In many sectors of society it has been expressed that the most valuable resource of organizations is people, therefore this type of resource becomes a key point for the achievement of objectives, to obtain this impact it is necessary to have a policy in the administration of the resource, which is harmonized with the needs of each area.
If this kind of dynamics is proposed to achieve levels of development and economic growth in a society, it is necessary to refer to the theory of human capital derived from the models proposed by Gary Backer, Theodore Schultz, F. Harbison and Myers mainly, who studied the relationship between education, labor force and economic growth, under the assumptions of neoclassical theory.
This theory reflects the idea that the formation of human capital is one of the essential factors of progress and growth of nations and that in turn explain the difference in development between the countries of the globe, however if you look at reality it seems that This theory is not valid for some countries, mainly those of the third world, which present great difficulty in having the conditions to apply the human capital model and thus achieve growth and development under a global vision that is currently the that governs social, political, economic relations etc.
Consequently, in this work, some perceptions will be given to identify the different currents of human resource training and their incidence in the face of globalization in different countries with different degrees of development, taking as a starting point the premises that develop the human capital model and then contrasting them with cases from different countries in terms of education models, research policy development: science and technology.
HUMAN CAPITAL THEORY: Origin, assumptions, criticism.
Throughout history the importance of the workforce has been highlighted within the models for the development of nations, for example Adam Smith highlighted the intrinsic skills of the workforce and the advantages of work specialization, authors Classics like Malthus, Ricardo, Marx etc., Growth theorists like Solow, Kaldor, Lewis, Hirschman etc., endogenous growth theorists like Romer, Lucas, Lee and Sala i Martin, have studied human capital as a decisive factor of development and progress that will determine the different types of degree of development of the countries.
In the sixties, research on this subject increased and much progress was made in explaining the positive relationship that education has in economic growth, for later in the mid sixties, structuring what is called the "simple model of human capital" exposed by Gary Becker and Mincer. This model suggests that education is an investment that has a positive effect on variables such as income, employment, economic growth, and social equity.
Starting from the aforementioned definition, the assumptions of the model can be fragmented and analyzed.Firstly, the theory expresses that the increases in the income of individuals are due to increases in individual productivity, that is, the higher the individual productivity, the greater the earned income which will compensate for the wear and tear of the individual contributed to work, however this does not happen in all countries, since these increases in productivity are not appropriated mostly by workers due to different social conditions, for example labor laws, unions, Weak union power, the elasticity of the labor market, etc., allow the slices of the cake to be more favorable to the capitalists or sometimes to the State itself,therefore, real wages will remain stable or decrease, causing a serious shortcoming in the working sectors and in turn affects their relationship with immersion in the educational field.
On the other hand, the productivity-employment relationship is derived from the ability to increase employment through productivity, however this premise would require special conditions that are very difficult to achieve in an imperfect market, even more so in a free market.
To develop, according to the model's discourse, it is necessary to create preconditions to guarantee economic success, the opening of international trade must be strengthened, abandoning centralization and protectionism to orient workers towards market forces and thus assign efficiently resources. In this case, a neoliberal harangue is observed that tries to forget some internal needs of each of the countries and transform the economic models without stopping to see if the results will be positive or not, if the case of the Latin American countries is put evidence a generalized crisis that has its origin, in many cases, in adopting this type of policies.
SOME EDUCATIONAL MODELS
In the world there are different types of educational models, for this reason it is necessary to determine some currents to be able to compare and analyze the realities of the countries in terms of the incidence of education, science and technology in the degree of development of the nations.
Some countries that have been successful in economic matters, is largely due to the fact that their educational models are linked to the economy and socioeconomic progress, which means that when adopting education policies the interests of the different sectors of society converge building an environment conducive to the development of the objectives of each nation.
In the Japanese case, for example, the theory of human capital seems to have a good result, since the State and companies have managed to perceive that by stimulating scientific and technological knowledge, under a coherent educational system, the country has become a power throughout history, but this has its very good reason, which is in the role that has been given to education throughout the periods of its history, accompanied by solid long-term policies in all sectors.
The Japanese case has its beginnings in the Meiji period (1868-1912), under the purpose of becoming an economic power, it decided to surpass the educational level of the Western powers and be technologically independent, for this it adapted an existing educational system in Europe, incorporating bibliography and scientific specialists.
Responsibility for this change in the model was given to higher universities and companies; these institutions had the task of developing policies for the training of human resources under the support of the State. On the one hand, the universities formed and transmitted knowledge and, on the other, the companies were dedicated to promoting research.
In 1886 the first university was founded, Tokyo's, in which science and technology were promoted in response to the needs of the State and civil society. Later on, university activity focused on science and companies were linked to institutes and technical schools. After several changes in educational policies due to changes in internal and external conditions, today, education, science and technology continue to be given a decisive role in the direction that the country takes.
This ability of the Japanese people to link the educational system to national interests is what makes the conditions for economic growth and development to be achieved and to preserve economic and social stability.
While in countries like Japan the educational system goes hand in hand with the needs of its State and its society, in Latin American countries educational policies are being adopted without any objective vision and it also seems that these policies are dictated from the first world without analyzing the needs of each people.
For example, the Colombian case regarding higher education is evidence of the lack of planning and the absence of policies that create transformation processes according to their needs, it also highlights the lack of political will, resources, strategy leaders, management etc. Therefore, public interests are contrary to the interests of some individuals and institutions who are guided by other types of interests, so that HEIs (higher education institutions) are not constituted under a framework of national agreement but under individual interests. This trend is observed in Latin American countries where of the 5,438 HEIs, 812 are universities and 2,196 correspond to other HEIs.
In Mexico, the educational system has characteristics similar to those of most developing countries, which show a total separation between human resources policies and economic results, that is, there is poor political will when it comes to agreeing on an economic model as educational, that goes hand in hand with socioeconomic needs. "In Mexico, students doubt that education is a link for social mobility and personal satisfaction"
Another very important aspect is the educational backwardness of underdeveloped countries, in terms of basic education as there is a low coverage rate, in the case of Mexico of the population over 15 years only 19.7% had completed primary school, 20.3% average basic, 14.6% upper middle and 8.4% higher level, contrary to developed countries such as Japan, which reach levels of 99.9% in elementary education, 96.2% in secondary and 55.6% in higher level. (Data for 1990).
Regarding investment in research and development, the figures also express a large differential between developing and developed countries as a proportion of GDP, for example for the United States the figure rises to 2.66%, Japan 2.73%, Germany 2.48%, France 2.45 %, Sweden 3.26%, while in the countries of the region it is between 0.2% and 0.5%, This produces a great disadvantage when competing in the globalized market.
These aspects of the level of education and investment in research and development make the characteristics of the industries of developing countries are precarious since small and medium-sized industries are the ones that predominate in these economies and the level of education of their owners is not what High enough to stimulate the needs of qualified human resources and much less the use of more advanced technologies.
It is therefore necessary to adopt policies that link the productive life of countries with companies and universities, as the United States does, for example, great scientists from the most prestigious universities joined forces to develop new weapons, war techniques, gases, etc. Universities are directly linked to large companies, in the case of Columbia University, where a large part of its board of directors is made up of large businessmen from the country.
WHICH SCENARIO IS THE OPTIMAL?
After having described the main currents of human capital theory and having exposed some comparative aspects of the most representative countries, the question would be what type of model should be adopted, one of the neoliberal type or one of the protectionist type.
If we start from the premise that society is aware of where it is going and what its needs are, we can bet on a transformation towards the development of educational models that allow individual and collective development, taking into account national interests and changing trends. worldwide.
In order to create an environment conducive to adopting human resource policies that lead to economic growth and development, it is also necessary to work on the structural problems that third world countries have, as Dieterich says “In the current conditions of the subcontinent, factors such as the internal and external debt burden, domestic saving capacity, the degree of development of productive technology, income distribution, the efficiency or degree of corruption of the state bourgeoisie, or the situation of world markets for goods and capital ”. This appreciation becomes relevant because it is seen that developed countries where human resources and the creation of these have been of great importance in their economies, these problems are not so evident and critical,for this reason the adopted model has performed well.
If the needs of each society are taken into account and models of a plural type are implemented, where aspects such as cultural values, roots, difficulties, advantages are not neglected, people can then make socioeconomic growth more feasible., where all social groups benefit and not only those who, due to a certain circumstance, appropriate the opportunities offered by educational models.
The protectionist aspect of the national project proposes economic and social reforms directed in a short term, to combat social inequalities through the directives of the State, while the neoliberal platform proposes to leave distribution decisions, consumption, opportunities to the market and openness., production, substituting state decisions, as seen in reality, none of these scenarios is optimal for some countries.
"The most likely scenario is a certain combination between both projects, according to the correlation of forces, popular organization and the definition of the economic and social policies of the State"
CONCLUSIONS
The training of human resources is of vital importance for the development of the countries, which must structure an educational system according to internal and external needs, therefore, taking into account the objectives of the nation, these policies must play a role consistent with the structures in which they are developed, promoting flexible policies and not being governed by global tendencies that do not fit into the reality of each region.
In order to develop policies for training human resources in a globalized context, it is necessary to insert the conditions of the different countries to achieve this objective. On the one hand, the discourse of the theory of human capital, which is based on the fact that education is a primary factor for development and economic growth, fits in countries with a high degree of development while in third world countries these trends seem not to be valid because there are other factors and structural problems that do not allow the development of these policies.
Therefore the neoliberal currents that are supported by international organizations are not entirely suitable for all regions. However, educational models must be agreed between all sectors, so that the incidence of this factor is positive for the development of a country.
“It is not by skipping stages and applying the vast majority of obsolete models in other latitudes that higher levels of economic growth and development will be achieved. Only the conjunction and coordination of efforts by higher research centers and institutes, companies and the government in the search and achievement of the objectives of national interest will allow the exploration and undertaking of long-term and broader options. "
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- CORONA T. Leonel "Education, science and technology: an alternative scenario" in Foreign Trade, March 1994.EDWARDS, Sebastián. Crisis and Reform in Latin America. World Bank, Oxford University Press, Washington, 1995. Chap 8.GONZALES GARCIA, Juan “Higher education in the economic development of Japan: Lessons for Mexico”, in Foreign Trade, February 1998.LABARCA, Guillermo. "The formation of basic skills and training for productive work." In CEPAL Review, N ° 59, August 1996 DIETERICH, Heínz. "Globalization and education", in Cuadernos de Economía N ° 25, II, 1996. ESPINOZA P, Luz E. "Human resources and industrial strategy", in Foreign Trade.August 1998.ROBBINS, Donald J. “The determinants of the accumulation of human capital in Colombia and its implications on the theory of trade and growth. Evidence for Bogotá ”. In Economic Situation, June 1998.
A. Camhi, E. Engle and A. Micco, «Dynamics of employment and productivity in manufacturing: micro evidence and macro consequence», mimeo, November 1996, Center for Applied Economics, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Chile
"The most valuable capital of all capitals is that which becomes human beings" Plato.
With his work "Human Capital" (1964)
Works like “Investing in People. The economics of Population Quality ”(1981).
DIETERICH, Heínz. "Globalization and education", in Cuadernos de Economía N ° 25, II / 96. P.123
Ibid. P. 127
Fiscal, salary, financial, educational policies, etc.
GONZALES GARCIA, Juan "Higher education in the economic development of Japan: Lessons for Mexico", in Foreign Trade, February 1998. Page 102
GONZALES GARCIA, Juan "Higher education in the economic development of Japan: Lessons for Mexico", in Foreign Trade, February 1998. Page 113.
ESPINOZA P, Luz E. "Human resources and industrial strategy", in Foreign Trade. August 1998.
DIETERICH, Heínz. "Globalization and education", in Cuadernos de Economía N ° 25, II / 96. P.125
CORONA T. Leonel "Education, science and technology: an alternative scenario" in Foreign Trade, March 1994. Page 212.
ESPINOZA P, Luz E. "Human resources and industrial strategy", Foreign Trade. 1998. P. 683.
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