Human capital in Marshall’s Social Philosophy

Vol. 12 No. 2 (1992)

Apr-Jun / 1992
Published April 1, 1992
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))

How to Cite

Fonseca, Eduardo Giannetti da. 1992. “Human Capital in Marshall’s Social Philosophy”. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 12 (2):223-48. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-31571992-0667.

Human capital in Marshall’s Social Philosophy

Eduardo Giannetti da Fonseca
Do Departamento de Economia da Universidade de São Paulo – USP e da Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas – FIPE, São Paulo/SP, Brasil.
Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 12 No. 2 (1992), Apr-Jun / 1992, Pages 223-248

Abstract

How to account for the wide and persistent differentials in per capita productivity in the world economy? From a Marshallian perspective, these differences are related to microeco-nomic factors (e.g. organization) and in particular to per capita investment in human beings as agents of production. Marshall believed that the relative importance of mental vis-à-vis manual labour tended to increase through time; and he held the view that human capital — i.e. the physical, moral and cognitive attributes of workers, professionals and business men — is one of the most important of all inputs in the production function and one of the key elements in the process of organic growth. The aim of this paper is to present Marshall’s theo-retical and normative thinking on the economic role of education and to bring out his pionee-ring contribution to the modern theory of human capital.

JEL Classification: B13; B31; I25.


Keywords: History of economic thought Marshall human capital education