EARLY IDEAS ON THE ROLE OF MAN IN THE ECONOMY: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE HUMAN CAPITAL CONCEPT

Abstract

This article aims to present the essence of the early ideas about the role of man in the economy, which have influenced the further evolution of the human capital theory. For this purpose, the development of the theory is divided into three main stages formation of the concept of the role of man in the economy, the emergence of the classical theory and the modern development of the theory of human capital. Within the framework of the first stage, the ideas of classical economists about the role and place of man in the economy are examined. The essence of the classical theory of human capital is described, as well as its development after the middle of the 20th century. Subsequently, the main directions of the modern development of the theory are presented.
According to the level of detail, each of the main stages can be further divided into separate phases. Thus, the stage of formation of the concept of the role and place of man in the economy can be presented as consisting of the phases “early ideas about the role of man (XVIII – XIX)” and “formation of the concept (XIX – XX)”. The main emphasis in the article is a description of the early ideas about the role of man in the economy, through the presentation of the views of economists from the so-called classical political economy school. The approaches to assessing the value of man, which classical economists use in their analyses, are also analyzed. For this purpose, the techniques of documentary, comparative and theoretical analysis are used.
The analysis begins with the presentation of William Petty's views on the role of man in economic life. The author's main contribution is the presentation for the first time of a comprehensive system for measuring the economic value of man at the macro level. Adam Smith also considers the qualities of individuals (knowledge, skills, labor, entrepreneurial initiative) as part of aggregate wealth and makes an analogy between investments in machines and training costs regarding the generation of future benefits resulting from these investments. Later, David Ricardo builds on Smith's ideas with the understanding that the amount of labor invested in production, and not the reward for the efforts made, is the basis for the formation of value. John Stuart Mill describes the socio-psychological and ethical factors that influence the quality of labor, and hence its productivity. The value of labor, according to Karl Marx, is the sum of the costs necessary for the maintenance, reproduction and education of individuals. In conclusion, the main directions in which later economic analyses focused, further developing the concept of human capital, are indicated.