lägger stor vikt vid i utvärderingen av en potentiell investering. Studien genomför djupgående kvalitativ forskning kring humankapitalets roll och betydelse i investeringsprocesser för investerare vilket inte är lika vanligt förekommande som kvantitativa studier inom detta forskingsområde.  Syfte Huvudsyftet med studien är att, på ett deskriptivt sätt, undersöka humankapitalets roll i investeringsprocessen. Studien syftar även till att undersöka vilken betydelse humankapitalet har för beslutsunderlaget i utvärderingsprocessen. Teoretiskt perspektiv Teoretiska referensramen består av ett antal teorier och vetenskapliga artiklar inom Asymmetrisk informationsteori samt Humankapitalteori. Även annan relevant tidigare forskning som berör studiens område har använts. Asymmetrisk informationsteori hanteras utifrån Pecking Order teorin, Agentteorin samt artikeln Market for lemons (Akerlof, 1970). Humankapitalteorin hanteras med hjälp av definitioner och studier utförda av Becker (1964, 1993), Schultz (1960), Cressy (1996), Mincer (1958) och Gardner (1973). Tidigare forskning inom den teoretiska referensramen består av Hsu et al. (2014), Landström (1998), Mason & Stark (2004) och Mason & Harrison (2003). Vidare har två förklaringsmodeller vid beslutsfattande använts: Compensatory model samt Elimination-by-aspect.     Metod Studien genomfördes utifrån en abduktiv ansats och använde sig av en tvärsnittsdesign där sex investerare undersöktes vid olika tidpunkter. En kvalitativ forskningsstrategi applicerades och undersökningsmetoden bestod av semistrukturerade intervjuer som genom en iterativ arbetsprocess genererade empiri. Slutsatser Studien visar att humankapitalet dels har betydelse som ett verktyg för att överkomma asymmetrisk information i syfte att underlätta investeringsbeslutet, men även för att inhämta fackkunskaper från entreprenörerna. Vidare noterades att entreprenörernas ålder var en viktig faktor i investeringsbeslutet. Sammantaget verkar humankapitalet spela en avgörande roll i beslutsprocessen hos majoriteten av investerarna. / Background Investors that invest directly in companies need to manage risk as a part of their decision making. Studies have shown that the existence of entrepreneurs within companies is an important factor for investors when evaluating a potential investment. This study conducts qualitative research into the role and significance that human capital plays in the investment process for investors, which is not as common as quantitative studies in this particular field. Goal The goal of the study is to investigate the role, as well as the degree of importance, that human capital plays when making investment decisions.  Theoretical perspective The theoretical basis consists of several theories and scientific articles concerning asymmetrical information theory as well as the theory of human capital. Furthermore, relevant earlier research pertaining to the subject has been used. Asymmetrical information theory is handled through the Pecking Order theory, Agency Theory and the article ‘Market for Lemons’ (Akerlof, 1970). The Human capital theory is handled with the help, definitions and studies performed by Becker (1964, 1993), Schultz (1960), Cressy (1996), Mincer (1958) and Gardner (1973). Earlier research in the theoretical field consists of Hsu et. al (2014), Landström (1998), Mason & Stark (2004), and Mason & Harrison (2003). Two different explanatory models about decision-making were used – The Compensatory Model and ‘Elimination-by-aspect’. Method The study was conducted through an abductive approach and used a cross-sectional design where six cases were investigated. A qualitative research strategy was applied and the method of investigation was executed through semi-structured interviews which through an iterative work process generated empirical data. Conclusion The study finds that human capital plays a role in overcoming asymmetrical information when making investment decisions, but also as a tool for evaluating and learning from the entrepreneurs. For most investors, human capital plays a key role when deciding whether to invest or not.

Entrepreneurship is increasingly recognised as an important component of the contemporary knowledge based economy and crucial to the attainment of economic growth and development. However, entrepreneurial activity varies significantly across space within countries. This thesis makes an original contribution by examining the determinants of spatial variations in entrepreneurship across sub-regions of Great Britain from 2008-2010. Through utilising newly available data on firm births and applying exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial econometric techniques, two prominent theories of entrepreneurship are examined. First, the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship posits that underutilised knowledge by incumbent firms creates entrepreneurial opportunities. The appropriation of these opportunities through entrepreneurial activity, in the form of a new firm, leads to dynamic knowledge spillovers, which generate economic growth. The empirical analysis presented in this thesis concludes that more knowledge intensive regions exhibit significantly higher firm birth rates; however the composition of the regional knowledge stock is critical, as a diverse knowledge stock generates more entrepreneurial opportunities. Second, several theories emphasise the importance of idiosyncratic knowledge and human capital, in the form of entrepreneurial ability, on the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. The results of this thesis suggest that human capital is vital to the entrepreneurial process, and that university education is a greater source of entrepreneurial ability than labour market experience. Furthermore, the results also suggest that the regulatory burden of the public sector, financial constraints, regional unemployment, and the absence of a local entrepreneurial culture can significantly detract from regional entrepreneurial activity. In light of these results, there are several implications for policy which include: emphasising the importance of effective policy towards intellectual property rights, targeting entrepreneurial education initiatives towards university students and graduates, and reducing unnecessary public sector regulation that can act as a ‘barrier’ to entrepreneurship.