Human capital is a term used in certain economical theories of growth to designate a hypothetic factor of production which depends not only in quantity, but also of quality and degree of formation and productivity of the involved persons in a productive process.

From that initial technical use, it has spread to designate the collection of human resources that an economical enterprise or institution possesses. Likewise one can talk about an informal manner of improvement in the human asset when the skills, experience, or formation degree of people in the afore mentioned enterprises or institutions increases.

In the educational institutions it is designated as “the set of knowledge, abilities, skills and talents that a person possesses and makes him/ her able to develop specific activities”.

This Theory is based upon a double interpretation and foundation. The first of an economics character: productivity of the worker is in function of the received education. The more specialization (by means of the formal educative system), via work (non formal), increases the productivity and it is compensated by the highest salaries. The second of an assignations’ character: education has essentially a functions of «assignation». School grades provide criteria of «selection of staff» to businessmen. Education has «non –cognitive» effects: it influences in the attitude and behavior of workers.

Source: Wikipedia
Fuente: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_capital