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Valuing knowledge: The political economy of human capital accounting
- Source :
- Yarrow, D 2020, ' Valuing knowledge : The political economy of human capital accounting ', Review of International Political Economy . https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2020.1796751
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Informa UK Limited, 2020.
-
Abstract
- This article analyzes recent attempts to integrate the economic value of knowledge into global statistical frameworks. It outlines how emerging human capital accounting (HCA) standards apply concepts developed to value physical capital goods to the knowledge embodied in national populations, making its value dependent on lifetime labor market incomes. The intellectual legacy of neoclassical capital theory thereby frames the way in which the value of knowledge is understood in contemporary global governance in politically consequential ways. Drawing upon Karl Polanyi and recent literature on the political economy of measurement, it argues these methodologies reproduce the ‘economistic fallacy’, as they assume the exchange value of educational investment can be meaningfully isolated from its broader economic, cultural and social functions. Such valuation methods consequently naturalize politically contestable assumptions, reflecting comparative institutional factors rather than the substantive contribution of education to economic welfare. A case study of the influence of HCA on the World Bank's Human Capital Project demonstrates how the diffusion of these valuation methods has implications for which national policy agendas are deemed ‘sustainable’, particularly within debates on the future of welfare policy. This case illustrates the wider importance of global accounting practices in constructing national economic policy space.
- Subjects :
- Economics and Econometrics
Sociology and Political Science
business.industry
National accounts
05 social sciences
welfare policy
Accounting
Economic statistics
Human capital
Global governance
050601 international relations
0506 political science
global governance
Political Science and International Relations
Value (economics)
050602 political science & public administration
Economics
World Bank
human capital
measurement
business
national accounting
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14664526 and 09692290
- Volume :
- 29
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Review of International Political Economy
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....1fbb8f57c5349d0c54257cfa7fb36d92