Beyond the Classroom: Preparing People to Produce

Few subjects have been more studied in the social sciences than the role of human capital in economic development. The consensus is that education—broadly understood as the continuous process of acquiring skills and/or capacities—determines the productivity of workers, their income levels, and, ultimately, the overall welfare of society. In turn, a better-educated population boosts the innovative capacity of an economy, speeds up the development of new technologies and products, and facilitates the dissemination of knowledge and adoption of new technologies developed by third parties. Through these diverse channels, higher individual levels of human capital result in higher levels of economic growth and development (Hanushek and Woessmann, 2008).