Doug Henwood wrote:
> "Das Human Kapital"
>
> BY: ODED GALOR
> Brown University
> Department of Economics
> OMER MOAV
> Hebrew University
> Department of Economics
>
> Document: Available from the SSRN Electronic Paper Collection:
> http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=246295
>
> Other Electronic Document Delivery:
> http://econ.pstc.brown.edu/faculty/galor/index.html
> SSRN only offers technical support for papers
> downloaded from the SSRN Electronic Paper Collection
> location. When URLs wrap, you must copy and paste
> them into your browser eliminating all spaces.
>
> Paper ID: Brown University Working Paper No. 2000-17
> Date: September 2000
>
> Contact: OMER MOAV
> Email: Mailto:msmoav at mscc.huji.ac.il
> Postal: Hebrew University
> Department of Economics
> Mount Scopus
> Jerusalem, 91905 ISRAEL
> Phone: 972-25883121
> Fax: 972-2-5816071
> Co-Auth: ODED GALOR
> Email: Mailto:Oded_Galor at brown.edu
> Postal: Brown University
> Department of Economics
> Providence, RI 02912 USA
>
> ABSTRACT:
> This paper hypothesizes that the demise of the 19th century's
> European class structure reflects a deliberate transformation of
> society orchestrated by the Capitalists. Contrary to
> conventional wisdom, it argues that the demise of this class
> structure has been an outcome of a cooperative rather than a
> divisive process. The research suggests that the transition from
> this class structure may be viewed as the outcome of an optimal
> reaction process of the Capitalists to the increasing importance
> of human capital in sustaining their profit rates. The paper
> argues that the process of capital accumulation has gradually
> intensified the relative scarcity of labor and has generated an
> incentive to augment labor via human capital accumulation. Due
> to the complementarity between physical and human capital in
> production, the Capitalists were among the prime beneficiaries
> of the potential accumulation of human capital by the masses.
> They had therefore the incentive to financially support public
> education that would sustain their profit rates and would
> improve their economic well being, although would ultimately
> undermine their dynasty's position in the social ladder. The
> support for public education is unanimous despite the fact that
> the Capitalists carry the prime financial burden of public
> schooling. That is, due to the co-existence of credit market
> imperfections and capital-skill complementarity, the
> redistribution associated with public education is Pareto
> improving. Had Karl Marx been exposed to Gary Becker's Human
> Capital theory, the socio-political experience of the 20th
> century might have unfolded in a strikingly different manner.
--
Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu