This book is concerned with the changing connection between human capital and economic performance.

The idea of viewing individuals’ knowledge and abilities as an asset—as human capital—can be traced back to the work of Adam Smith in the 18th century. But human capital is intangible, and hence hard to define and measure. Increasingly, however, policymakers are calling for ways to understand and quantify human capital, in order to better understand what drives economic growth and the functioning of labour markets, to assess the long-term sustainability of a country’s development path, and to measure the output and productivity performance of the educational sector. Devising a robust methodology for the monetary valuation of the stock of human capital is especially important as studies suggest that human capital is by far the most important component of the total capital stock in most advanced economies. This Guide on Measuring Human Capital discusses conceptual, methodological and implementation issues and challenges. The recommendations are a first attempt to come up with a way to estimate and record the role of human capital in a way that is aligned with the principles of the national accounts and that is comparable across economies.

This book explains why it is possible, in terms of economic theory, and feasible, from the perspective of accounting practices, to implement new human capital information and decision-making systems.

Measuring Human Capital addresses a country’s most important resource: its own people. Bettering human capital benefits individuals and their country and leads to improved sustainability for the future. For many years economists only used Gross Domestic Product (GDP), now acknowledged to be inadequate without supplemental measures, to gauge a country’s overall value. There is now a recognition that many variables contribute to a country’s worth, which make accurate measurement difficult. Looking beyond GDP by focusing on human capital, researchers, policymakers, government officials, and students can understand what elements impact human capital and how they might improve it in order to increase economic growth and well-being. Addresses six major measures of human capital, covering at least 130 countries Describes both monetary and index estimates Includes two monetary measures by the World Bank and the Inclusive Wealth Report by UNEP and the Urban Institute of Kyushu University Includes four index measures by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation of the University of Washington, United Nations Development Programme, World Economic Forum, and World Bank Includes two country chapters, one on China and the other on the United States

Despite the now widely recognized importance of intangible assets and intellectual capital, they still appear to be poorly understood by both academics and practitioners. Indeed, the necessity for adopting a fresh approach to their reporting, measurement and management is today generally clear and accepted. This book gives room to new perspectives which broaden the scope and depth of the investigation, whilst also opening up innovative methods and opportunities for practice.

Nowadays most organisations understand and accept that people are the key drivers of value in their organisation. With company accounts recording the costs associated with people, not the benefits that they bring, this text explores the experiences of 10 case study organisations that are making real and deliberate efforts to understand the contributions of their employees, and how that contributes to the success of the business. This text also reviews the extensive body of literature on the subject and explores case study organisations, which include such companies as Marks & Spencer, Tesco, BT and BAE Systems. The text concludes that human capital cannot be the subject of a one-size-fits-all measurement tool, but that it is possible for organisations to measure and manage human capital using methodology designed to suit their own needs and goals.

Updating the book since its last publication in 1985, this new edition of the landmark work on human resource accounting has been substantially revised to reflect the current state of the field through the late 1990s. The economies of many nations are increasingly dominated by knowledge- or information-based sectors driven by highly trained and specialized personnel. Whereas physical capital was of the utmost economic importance in the past, the distinctive feature of the emerging post-industrial economies is an increasing reliance on human and intellectual capital. The growing importance of human capital as a determinant of economic success at both the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels dictates that firms need to adjust to this new economic reality. Specifically, if human capital is a key determinant for organizational success, then investment in the training and development of employees to improve performance is a critical component of this success. This broad socioeconomic shift underscores a growing need for measuring and analyzing human capital when making managerial and financial decisions. Yet important human resource decisions involving hiring, training, compensation, productivity and other matters are often made in the absence of specific information about the different costs and benefits of these particular choices. Human resource accounting is a managerial tool that can be used to gain this valuable information by measuring the costs of recruiting, hiring, compensating and training employees. It can be used to evaluate employee training programs, increase productivity, and improve managerial decision-making regarding promotions, transfers, layoffs, replacement and turnover. Case studies illustrate, for example: How an insurance company evaluated a training program for claims adjusters and found that it would return two dollars for every one dollar spent. How a human resources accounting study revealed that an electronics firm's losses from employee turnover equalled one year's new income, and how the company initiated a program to reduce turnovers. The third edition presents the current state of the art of human resource accounting by (1) examining the concepts and methods of accounting for people as human resources; (2) explaining the present and potential uses of human resource accounting for human resource managers, line managers and investors; (3) describing the research, experiments and applications of human resource accounting in organizations; (4) considering the steps involved in developing a human resource accounting system; and (5) discussing some of the remaining aspects of human resource accounting that require further research.