THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND ITS MEANING IN THE CONTEXT OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY

Abstract

Human capital is closely related to the economic behaviour of an individual, especially to the way in which accumulated knowledge and skills increase person’s productivity and income, thus increasing the general welfare of a society. Within the Article, the author studies the historical development of the theory of human capital, paying attention to opinions, expressed by founders of this issue - T.Schultz and G.Becker. There are considered changes of competences of employees, growing out of transition from skills-based economy to knowledge-based economy. There is no united approach concerning researches on human capital in order to determine the content of human capital; there is a lack of unified opinion regarding its creation, therefore the author considers the interpretation of the content of human capital in scientific works of several Latvian and foreign authors. During the research, education was analyzed as one of the main elements of creation of human capital, because knowledge-based economy broadens the signification of self-education, lifelong learning; it demands improvements in the fields of science and research as well as quality improvement of working skills. As a result of successful implementation of these factors, it is possible to reach a positive impact on economic development of a region.