Open AccessBuilding capacity for knowledge economies in the Arab world: The role of human capital
Author(s) -
Amer AlRoubaie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2227-524X
DOI - 10.14419/ijet.v7i4.9.20616
Subject(s) - human capital , capital good , investment (military) , earnings , business , employability , economic system , value (mathematics) , human resources , economics , real estate , economic growth , goods and services , industrial organization , market economy , finance , management , political science , machine learning , politics , computer science , law
Recent literature on development studies highlights the importance of human capital as a pillar for knowledge creation and innovation. Human capital is a multidimensional concept comprising elements of education, health, income, and social well beings. Unlike other concepts of development which revolve around the traditional factor of production of land, human capital, as an economic input powering sustained economic growth, endows people with technical skills, knowledge and competencies serving to improve employability and increase earnings. The aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of human capital on building capacity to create and sustain knowledge economies in Arab countries. Prospects for the future development of the region will improve commensurate with investment in people and knowledge creation. The current regional development model, centered on the generation of income through resource extraction and channeling investment in large scale real estate projects, misses the mark in terms of generating capacity to sustainably countervail global competition and attain economic benefit from international terms of trade substituting stable high-value-added goods and services for volatile low-value-added equivalents.