Abstract

COLOM, Roberto  and  FLORES-MENDOZA, Carmen. The human capital and the wealth of nations. Temas psicol. [online]. 2012, vol.20, n.1, pp. 15-30. ISSN 1413-389X.

The present paper analyzes the relationship between human capital (HC) and national development. First, it is showed that the correlation between citizen's educational attainment (assessed by tests like PISA or TIMSS) and the wealth of nations runs between .30 and .40. Second, the relationship between educational attainment and IQ is .82. Third, the correlation between national IQ and the wealth of nations is .70. Thus, available data shows that IQ can be considered a nice proxy estimate of human capital (HC). Finally, it is discussed that the so-called Flynn's effect (generational cognitive gains) supports a positive perspective for increasing the economic growth of developing countries.

Keywords : Human capital; Cognitive ability; Educational attainment; Wealth of nations.

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