Technology adoption and human capital: exploring the gender and cross-country impact 1870–2010

ABSTRACT

Technology adoption and human capital are crucial determinants of economic growth. Here we use a fixed-effect panel model to measure the link between technology adoption and human capital for a sample of 104 countries since 1870–2010 using (HCCTA) and long-run enrolment ratios and educational attainment datasets. Unobserved heterogeneity factors (institutional, tradition, culture, economy type, educational system, migration, innovation, patents) account for the observed difference across countries/regions. Gender difference plays a role in the technology diffusion–human capital relationship, not a vital one. Advanced economies rode on the first three industrial revolutions, with Eastern Europe catching up on the third and fourth industrial waves. The economies of the East used the fourth industrial revolution to converge and surpass other regions. The results show that technology is necessary but not a sufficient determinant of human capital growth. Selective technology adoption policy, accompanied by supporting educational policy (entrepreneurial and research universities) stimulates technology, diffusion, and knowledge spillover. Our results are robust for including population and growth as significant technology adoption and human capital determinants (conditioning variables). Technology, diffusion, and a human capital link is a two-way street with many constraints.

KEYWORDS:

• Technology adoption
• human capital
• fixed-effect
• panel data
• gender
• cross-country

Acknowledgement

We are grateful for comments from the Editor and anonymous reviewers helping us to improve the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marinko Skare

Marinko Skare, PhD, is Professor of Economics, Economic Research Journal Editor in Chief, Vice Rector for Research and Art, Member of Editorial Board of several international journals, Department Economics and Tourism “Dr. Mijo Mirković” in Pula, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula. He served as Assistant Dean for Education, Faculty of Economics & Tourism, Pula, Assistant Dean for International Cooperation, Faculty of Economics & Tourism, Pula, Main and Team Researcher on several scientific projects, Former Dean of the Faculty of Economics & Tourism, Pula and Former Vice President for International Cooperation, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula. He has published several books and many scientific papers about economic growth, welfare economics and poverty, human capital economics in transition, economic philosophy and monetary economics.

Sanja Blažević Burić

Sanja Blažević Burić, was born in Pula in 1983. Upon completion of high school education at the General Gymnasium Pula with excellent success, in 2002 she enrolled at the Faculty of Economics and Tourism ‘Dr. Mijo Mirković ’, Tourism programme. She graduated on July 4th 2006. In December 2006 she was employed as a junior researcher - assistant at the Department of Economics and Tourism ‘Dr. Mijo Mirković ’on several scientific projects. In 2008 she finished her postgraduate specialist study with excellent success. In March 2008 she enrolled in postgraduate doctoral study in Economics at the Faculty of Economics in Split. She focused on the study of the labour market or the scientific discipline of the labour economics and selected the topic of the doctoral dissertation ‘Socio-economic effects of the minimum wage’ under the mentorship of prof. Željko Mrnjavac. The defense of the doctoral dissertation was successfully completed on July 4th 2012. On October 25th 2012 she was invited as a guest lecturer at the round table ‘Wage Policy in Croatia’ and on the basis of her scientific findings, she was invited to be a part of the study team regarding the effects of the minimum wage on Croatian labour market in 2015 (with Danijel Nestić and Zdenko Babić) for the Ministry of Labor and Pension System.

During her work, she is giving lectures and seminars in the field of Labor Economics and Human Resource Management, Methodology of Scientific Research, and the Labor Market and Social Policy. She also teaches courses ‘Scientific Methodology’ and ‘Labor Economics and Human Resource Management’ for foreign exchange students. In addition to her formal education, she completed various certified and uncertified online courses in the field of econometrics, methodology of scientific research and project management. She has published 17 scientific papers in the field of labour economics. She was the technical editor of the book ‘Knowledge and Competitiveness’ (Bušelić, M., ur., 2007) She co-edited following conference proceedings and books ‘Economics in Crisis - The Crisis of Economics’ (The 6th International Conference ‘The Changing Economic Landscape: Issues, Implications and Policy Options’) and ‘Modeling Economic Growth: Issues and New Insights’ (project monography). She is currently the member of the scientific committee at the Faculty of Economics and Tourism ‘Dr. Mijo Mirković ’, a member of the scientific board of the International Journal of New Economics and Social Sciences journal and a member of scientific and editorial board of advisers and a part of the review team for the EUSER platform. She is a consultant on the ‘Framework Contract for the Implementation of Services with Better Regulation Guidelines’ with DG Employment, where she will make the necessary analyses for the Croatian labour market. She is fluent in English and Italian.