Human capital: updating of the notion and structural components

Research purpose. The main purpose of this research is to carry out the comprehen- sive analysis of existing determinations of the human capital, the updating of this notion and of its structural components by analysis results.

Materials and methods. As materials for this research will be used works of foreign and national economists, determining the notion of the human capital and of its structural components. The research method is based on the comprehensive analysis of given determinations in order to reveal its correspondence with modern terms of the organization of production processes at enterprises.

Till the present time the scientific literature and the economic practice have not got an ambiguous notion of the human capital. The first determination of the human capital belongs to Т. Schulz [9, p. 25], who has likened it to the source of the additional income, which people can get by acquiring new knowledge, skills and the development of professional abilities as a result of education. With that he assumed that everybody acquires his/her capabilities at birth (inborn abilities) or acquires it in the course of education and production activities (acquired capabilities). Human acquired capabilities can be reinforced by relevant investments, which are considered as human capital [10].

G. Becker played an important role in the development of the human capital theory and was recognized by the whole scientific community of economists as the creator of the new school within frames of this theory. He highlighted three basic structural components of the human capital – common knowledge, special knowledge and other kinds of knowledge [2]. With that as common knowledge he understood the common human capital, which is being formed by the implementation of upgrading and education functions. The income from the common human capital comes to its direct owner, who, at the same time, becomes the investor of such capital. The special knowledge, the special human capital in the form of the professional knowledge, experience and skills is being form in the course of the lifetime human labor activities. As its investors are acting a human him/herself, being a professional expert and its owner, as well as a certain enterprise, which has created and provided this expert with necessary work conditions for the purpose of the materialization of its special human capital. Other human capital is formed by means of acquiring by a human of skills of work with the information and of the independent search of most prospective fields of application of the special human capital for such expert.

The classic theory of the human capital was followed by Lancaster K. [7], Willis R.J. [13, p. 25-75] and some other academic economists, who have founded the institutional theory of the human capital. Studies of these economists were oriented to the research of the possibility of the economic return of the human capital in terms of functioning of institutes and processes of the institutional space development. They managed to prove the expedience of the application of the institutional approach in the human capital theory, as well as the influence of autonomous variables on structural components of the human capital.

Results, obtained by many foreign scientists, contributed to the recognition of the human capital theory as independent research area, which actively influenced, first of all, the development of the production sphere and then the development of the educational sphere. As a result, this direction served as basis for such fields of knowledge as economics of education, economics of knowledge, economics of the intellectual property. The determination of the human capital in modern conditions has been interpreted more extensively.

The market reformation of Russian economics forced Russian scientists to carry out a whole range of fundamental research within frames of the human capital theory in 90s of the last century. In this field should be highlighted works of А.I. Dobrynin and S.А. Dyatlovа [3, p. 10], I.V. Ilyinsky, R.I. Kapelushnikov, М.М. Kritsky [6, p. 17], V.Т. Маrtsinkevich etc.

The opinion of А.I. Dobrynin and of S.А. Dyatlov is that the human capital is «a certain stock of knowledge, skills and capabilities, which are expediently used in such or such sphere of the social reproduction, promote the growth of the performance and production efficiency, so influencing the growth of such person’s income».

L.G. Simkinа offers to consider the human capital as an important factor of the development of innovative economics and of the growing importance of intellectual activities. While evaluating the human capital she is basing on the fact, that the human capital is simultaneously a source of productive forces, as well as the determining factor of social consumption [11, p. 48].

The most comprehensive determination of the human capital, reflecting the influence of processes of the development of the institutional environment, is given in the work of А.А. Tsyrenova [8, p. 32]. In terms of transformed economics it is offered to assume the human capital as «…accumulated stock of health, knowledge, motivations, professional experience, adaptational, communicative and moral characteristics of a personality, formed by means of investments in terms of changing social institutes, adequate to the status of the transformed institutional environment and actively influencing the character of current changes».

The above mentioned material shows, that foreign and Russian scientists pay a lot of attention to such problem as human capital and its structural components. With that provided analysis results show that the economic literature has not got a single approach to the determination of the economic essence of this category. In the contemporary context the human capital is a key intangible resource and factor, contributing to the effective development of an enterprise.

Results and discussion. The next stage of this research will be to detail the notion of the human capital and to determine its structural components in the context of production activities of enterprises. With that it should be highlighted, that the human capital does not exist by itself, but is a component of the intellectual capital of an enterprise. Just these positions will serve as attempt to update the determination of the human capital and to substantiate its structural components.

Some authors suggest to determine the structure of the intellectual capital of an enterprise as the totality of the personnel (human capital) knowledge, and innovative informational technologies of the management of its activities, able to increase the enterprise valuation and to provide for the competitive ability of the released production [5, p. 282]. There is also another approach to the intellectual capital structure. It is shown in the work of Alexandrov I.N. [1, p. 66], which author offers to highlight following components – human, organizational and client’s capital.

The authors’ opinion is that the human capital, as the component of the intellectual capital of an enterprise, can be represented as its personnel, possessing the totality of the knowledge and competences, necessary and sufficient for the organization of production activities of an enterprise. Provided the targeted growth of this totality of knowledge and competences the enterprise personnel implements its abilities for the production manufacturing and obtaining additional competitive advantages. The enterprise personnel can upgrade its competences, as well as to acquire the new knowledge and skills within frames of systems for the continuous advanced training and occupational retraining. In the modern context it is expedient to restore such systems at leading branch enterprises, as it mostly will determine the availability of the qualified personnel in order to carry out its production activities.

In the course of following discussions authors of this article have differences as to structural components of the intellectual capital with authors of the earlier mentioned work. Going in more details, it is offered to exclude both the organizational and the client’s capital from structural components, as it mainly characterize technologies of the production management and of the interaction with enterprise counteragents, implemented within frames of the intellectual potential of an enterprise. As to the human capital of an enterprise, it is offered to include in its structural components the intellectual property (IP) in the form of results of intellectual activities (RIA) and intangible assets (IA), which can be an enterprise property, as well as the property of other legal entities and individuals. Naturally, we are interested only in IA, being the property of certain individuals, who, in their turn, can be members of the enterprise personnel and form its human capital.

As RIA we will understand inventions in any fields of human activities, scientific dis- coveries, patents, unique industrial samples, which can be used for the manufacturing of new kinds of production and for the use of new kinds of services. Rights for RIA are preserved by special laws, to which is referred the patent law, the copyright and associated rights’ law, the law on trademarks etc. To RIA, eligible for registration, are referred such intellectual property objects (IPO) as scientific inventions, unique models and industrial samples, packages of applied programs and data bases, design and technologic documentation, know-how and other IPO, protected in the commercial secret mode in conformity with norms of the current legislation.

The special IA feature is that it is not used only in accounting and financing statements, but in management and evaluation activities as well, as well as in the field of taxation. With that this notion has got different determinations in each of mentioned areas. With that all IA, including ones used in for the management, which are of most interest as new structural component of the intellectual capital, have got some specific features, namely: the absence of the tangible form; long period of use; ability to bring income. The practice of accounting of the identified IA at the enterprise balance is not the object of this research. Otherwise, we are interested the presentation in the intellectual capital of difficultly identified IA, which is based on the knowledge, and the knowledge, as we know, are not subordinated to general accounting rules, as it has not got infrequency feature [12, р. 314]. Such knowledge peculiarity has been pointed out even in works of famous Nobel prize winners (L. Kantorovich,

V. Leontiev, K. Arrow) [4, p. 218]. Its existence creates certain contradictions in approaches to the determination of IA as of the structural component of the human capital, even if considered within frames of the intellectual property. Anyway, the variety of existing approaches to the determination of the IA notion does not replace the need for the determination of its place in the structure of the human capital. The incorporation of IA in structural components of the human capital characterizes the new approach, offered by authors for the consideration of the studied notion.

In order to develop this approach it is offered to highlight in the structure of the human capital of the enterprise the dynamic component, which is offered for the monitoring of the status of the enterprise human capital and of its structural components over time.

Finally, it seems expedient to highlight in the human capital structure informational competences as well, as the component, which is designed for the evaluation of the level of the possession by the enterprise personnel of used information technologies of production management and organization. In the context of expanding digitalization of all economic areas it seems expedient to highlight informational competences of the enterprise personnel as separate structural component of the human capital, as its acquiring and increase require quite another approaches in comparison with managerial and professional competences.

The offered structure of human capital components within frames of the intellectual capital of an enterprise is given on the picture.

Figure. Structure of the human capital components

On the picture there are arrows, indicating directions of the mutual influence and interaction of basic structural components of the human capital in order to enhance the efficiency of production activities of an enterprise, referred to the release of production or provision of services, as well as for the maintenance of its competitive ability at sales markets. The scheme, given on the picture, reflects the novelty of the offered approach in the part of the inclusion in structural components of the human capital of informational competences of the enterprise personnel, the intellectual property, incorporated in RIA → IPO and IA, аs well as the dynamic component for the monitoring of the current status of the human capital of the enterprise (highlighted by grey).

The scheme reflects the interdependence of all structural components of the human capital in terms of the carrying out of production activities of an enterprise, also it can be used for the substantiation of the necessity for the division of such notions as intellectual potential and human capital in the modern context. In fact, earlier researches of authors substantiate the structure of the intellectual potential of the enterprise, where the intellectual capital is one of components. This scheme contains structural components of the human capital within frames of the structural capital of the enterprise. Let’s point out that we have not considered other components of the intellectual capital of the enterprise, as it is beyond frames of the topic of this article. With that the scheme of structural components of the human capital, represented at the picture, shows that the notion of the human capital itself is one of components of the intellectual capital of the enterprise, which, in its turn, is one of the structural components of the intellectual potential of the enterprise.

Conclusion. Results, obtained in the course of performed research, allow to formulate following opinions.

• 1.    Was detailed the determination of the notion of the human capital in the context of modern terms of production activities of enterprises.

• 2.    Was substantiated the offer to relive at enterprises systems for the continuous advanced training and occupational retraining in order to provide for the growth of personnel

• 3.    The incorporation in the human capital of the dynamic structural component and of informational competences of the personnel makes this notion more adequate to modern realties of production activities of enterprises.

• 4.    The incorporation of the intellectual property in the human capital as a structural component is not only the feature of novelty, but also reflects its value in the organization

• 5.    Was substantiated the need for the division of such notions as intellectual potential and human capital, as its analysis by structural components showed, that the human capital is one of components of the intellectual capital of the enterprise, which, in its turn, is one of structural components of its intellectual potential.

competences and to enhance the efficiency of the use of the human capital.

of production activities of enterprises in the modern context.