Human capital development and welfare in the South Korea

This paper examines the impact of human capital development on welfare in South Korea. The neoclassical theory of human capital, endogenous growth models, Mincer human capital theory and Capabilities approach theory formed the theoretical basis for which the modified human capital development model for the study was specified. The model analysed the impact of the independent variables, Government Expenditure on Education (GEE), Average Years of Schooling (AVR), Life Expectancy (LE), Primary Education Enrolment Rates (PER), Secondary Education Enrolment Rates (SEC) and Tertiary Education Enrolment Rates (TER) on welfare proxied by GNI per capita. OLS estimation technique was used. The results revealed that Government Expenditure on Education, Average Years of Schooling, Life Expectancy were significant in explaining the variations in welfare with government expenditure having a negative impact, while the enrolment rates were insignificant. (The rest omitted)